Deputy Sheriff Tom Holmes

Tom Holmes

Deputy Sheriff Tom Holmes was beaten to death by a prisoner he was guarding inside the Perry County Jail.

The Perry County sheriff discovered Deputy Holmes' lifeless body when he entered the jail in the early morning. Because the jail had no cell, Deputy Holmes had been locked inside with the prisoner. The prisoner had managed to slip out of his shackles and crushed Deputy Holmes' skull with a piece of wood.

As soon as Perryville citizens learned of the murder, a mob of armed men forced their way into the jail, seized the prisoner, and hanged him from the nearest tree.