Deputy Sheriff Nicholas Peter Damett

Nicholas Peter Damett

Deputy Nicholas Damett was shot and killed as he and the night watchman attempted to arrest two brothers at approximately 1840 hours. Deputy Damett suspected the two brothers of possessing stolen property and approached them near Main Street and told the two to stop. The two turned around and one of them opened fire with a revolver, killing Deputy Damett instantly.

Both suspects fled the scene. One suspect was apprehended the next day, jailed for murder but released the following May when the murder charge against him was dismissed. On September 6, 1921, the brother who shot Deputy Damett, age 31, was arrested in El Dorado, Kansas, after a lengthy gun battle with El Dorado officers. His brother was rearrested in Guthrie, Oklahoma, and brought back to Oxford where he was expected to testify against his brother. On October 7, 1921, Deputy Damett's murderer and another prisoner escaped from the county jail at Wellington. On January 20, 1922, he was captured without incident in Wiggins, Colorado. On January 29, 1922, he pleaded guilty to first degree manslaughter and was sentenced to 5 to 21 years. On December 10, 1923, he escaped from the Kansas Penitentiary at Lansing along with three other inmates. One of the other three was serving a 40 year sentence for the murder of Special Agent Will C. Reed of the Chicago Rock Island and Pacific Police Railway Police, on July 4, 1920. Deputy Damett's murderer and another inmate were captured two days later on a farm near Lansing by the owner of the farm. He was returned to the penitentiary and paroled in 1929.

Deputy Damett had served with the sheriff's department for 11 years and also served as a county constable. He was survived by his wife and daughter.