Sergeant Benjamin Oliver Booth

Benjamin Oliver Booth

Sergeant Benjamin Booth and Sheriff Roger Wilson, of the Boone County Sheriff's Office, were shot and killed at the intersection of Highway 40 and Highway 63 following a bank robbery that had occurred in Mexico, Missouri.

The officers were stopping cars at the intersection to ask motorists if they had seen the suspect vehicle. They stopped a car unrelated to the robbery when the two occupants exited and opened fire on them.

A 17-month investigation by law enforcement officials followed and both suspects were apprehended. Both were convicted of the murders. One was sentenced to life in prison while the other was sentenced to death and subsequently executed on December 18th, 1936. Neither suspect had been involved in original the bank robbery, and it was never determined why they killed Sergeant Booth and Sheriff Wilson.

Sergeant Booth was survived by his wife, a seven-year-old daughter, and an eight-year-old son.

He is buried in Memorial Park Cemetery in Columbia, Missouri.