Police Officer John C. Farris

John C. Farris

Police Officer John Farris was stabbed to death after catching a suspect attempting to break into a grocery store. The suspect fled in an automobile but was arrested after being shot four times by officers when he tried to run through their roadblock in near-by Kellogg.

The 21-year-old suspect, had escaped from Montana State Penitentiary seven days earlier after serving two years of a 10 year sentence for larceny. He had stabbed Officer Farris 11 times. A little over an hour later he failed to stop a stollen truck for a blockade at Kellogg and was shot four times in the thighs. He was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life. He was denied parole on July 13, 1954. On January 1, 1955, he escaped from the Idaho Penitentiary. He was stopped in a stolen car near Weiser seven weeks later, arrested, and returned to prison. His release date is not known, but he was free on June 7, 1971, the date he married in Montana.

Officer Farris had served with the Wallace Police Department for three years. He was survived by his four children.