Town Marshal William Joe Giles

William Joe Giles

Marshal Giles was shot and killed while attempting to quell an argument in a local saloon. An inebriated patron of the saloon and a roulette operator had become engaged in an argument and the patron, upset over his losses, threatened the operator with a gun. When Marshal Giles asked the man to put his gun away the man shot him four times. Marshal Giles returned fire but did not strike the suspect, who later turned himself in. The suspect, himself a deputy from Navajo County, was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years but was pardoned after only a few years.

Marshal Giles had been with the agency for less than one year and was survived by his wife, two sons, two daughters, his mother, two brothers, and four sisters.