Cal Palmer, Patrolman 

Enid Police Department 

Shortly before midnight on Wednesday, July 8, 1936, Patrolmen Cal Palmer and Ralph Knarr answered a call at the German Village, a popular tavern in Enid.  Jim Neill, proprietor of the tavern, called police stating, “There’s a ‘bad’ man in my place, and I think there’s going to be a hold-up.”  Neill noticed the hard-looking, slight built stranger as he sipped a beer watching both front and side doors of the Village as if he were expecting someone.  Neill thought he had recognized the man from pictures he had seen in the newspapers. Harry Grubbs, an employee, mentioned the similar circumstances preceding the Plaza grill robbery at Oklahoma City. The two patrolmen casually entered the front door.  They approached the stranger and asked him to step outside with them.  The man stated he thought he knew why they were there and asked if he could finish his beer. Being told he could, the man removed a cigar from his mouth and lifted the mug of beer with his left hand. At the same instant, he dropped his right hand beneath the table and started shooting with a .38 pistol held in his lap.  Palmer died instantly with three bullets in his chest. Knarr fell next with bullets through his right shoulder and neck, in the right side and abdomen. Another bullet struck a customer standing 15 feet away. The killer then dashed out the side door.   The stranger, escaped convict Lawrence DeVol, fled down the alley to a nearby service station where he was shot and killed by other officers.  Patrolman Cal Palmer was buried on July 10, 1936, and was survived by his wife and two young sons.

 

Thomas A. Radford, City Marshal

City of Enid 

Thomas A. Radford was elected City Marshal of Enid in 1905. Toward the end of that year, it was told by the Chairman of the Police Committee to the City Council that Radford was the best Marshal Enid ever had. Radford had a strict adherence to the laws and ordinances and with that had made a few enemies.  John Cannon was one of them. Cannon had told several people including the Mayor and Police Judge that he was going to kill Radford. Radford closed a rooming house with a reputation of a “house of ill fame” that Cannon and his wife owned.  Cannon had previously worked as a Jailer and fell in love and married a local prostitute who frequented the jail cells.  

Cannon was trying to rent some rooms above the Coney Island Saloon. When Radford warned the owner not to rent the rooms to Cannon, he was furious.  

In the late afternoon of Wednesday, January 10, 1906, Marshal Radford walked into the Tony Faust Saloon at the corner of Broadway and Grand. It was a cold day and Radford walked over to the radiator to warm himself. The back door opened and Cannon entered the bar.  He walked completely through the bar without speaking to anyone. He approached Radford and said, “Bad day, isn’t it?”  Cannon then pushed a .38 caliber revolver against Marshal Radford’s left chest and fired. The bullet passed close to his heart, through both lungs, and lodged in the right side, near his back.  

The marshal gasped for breath and turned to run. He had no chance to draw his weapon. As Radford turned, Cannon fired a second time, this time from behind. The gun was almost against his body again, and the bullet entering near the waist line passed cleared through his body. Radford continued to run through the front door. As he was running, Cannon shot him a third time with the bullet entering his head on the left side between his eye and his ear. Radford fell to the ground.  

Cannon went back inside the saloon and called the Sheriff. He was placed in the county jail, but fearing an outbreak of public indignation over the shooting, he was transferred to the Grant County Jail in Pond Creek.  

Marshal Radford was still alive and was taken to Dr. Baker’s office. Several physicians examined his wounds and agreed that nothing could be done for the Marshal. Marshal Radford never regained consciousness after the last bullet hit him. He died approximately 30 minutes later. Marshal Radford, 45, was survived by his wife and seven children. Cannon was convicted of the marshal’s murder and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

 

E. C. Williams, City Marshal

Enid, Oklahoma Territory
 

Marshal Williams was an educated man. He was born in San Francisco, CA, and went to the finest schools in Boston. He moved to Oklahoma with the opening of the Cherokee Strip.  On the evening of Wednesday, June 26, 1895, R. W. Patterson, Registrar of the United States Land Run, became furious with J. L. Isenberg, owner of the Enid Daily Wave.  Isenberg had been running articles about Patterson that were offensive in nature.  The last article accused Patterson of infidelity, among other things, and Patterson had finally had enough. He armed himself and went to find Isenberg.  As they were quarreling, Marshal Williams arrived on the scene.  Patterson fired his gun at Isenberg.  Isenberg ran into the drugstore with Patterson in pursuit.  Williams quickly followed shouting for Patterson to quit shooting.  Patterson turned and fired at Williams striking him over the heart.  Williams, although fatally wounded, ran after Patterson. Clutching his chest, Williams braced himself against the door and fired at Patterson striking him in the temple and killing him instantly.  Both men died at the scene.  Isenberg boarded a train for Kingfisher, where he remained until the smoke cleared. He then moved back to Enid and later to California.  A jury found that Patterson’s death was caused by Williams, and Williams’s death was caused by Patterson as Williams was performing his duty as Marshal. Marshal Williams was survived by a wife and baby.