Chief Special Agent Thomas C. Logan

Thomas C. Logan

Chief Special Agent Thomas Logan was shot and killed near Cairo, Illinois, while leading a posse of special agents from several railroads who were searching for copper thieves.

The group encountered a man and a boy sitting next to a fire on the railroad right-of-way just north of Cairo. Chief Logan approached them and began to search them. The man suddenly produced a handgun and shot him several times, including a fatal shot to his head. The man was overpowered and taken into custody by the other two special agents.

He was convicted of Chief Logan's murder and sentenced to death, but escaped from jail with several other inmates three weeks before his execution date. On May 14th, 1915, the subject fatally shot Sheriff John Kearby, of the Butler County, Missouri, Sheriff's Office, when the sheriff and a constable attempted to question him when they encountered him trespassing in the railroad yards in Poplar Bluff. The man was shot and killed by return gunfire.

Chief Special Agent Logan was survived by his wife and son.