Chief of Police Chester Arthur Calkins

Chester Arthur Calkins

Chief Calkins was shot three times and killed as he sat in his patrol car on Main Street. The investigation of his murder was very intense. Officers put forth a lot of extra effort comparing bullets from every .32 caliber pistol they came across to the ones found in Chief Calkins' body.

On February 18, 1953, a man, 33, was arrested in Norfolk, Nebraska, after he broke into an implements store. He was admitted to a mental hospital, suffering from severe alcoholism his mother said was caused by being in a German prison for 15 months before the end of World War II. A month after his admission he confessed that he shot and killed Chief Calkins. He said Chief Calkins had stopped him and noticed a vanity case on the back seat of his car that a woman reported was stolen earlier from her car. He said Chief Calkins arrested him, placed him in his patrol car, and as he got back into his car he shot him three times. He also admitted to 15 burglaries and several larcenies from vehicles. He was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to life in prison on June 27, 1953. He was paroled on December 17, 1968.

Chief Calkins was survived by his wife and three children. His brother, a local constable, was appointed to assume his duties as police chief.