Deputy Sheriff William Conway Keirsey

William Conway Keirsey

Deputy William Keirsey was shot and killed while he and the undersheriff were questioning two brothers about a stolen car at their home.

Several days later one of the suspects was shot and killed by police in Wichita, Kansas. The other suspect was apprehended in Hereford, Texas. He was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death. His sentence was later commuted to life. On September 3, 1934, he died in prison at the age of 23 of complications from a stroke.

Deputy Keirsey's uncle, police officer Ben Collins, of the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs, was shot and killed in the line of duty on August 1, 1906. His brother, Patrolman Jim Keirsey, was also shot and killed in the line of duty the previous year while serving with the Seminole Police Department.

Deputy Keirsey, A WWI veteran, had been employed with the Carter County Sheriff's Office for ten years.