Police Officer Charles Lee Houser

Charles Lee Houser

Police Officer Charles Houser was shot and killed as he took position outside the farmhouse of two suspects.

Officer Houser served with the Springfield Police Department for two years, and was survived by his wife and brother. He is buried in Forest Park Cemetery in Joplin, Missouri (the grave is unmarked).

Two brothers considered local petty burglars killed a total of seven Law Enforcement Officers. After they killed Town Marshal Mark Noe on June 2, 1929, a massive manhunt began for the suspects. The two suspects were located at the family farmhouse on January 2, 1932. They had come to town to visit their mother for the Christmas holiday. A raiding party of eleven officers was formed to arrest the two brothers. As the officers surrounded the farmhouse gunfire erupted and in the end six officers lay dead.

The suspects escaped, and fled to Texas. They were located there by Houston Police and as police moved in the two suspects committed suicide.