Chief Deputy Sheriff John William Burk

John William Burk

Chief Deputy Sheriff John Burk was shot and killed by one of two men he attempted to arrest on warrants charging them with assaulting a policeman in Ironaton a few nights earlier.

The men had beaten the Ironaton officer with his own pistol, which they kept. Chief Deputy Burk had located the suspects in Talladega and went alone to arrest them. The suspect who shot him was apprehended in Jefferson County the next day. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. In March of 1923 his sentence was commuted to life. He was paroled on May 30, 1940.

Chief Deputy Burk is buried in Bethel Methodist Church Cemetery, Talladega, Alabama.