Police Officer John C. Farris

John C. Farris

Police Officer John Farris was stabbed to death after catching a subject attempting to break into a grocery store.

The subject stabbed Officer Farris 11 times. The suspect fled in an automobile but was arrested after being shot four times in the thigh by officers when he tried to run through their roadblock in nearby Kellogg.

The 21-year-old suspect had escaped from Montana State Penitentiary seven days earlier after serving two years of a 10-year sentence for larceny. He was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life. On January 1, 1955, he escaped from the Idaho Penitentiary. He was stopped in a stolen car near Weiser seven weeks later, arrested, and returned to prison. His release date is not known, but he was free on June 7, 1971, the date he married in Montana.

Officer Farris had served with the Wallace Police Department for three years and previously served with the Shoshone Cunty Sheriff's Offce. He was survived by his four children.