Deputy Sheriff Robert Alexander Trice

Robert Alexander Trice

Around 2:15 a.m. Clint “commercial” night watchman and El Paso County Deputy Sheriff Robert Alexander Trice, 54, was shot and killed in front of store when it was thought he surprised burglars attempting to enter the store. His body was not found until 6:00 a.m. when the owner arrived to open the store. Trice had been shot three times at close range, one bullet entering his chest, a second his forehead, and a third, evidently meant for a mercy shot, glanced off his forehead. Powder burns on the sidewalk indicated Trice was down and at close range. Trice’s watchman’s clock showed he had rung in at 2:15 a.m., probably a few minutes before the shooting took place. The killers took Trice’s pistol and ring of keys. The front door of the store had holes bored into the lock. The newspaper reported that Trice had arrested two men about six months earlier who were committing area burglaries and fleeing back into Mexico. The store had been burglarized three times recently.

Three men were arrested by Juarez, Mexico police with evidence from another store burglary and cartridges from the same caliber that killed Trice. Fingerprints were lifted at the scene and compared to the three suspects. They were later released. It is unknown if anyone was ever arrested or convicted for the murder of Deputy Trice.

Trice was reported to have lived in and around Clint for 23 years. He was survived by his wife, five sons and two daughters. He was buried in the Evergreen Cemetery in El Paso.