Deputy Constable James C. Stapleton

James C. Stapleton

Deputy Constable James Stapleton, Sheriff Joe Talbott, and Deputy Sheriff John McDonald were shot, beaten, and killed while transporting three auto theft suspects they had arrested to jail.

They had arrested the suspects in Marshall and were transporting them to Lexington. At some point, the suspects shot all three men, dumped them into a field, robbed them of their items, and then stole Sheriff Talbott's patrol car. When the deputies and sheriff did not report back that evening or the next morning, a search party was initiated. Two days later, farmers found their badly beaten bodies in the woods near Prairie Church, seven miles south of Lexington. Deputy Sheriff McDonald and Sheriff Talbott were mortally injured. Deputy Stapleton was still alive but succumbed to his injuries on May 9, 1919.

One suspect was later arrested, convicted of murder, and sentenced to life on July 4, 1920. He was granted a new trial and acquitted on September 14, 1922.

Deputy Stapleton had served with the Lafayette County Sheriff's Department for one year. He was survived by his wife and four children.