Patrolman Absolom Blythe Hunt

Absolom Blythe Hunt

Patrolman Hunt was shot and killed while attempting to arrest several men on Buncombe Street for several armed robberies. After arresting the two men three accomplices drove up and opened fire on Patrolman Hunt and two detectives, striking Patrolman Hunt twice. The five men escaped and four were eventually apprehended.

Only one of the men was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. He escaped from the Boykin Prison Farm in 1957 and remained at large for six years. In 1963 he was recaptured by the FBI in Montana. In 1964 a judge ordered that the suspect was to be given a new trial, stating that his first trial was mishandled. The suspect was released from prison after posting a $10,000 bond. A year later the South Carolina Supreme Court reversed the judge's ruling and ordered that the suspect be returned to prison. But, the suspect was no where to be found. In 1967 he was again recaptured by the FBI in Tucson, Arizona. A year later the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the South Carolina Supreme Court's decision and ordered a new trial in which the suspect was acquitted December 4, 1968.

Patrolman Hunt had been with the agency for two years.