Frank Dalton, Deputy U.S. Marshal

U.S. Marshals

On Sunday, November 27, 1887, Deputy Marshals Dalton and James R. Cole were attempting to arrest Dave Smith on a warrants for horse stealing and introducing whiskey in Indian country. The deputies located Smith in a wood chopper’s camp in the Arkansas River bottoms west of Arkoma in Sequoyah County, Oklahoma Territory. Smith was hiding in a tent and fired a shot that hit Deputy Dalton in the chest. Deputy Cole was near the tent when Smith fired and shot Smith to death. Friends of Smith, Lee Dixon and William Towerly opened fire on Deputy Cole wounding him. As Deputy Dalton lay helpless on the ground, Towerly ran over to him and shot him two more times in the head with his rifle even as Dalton pleaded with him not to shoot him.

Tom Dancer, City Marshal

City of Maud

On Thursday, February 15, 1906, City Marshal Dancer was called into the blacksmith shop at Maud by blacksmith Vic Chambers. Chambers asked the marshal if he had called one of Chambers’ relatives a name. When Dancer stated he had and meant it, Chambers shot the Marshal twice. Marshal Dancer was able to return two shots before he died, one of which struck Chambers in the head, killing him instantly.

Ross Munger Darrow, Captain

Tulsa County Highway Patrol

On Thursday, August 29, 1929, Tulsa County Highway Patrolman A. L. Bowline, jumped on the running board of a vehicle as it was fleeing the scene of a traffic accident. The car pulled into Newblock Park on the Sand Springs road with Bowline’s partner, Captain Ross Darrow following close behind in their patrol car. The occupants were escaped bank robber Dick Gregg and two members of his gang. As the two cars came to a stop, Dick Gregg shot and killed Patrolman Bowline. Captain Darrow then exchanged shots with the gang members during which he and Dick Gregg were both killed. Captain Darrow left behind a wife and two children.

Jason Edward “Ed” Daugherty, Undersheriff

McClain County Sheriff’s Office  

The morning of Saturday, May 9, 1925, Purcell City Marshal M L Thomas attempted to arrest Lester Rains who was “running amuck” on the streets of Purcell. McClain County Sheriff Johnnie Ratliff, his Undersheriff Daugherty, 47, and Deputy William Tucker went to assist with the arrest. During the struggle Rains stabbed Daugherty and was able to shoot Sheriff Ratliff twice with his own gun. Deputy Tucker then shot Rains five times. Sheriff Ratliff died later that evening. Rains died the next day. Undersheriff Daugherty was recovering from his stab wound when on July 18, just two months later, when he collapsed and died instantly from a blood clot from the stab wound as he was entering a Purcell store. Daugherty was survived by his wife, three sons and two daughters.

Holmes Davidson, Deputy U.S. Marshal

U.S. Marshal's

Shortly after noon on Thursday, July 23, 1914, Deputy Marshals Davidson, William Edward “Ed” Plank and Ike Wilkinson went to the home of former Tulsa Chief of Police and convicted prohibition violator, William J. Baber, at 823 West Fifth in Tulsa. The marshals had a search warrant for the house to look for illegal liquor. Mrs. Baber met the marshals at the door and refused them entrance. As his wife was delaying the marshals, Mr. Baber, who was laying on a couch, loaded a double-barreled shotgun and fired a round through the front screen door, striking Marshal Davidson in the neck and shoulder killing him. Barber then fired the second barrel through a side window striking Marshal Plank in the chest killing him also. Barber reloaded and fired at a retreating Marshal Wikinson but missed him. Barber then called police and surrendered to them peacefully.

Hugh Blaine Davis, Captain

Tulsa County Highway Patrol

On Thursday afternoon, June 20, 1929, Captain Davis, 45, was in route to Sapulpa on official business when an eastbound bus swerved left of center to avoid a car that started to pull onto the highway in front of it. The bus struck captain Davis’ westbound car. Davis died the next day, June 21 at a Tulsa hospital. The bus driver was charged with manslaughter. His wife, a son and a daughter survived Captain Davis.

John T. Davis, Deputy U.S. Marshal

U.S. Marshals

Marshal Davis had been searching for Sam Butler, who was wanted for killing a store clerk during a robbery on March 28, 1895, in Braggs, nine miles east of Fort Gibson. On Thursday, August 1, 1895, Marshal Davis located Butler laying under an apple tree at his mother’s home about five miles southeast of Claremore on the Verdigris River. As the marshal rode up to him Butler drew his gun and shot Davis in the chest. Davis fell off of his horse but was able to shoot and instantly kill Butler. Marshal Davis died about an hour later.

James R. Day, Staff Sergeant

U.S. Air Force Security Forces

On Monday evening, May 3, 1999, an “F-5” tornado left a wide path of destruction many miles long across central Oklahoma. The northwest corner of Tinker Air Force Base, in Oklahoma City sustained heavy damage including the chain link fence being ripped away. S/Sgt Day was patrolling the damaged area of the base the early morning hours of Saturday, May 8th in a four-wheel all-terrain vehicle traveling about 35 mph when he topped a hill and swerved to avoid a large metal trash bin being used in the cleanup. Day’s vehicle clipped the trash bin and overturned on him causing head and chest trauma. S/Sgt. Day died at the scene. Day had just re-married on April 23rd and was survived by his wife, two sons, a stepson and a stepdaughter.

Larry Joe Dean, Officer

Clinton Police Department

Shortly after 10 P.M. on Tuesday, August 12, 1969, Officer Dean became involved in a high-speed pursuit with a vehicle through Clinton. The pursuit ended at 715 East Fourth Street where the driver jumped out and ran inside the house. Backup Officer Gilbert Harrelson arrived with Officer Dean and they proceeded to the residence. Henry Lee Evans, 22, allowed the officers in the house. There they confronted the suspected driver, Kenneth Evans, 17, and their mother Bertha Evans, 49. When the officers attempted to arrest Kenneth Evans, he resisted and a fight broke out between the officers and the Evans family members. Officer Harrelson was forced out of the residence and before he could get back in he heard shots fired from inside the residence. When other backup officers were able to get back in the house they found Officer Dean and Kenneth Evans dead from gunshot wounds. Dean's wife Julie was expecting their first child when he was killed. Their son Larry Joe Dean, Jr. was born five months later.

Dale Ellis DeBerry, Sergeant

Norman Police Department

Sergeant DeBerry was participating in an annual physical training exercise on Tuesday, December 1, 1998, when he suffered a fatal heart attack. Other Norman officers at the scene administered CPR but Sergeant DeBerry died shortly after arriving at the hospital. Sergeant DeBerry left behind his wife, Tonya and two young children

Peter L. DeMaster, Special Agent

U.S. Department of Defense Investigative Service

DeMaster had been an agent for the Defense Investigative Service for eleven years when he was killed in the bombing of the Alfred P, Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. DeMaster was survived by his wife, a daughter and a stepson.

John McChesney Dennis, Deputy Sheriff

Seminole County Sheriff's Office

On Saturday, November 1, 1913, a posse of Seminole County officers, including Deputy Dennis, proceeded to a farm a little over four miles south of Seminole to arrest John Cudjo, who was wanted for the murder of a McIntosh County man a year earlier. The deputies found a man setting on the front porch of the farmhouse. When Deputy Dennis approached the man to learn his identity the man shot him in the hip. Both major arteries in his leg were severed and Deputy Dennis, 42, bled to death. Despite a gun battle with the other officers, Cudjo escaped. Three days later on November 4th, Cudjo was involved in another shootout with officers in a cornfield near Holdenville and wounded two deputies before being wounded himself and arrested. About 8 P.M. that night, a mob of about 150 men broke Cudjo out of the jail in Seminole. He was summarily hanged from a telephone pole in front of the courthouse. Before he could be cut down, the mob had fired more than 100 shots into his body. Deputy Dennis left behind a wife, three daughters and five sons.

Charles Lee "Matt" Dillon, Deputy Sheriff

Commanche County Sheriff's Office

On Thursday, August 13, 1987, Deputy Dillon, 55, was driving to Las Cruces, New Mexico, to pick up some prisoners. About 1:45 P.M. he was westbound on Highway 82 from Artesia to Alamogordo, New Mexico. His car began sliding on the rain-slick pavement and crossed the centerline, striking an oncoming propane truck. Dillon’s vehicle rolled over and he was pinned inside for two hours before his body could be removed.

L. P. Dixon, Deputy U.S. Marshal/Posseman

U.S. Marshals

The morning of Friday, July 19, 1907, Deputy U S Marshal John Cordell deputized a posse in Wewoka to search for four men, wanted for armed robbery, who killed Deputy U S Marshal and Sasakwa City Marshal John Morrison the day before. The wanted men were brothers, John and Ned Cudjo, John Street and Joseph Harkins. One of the deputized volunteers was 35 year-old L. P. Dixon, a collector for the Oklahoma State Bank of Shawnee, who was in Wewoka on business. About 10 P.M. that evening Deputy Dixon was guarding a road near the Cudjo’s home when two men rode up to him. Dixon ordered them to halt and, when they continued on by, he opened fire on them. Ned Cudjo was wounded in one leg before both men opened fire on Dixon. Dixon was struck in the left shoulder with a rifle bullet that ranged downward through his chest. The deputy was found lying in the road by other possemen who captured Ned Cudjo nearby. Dixon died four hours later. The other three men were arrested the next day. Dixon was survived by his wife and four children.

Robert Donnelly, Officer

Tulsa Police Department

Officer Donnelly was a member of the Bicycle Squad on Saturday, February 25, 1922. About 11 P.M., Donnelly and his partner L. K. Granger, stopped a car with five young men from Skiatook in it at North Main and Marshall Street. The officers intended to check the car for illegal liquor. As the fifth man got out of the car he shot Officer Donnelly in the abdomen once with a .45 automatic pistol. The shooter, Norris Crabtree, 17, fled on foot while his four companions stayed where they were. Officer Granger could not fire at Crabtree because of the many bystanders in the way. Officer Donnelly died the next day. Crabtree was soon arrested, convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

George M Doolittle, Deputy Sheriff

Lampasas County, Texas 

James Doss, Constable

City of El Reno

On March 20, 1895, Constable Doss went into Sweitzer’s Saloon in El Reno where he saw Eugene Hays. Doss had arrested Hays the day before for cattle theft. The two men began talking and walking toward the rear of the saloon together. Soon two shots were heard and Doss was found collapsed with wounds to his right leg, face and neck. Hays surrendered to the sheriff, admitted shooting Doss and placed in jail in Guthrie. Doss apparently shot Doss to prevent him from testifying against him at his trial for cattle theft. Constable Doss died on Wednesday, March 27, 1895 from his wounds.

Robert Craig Douglas, Sergeant

Oklahoma City Police Department

 About 12:45 p.m. on Saturday, July 26, 2003, Sgt. Douglas was west bound on his police motorcycle in the outside lane of Memorial Road approaching North MacArthur along side a pickup. As Douglas and the pickup approached the intersection the signal light turned green and they both proceeded into the intersection. A south bound car on Macarthur had stopped for the red light, then started into the intersection. Douglas’ motorcycle collided with the car and he was thrown from his motorcycle into the path of the west bound pickup which struck him. Douglas, an 18 year veteran of the police department, was transported to OU Medical Center with head and internal injuries. Douglas went into a coma shortly after arriving at the hospital and remained in a coma for over 5 years until the night of Sunday, September 28, 2008, when he died at the age of 44. Douglas was survived by his wife Alycia and their young son Robert Craig "Bobby" Douglas II. Bobby was only 15 months old when his father was injured and was 6 years old when his father died.

Jonathan Paul Dragus, Sergeant 

Oklahoma City Police Department 

 Just before 3 A.M. on Thursday, October 20, 2005, Sergeant Dragus, 32, became involved in a high speed pursuit of a couple on a reported stolen Suzuki motorcycle near N.W. 3^rd and Meridian. The pursuit continued north ward through Oklahoma City and ended up going east bound on the Northwest Expressway. As Sgt. Dragus approached N Pennsylvania a pickup truck pulled out in front of his patrol car. Sgt. Dragus swerved to avoid the pickup, lost control of his car and crashed into a light pole, sign and finally a tree. Sgt. Dragus was pinned in his car and suffered sever head injuries. After being pried from his patrol car he was transported to OU Medical Center where he died from his injuries about 11:15 A.M. that morning. The stolen motorcycle was located shortly after the crash near N.W. 50^th and N. Classen. A 16 year old female passenger on the cycle, Chelsea Freeman, was soon located in the area. The driver of the motorcycle Kyle Wayne Grider, 22, fled but turned himself in to police later that night.

Herman H. Drover, Bertillon Officer/OSP

Oklahoma Department of Corrections

Drover was one of seven people killed during a prison escape about 4:20 P.M. on Monday, January 19, 1914, at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. Three escaping convicts became involved in a gun battle with Deputy Warden D. C. Oates near his office just as the 49 year-old Drover was coming out of his office and was killed by gunfire from convict Tom Lane. Six others also killed during the escape were the three convicts, Tom Lane, Chiney Reed and Charles Kuntz (or Koontz), Deputy Warden Oates, Day Sergeant F. C. Godfrey and attorney John R. Thomas.

L. O. "Jack" Dunaway, Merchant Policeman

Miami Police Department

Shortly after midnight on Tuesday, June 12, 1934, Miami officers Dunaway, I. W. Ellis and S. J. Johnson responded to a report of three suspicious men hanging around the Northeast Oklahoma Freight Depot on Main Street near the railroad tracks. The officers found the men setting in a Model A Ford. As the officers approached the car a gun battle broke out. Officer Dunaway, 33, was shot with a .41 caliber bullet in the left leg, severing a main artery. One of the suspects, Frank Shinn, 21, escaped for a short time while another, Leroy Dennison, 19, was killed at the scene and another wounded. The wounded suspect, Jess Howard, 25, an escaped murderer from Missouri and officer Dunaway both died a few minutes after arriving at the hospital. Officer Dunaway was survived by his wife and two sons.

Dustin Shawn Duncan, Deputy Sheriff

Latimer County Sheriff’s Office 

Jess Fulton Dunn, Warden OSP

Oklahoma Department of Corrections

About 10:45 A.M. on Sunday, August 10, 1941, four prisoners armed with homemade knives attempted to breakout of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary (OSP) in McAlester. The prisoners were Roy McGee, 37, Bill Anderson, 36, Claude Beaver, 39, all convicted armed robbers and Hiram Prather, 33, who was serving a life sentence for murder. About the same time that morning Warden Dunn, 49, was planning a new communication system and was touring the prison with J. H. Fentriss, an electrical engineer, R.W. Murray, a contractor and his 10 year-old son. The prisoners took the warden and the Fentriss hostage and told Murray and his son to leave. The prisoners then marched their two hostages into the yard, using them as shields. The east gate tower guards threw down their weapons and opened the gate when the lives of the two hostages were threatened. Warden Dunn had already been stabbed once at this point. The prisoners, now armed with guns, forced their hostages out the gate and into a car. Beaver was driving with the hostages by him in the front seat and the other three prisoners in the back seat holding them at gunpoint. The Pittsburg County Sheriff’s Office had been advised of the prison break. Deputies Bill Alexander and William A “Tab” Ford, former prison guards, quickly used their car as a roadblock three blocks north of the prison. As the car containing the prisoners and their hostages came to a stop at the roadblock, the prisoners ordered the warden to order the deputies to let them pass, which the warden did. Deputy Alexander told the warden he could pass but the other men would not be allowed to leave. One prisoner then shot Deputy Ford in the head. Another prisoner then shot Warden Dunn twice in the back of the head. Deputy Alexander returned fire. When the shooting was over Beaver, Mcgee and the warden were dead at the scene. Deputy Ford died a few hours later and Anderson died two days later. Prather was the only prisoner to survive his wounds and died in Oklahoma’s electric chair July 14, 1943. Fentriss was found in the floorboard of the car uninjured.

Morris T. Dunn, Constable

Precinct 7, Fannin County, Texas

Constable Dunn and a four-man posse trailed a gang of robbers into Indian Territory. The night of Saturday, May 26, 1888, the posse located the gang, consisting of brothers Dick, Jim and Joe Dyer and a man named Williams, in a cabin. When the posse called for the gang to surrender a gunfight broke out. Constable Dunn was fatally wounded but was able to return five shots before he fell dead

Lowery Douglas Durington, Investigator

Healdton Police Department

Shortly before 8 P.M. on Monday, May 27, 1985, officer Durington, became involved in a high-speed pursuit with a motorcycle on Main Street. The chase proceeded south on Highway 76 and a county road to just outside the city limits of Healdton where Durington’s 1978 Chrysler police unit collided broadside with a west bound 1978 Ford pickup truck. Officer Durington, 38, and 11 year-old Alan Addington were dead on arrival at the Healdton Hospital. Addington’s parents were airlifted to Oklahoma City hospitals in critical condition. Officer Durington left behind his wife, Georgia, two sons and two daughters.

Perry DuVal, Deputy U.S. Marshal

U.S. Marshals

On Sunday, November 2, 1873, Deputy U S Marshals DuVal, Willard Ayers and James Wilkerson and a guard were escorting four prisoners from Indian Territory to Fort Smith. One of the prisoners was John Billee (or Billy), a Creek Indian of ferocious temper. That night they camped in a deserted two-room building about four miles northwest of Muskogee. Deputy Ayers bedded down in one room with three prisoners chained to him. Deputy DuVal slept in the same room with John Billee. Deputy Wilkerson and the guard slept in the other room. During the night Billee got his handcuffs off, took DuVal’s gun and shot him fatally in the head. Billee then shot Deputy Ayers, the bullet going through one hand and ripping the nipple from his right chest. Billee then shot Deputy Wilkerson in the kidneys and Deputy Ayers began struggling with him. The guard then shot Billee, disabling him. Billee was taken to Fort Smith where he was tried, convicted and sentenced to death. On April 3, 1874, Billee was shackled and dragged, kicking and screaming, to the Fort smith gallows and hanged

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.