City Marshal Robert T. Blassingame

Robert T. Blassingame

Marshal Robert Blassingame succumbed to a gunshot wound sustained three weeks earlier when he was attached on a railroad platform.

Two men approached him and asked him what time a train was due to arrive. One of the men then grabbed him from behind and produced a handgun. Marshal Blassingame was able to break free and pulled his own gun, but was shot in the stomach. Marshal Blassingame managed to shoot and kill one of the suspects. The other suspect, now age 21, was discovered in the Utah State Penitentiary on September 29, 1931, where he was serving an indeterminate sentence for grand larceny. Three weeks earlier he helped lead a prison riot resulting in three inmates being shot. He was to be extradited back to Oklahoma and charged with Marshal Blassinggame's murder. On November 24, 1932, the suspect was denied termination of his sentence at the Utah Penitentiary. There is no record of him being returned to Oklahoma.

Marshal Blassingame had served with the agency for 9 years. He was survived by his wife and child.