Horace H "Bill" Dyer, Sheriff

Cotton County Sheriff's Office

On Thursday, October 30, 1958, Sheriff Dyer was investigating an apparent suicide near Temple. Chester Monroe had apparently shot himself in the head behind the right ear with a pump action .22 rifle. Someone at the scene expressed some skepticism that a man could shoot himself that way. Sheriff Dyer pumped the shells out of the rifle, looked down the barrel to make sure it was clear, then closed the breech and snapped the trigger several times to be sure the rifle was not loaded. He then held the rifle barrel up behind his right ear like he contended the suicide victim had, and pulled the trigger. The rifle fired and the Sheriff fell to the ground. He was taken to a Wichita Falls, Texas hospital and underwent three hours of surgery but he died about 8 P.M. that night.

Joseph Lewis Latimer, Deputy Sheriff

Cotton County Sheriff's Office

At approximately 11:20 P.M. on Wednesday, October 18, 1995, Deputy Latimer responded to a call from the Temple Police Department for assistance in a drive-by shooting. After Deputy Latimer requested directions, radio contact was lost with him. A short time later his wrecked patrol unit was found. The deputy had been thrown 15 feet from the unit. He was airlifted to a hospital in Lawton but was pronounced dead on arrival shortly after midnight on October 19th. His wife, Stacy, and fourteen-month daughter, Jullian, survived Deputy Latimer.