Deputy Sheriff Burton Lee Brewer

Burton Lee Brewer

Deputy Sheriff Burton Brewer was shot and killed while attempting to arrest a man who had just killed Marshal Thomas Adkins of the Dewar Police Department and Auxiliary Officer Walter Hembree of the Henryetta Police Department. The suspect was then shot and wounded by the chief of the Morris Police Department.

The 20-year-old suspect was convicted of two counts of capital murder and sentenced to death. His sentence was later overturned, and he was then sentenced to life in prison. He was denied parole in June of 2016. As of October 22, 2022, he was in prison.

Deputy Brewer was a United States National Guard and Army WWII veteran who retired from the Okmulgee Fire Department after 21 years of service. He then became a private detective in Tulsa for a time before joining the Okmulgee County Sheriff’s Department, where he served with the agency for one year. He was survived by his wife, son, and two daughters.