Correctional Officer Albert Jerald Cox

Albert Jerald Cox

Correctional Officer Albert Cox was stabbed to death after being abducted during an escape attempt at the Oklahoma State Reformatory's trusty unit outside of the prison walls.

A search was begun after Officer Cox and an inmate were discovered to be missing. Officer Cox's body was found under more than two dozen 50-pound sacks of feed in a chicken coop in the prison farm. He had been stabbed several times and his throat had been slashed by a home-made knife. The pickup truck he had been making his rounds in was located in Johnston County. Later that day, near Mannsville, the suspect held a knife to the throat of an 11 year-old boy and forced him and his father to drive him to a remote location before releasing them and taking their vehicle. Five days later the car was found abandoned in Florida. On October 4, 1977, the suspect was captured by FBI agents in Denver, Colorado.

The suspect, who was serving a 15 year sentence for a 1974 robbery conviction, was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death. In 1982 his conviction was overturned and a new trial was ordered. He was found guilty of second degree murder and sentenced to life. He has been denied parole several times, including his last parole hearing in 2007.

Officer Cox had served with the Oklahoma Department of Corrections for 12 years. He is survived by his wife.