Special Agent Joseph M. Drake

Joseph M. Drake

Special Agent Joseph Drake succumbed to gunshot wounds sustained four days earlier in the Seaboard Air Line Railroad's Portsmouth Shops yard in Portsmouth, Virginia.

He had caught two men trespassing earlier in the morning and told them to leave the yard. Special Agent Drake had continued his patrols and was talking to another employee on the western edge of the yard near its interchange with the Belt Line Railroad. One of the men who had been caught trespassing earlier approached the two and shot Special Agent Drake multiple times. The man then stole Special Agent Drake's service pistol and fled the area.

The man was arrested in November 1932 and charged with murder. He was convicted during his fourth trial and sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Special Agent Drake had served with the Seaboard Air Line Railroad for several years and had previously served with the Portsmouth Police Department. He was a widower and was survived by his daughter, sister, and two brothers.