Trooper John S. Burke

John S. Burke

Trooper Burke was shot and killed after stopping two bank robbers in St. Joseph County. He had been notified of the robbery and stopped the men on a county road. While he searched one of the suspects the second suspect shot him in the back three times. The suspects then drove over his body before fleeing.

Both suspects were apprehended four hours later just across the state line in Indiana. Both were convicted of Trooper Burke's murder and sentenced to life. In 1933 one was adjudged insane and committed in the state mental hospital at Flint. In 1948 the other suspect was awarded a new trial, convicted of second degree murder, and sentenced to 7 to 15 years.