Gallery of Heroes
This page is designed to honor and preserve the memories of correctional employees in Oklahoma who have given their lives in the line of duty. Employees are listed chronologically.
D.C. "Pat" Oates - Died January 19, 1914
Deputy Warden, Oklahoma State Penitentiary
McAlester, Oklahoma
D. C. “Pat” Oates, 44, was one of seven people killed during a prison escape about 4:20 p.m. on Monday, January 19, 1914, at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary (OSP) in McAlester.
The three inmates made their way down the administration corridor in pretext of seeing the parole officer. Deputy Warden Oates heard a turnkey yell, came out of his office, drew his handgun and emptied it at the inmates, wounding one in the chest, just as Bertillon Officer Herman H. Drover was exiting another room from developing photographs. Drover was killed by gunfire from one inmate. Oates ran down the hall to get another gun or more ammunition. As the inmates burst into the deputy warden's office, they confronted stenographer, Mary Foster; day sergeant F. C. Godfrey; parole officer, Frank Rice; and attorney, John H. Thomas; who was at the prison to see a client. As the inmates told everyone to raise their hands, the elderly Thomas moved too slow to suit them, and one inmate shot him fatally. Sergeant Godfrey, who was facing a wall with his hands raised, then attacked the inmate, who shot him in the head, killing him instantly. The inmates then took Foster and Rice as hostages, and, shielding themselves behind their hostages, moved out of the office.
Deputy Warden Oates, who had rearmed himself with a shotgun, met them in the corridor. Oates ordered one inmate to drop his gun, but the inmate fired at Oates, killing him. Subsequently, all three inmates were killed during the escape attempt. Oates had served three years as a Deputy Sheriff and four years as Sheriff in Woods County before being appointed as Deputy Warden of the State Penitentiary in 1909. Oates was survived by his wife Beulah and two children Marjorie and William.
Fred C. Godfrey - Died January 19, 1914
Day Sergeant, Oklahoma State Penitentiary
McAlester, Oklahoma
At 4:20 p.m., January 19, 1914, three prisoners, were making their way through the maximum-security prison's front corridor, planning to escape. One inmate was concealing a handgun that had been smuggled into the prison for him. As Turnkey J. W. Martin let the inmates through the door, this inmate pulled the gun on him and demanded the keys. Martin, alone and unarmed, jumped the inmate and struggled with him until he was shot in the cheek. The inmates then took the keys and ran down the corridor to the office of the deputy warden intending to take a hostage.
Martin raised the alarm and D. W. Oates came out of his office, drew his handgun and emptied it at the inmates, wounding one in the chest. The armed inmate returned fire. Bertillon Officer Herman H. Drover was just exiting another room from developing photographs and was fatally hit by one of the inmate’s shots. Oates ran down the hall to get another gun or more ammunition. As the inmates burst into the deputy warden's office, they confronted stenographer, Mary Foster; day sergeant Fred C. Godfrey; parole officer, Frank Rice; and attorney, John H. Thomas, who was at the prison to see a client. As the inmates told everyone to raise their hands, the elderly Thomas moved too slow to suit them, and one inmate shot him fatally.
Sergeant Godfrey, who was facing a wall with his hands raised, then attacked the inmate, who shot him in the head, killing him instantly. Sergeant Godfrey was one of seven people killed during the prison escape attempt. Others were Deputy Warden D. C. “Pat” Oates, Bertillon Officer Herman H. Drover, attorney John H. Thomas, and the three escaping inmates.
Herman H. Drover - Died January 19, 1914
Bertillion Officer, Oklahoma State Penitentiary
McAlester, Oklahoma
At 4:20 p.m., January 19, 1914, three prisoners, were making their way through the maximum-security prison's front corridor, ostensibly to see parole officer, Frank Rice. One inmate was concealing a handgun that had been smuggled into the prison for him.
As Turnkey J. W. Martin let the inmates through the door, this inmate pulled the gun on him and demanded the keys. Martin, alone and unarmed, jumped the inmate and struggled with him until he was shot in the cheek. The inmates then took the keys and ran down the corridor to the office of Deputy Warden D. C. Oates, intending to take a hostage to help protect their escape from the armed officers in the towers outside.
Turnkey Martin raised the alarm and Deputy Warden Oates came out of his office, drew his handgun and emptied it at the inmates, wounding one in the chest. The armed inmate returned fire. Bertillon Officer Herman H. Drover was just exiting another room from developing photographs and was fatally hit by one of the inmate’s shots. Oates ran down the hall to get another gun or more ammunition.
Officer Drover was one of seven people killed during the prison escape attempt. Others were Deputy Warden D. C. “Pat” Oates, Sgt. Fred C. Godfrey, attorney, John H. Thomas, and the three escaping inmates.
William R. Mayfield - Died January 20, 1926
Brickyard Supervisor, Oklahoma State Penitentiary
McAlester, Oklahoma
On Tuesday January 19, 1926, William Mayfield was supervisor for the brickyard at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. One of the prisoners in the brickyard that day was originally sentenced to five years for burglary. But in 1925, he killed his cell mate and received an additional twenty-five year sentence. This inmate had a plan to escape on Tuesday, January 19th.
To affect that escape, the inmate threw a brick at Officer Mayfield, striking him in the back of the head causing a deep wound and a fractured skull. Other prison guards then shot the inmate. Mayfield died of his head wound the next morning.
He was survived by his wife and four children.
James Payton "Pate" Jones - Died February 17, 1935
Correctional Officer, Oklahoma State Reformatory
Granite, Oklahoma
On February 17, 1935, Officer Jones was on duty in the main entrance tower. Shortly after 2 p.m. on that day, two inmates, led a mass escape attempt with two guns that had been smuggled in to them. Unfortunately, a group of women and children were taking a tour of the prison at the same time and the prisoners took them hostage. As the group approached the main tower where Officer Jones was on duty, one of the inmates shot him fatally with a shotgun. Officer Jones' wife was standing on the front porch of the officers' barracks a short distance away and saw her husband shot down.
William C. Turner - Died July 18, 1935
Guard Foreman - Oklahoma State Penitentiary
McAlester, Oklahoma
On July 18, 1935, Guard Foreman Turner was supervising three prisoners on the prison farm about a mile from the main prison building. He was suddenly struck by lightning, killing him and the horse he was riding. The three prisoners were also injured by the lightning. Guard Foreman Turner had worked at the penitentiary for approximately four years.
Charles D. Powell - Died May 11, 1936
Brickyard Foreman, Oklahoma State Penitentiary
McAlester, Oklahoma
About noon on May 11, 1936, prisoners were being fed lunch in the brickyard when a jail break occurred. Twenty-four men charged at four officers, including Mr. Powell, with prison-made knives. Powell attempted to escape from them but was struck on the head with a piece of pipe. The four hostage officers, Powell, Tuck Cope, W.W. Gossett, and Victor Conn, were then forced toward the nearest guard tower. When the prisoners demanded that the two tower officers throw down their guns, the officers complied.
The now armed inmates forced their captives to a nearby car and fourteen of the escapees crammed themselves into and onto the running boards of the car. As the car began moving, other officers opened fire. Tuck Cope was wounded in the neck, Gossett in the stomach, but officer Powell was fatally hit in the head. His body was dumped nearly a mile away on a McAlester thoroughfare. In the resulting melee, ten of the inmates were wounded and six were rapidly recaptured. Eight escaped for periods ranging from a few hours to several weeks, but all were subsequently recaptured.
Jess Fulton Dunn - Died August 10, 1941
Warden, Oklahoma State Penitentiary
McAlester, Oklahoma
About 10:45 A.M. on Sunday, August 10, 1941, four prisoners armed with homemade knives attempted to breakout of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. About the same time that morning Warden Dunn, 49, was planning a new communication system and was touring the prison with J. H. Fentriss, an electrical engineer, R.W. Murray, a contractor and his 10 year-old son. The prisoners took the warden and Fentriss hostage and told Murray and his son to leave. The prisoners then marched their two hostages into the yard, using them as shields. The east gate tower guards threw down their weapons and opened the gate. Warden Dunn had already been stabbed once at this point. The prisoners, now armed with guns, forced their hostages out the gate and into a car.
The Pittsburg County Sheriff’s Office had been advised of the prison break. Deputies Bill Alexander and William A “Tab” Ford, former prison guards, quickly used their car as a roadblock three blocks north of the prison. As the car containing the prisoners and their hostages came to a stop at the roadblock, the prisoners ordered the warden to order the deputies to let them pass, which the warden did. Deputy Alexander told the warden he could pass but the other men would not be allowed to leave. One prisoner shot Deputy Ford in the head. Another prisoner then shot Warden Dunn twice in the back of the head. Deputy Alexander returned fire. When the shooting was over, two inmates and the warden were dead at the scene. Deputy Ford died a few hours later and a third inmate died two days later. One inmate survived his wounds and died in Oklahoma’s electric chair July 14, 1943. Fentriss was found in the floorboard of the car uninjured.
William R. Benningfield - Died August 11, 1941
Civilian Work Supervisor, Soil Conservation Camp
Atoka County, Oklahoma
On August 11, 1941, a trusty working at the Soil Conservation Camp near Kenefic, Oklahoma in Atoka County, complained of feeling ill. Mr. Benningfield, an unarmed supervisor at the conservation camp, agreed to transport the inmate to the doctor in Atoka, but they never arrived. Benningfield’s car was found abandoned near Wewoka with the gears stripped. The inmate was arrested that night while hitchhiking near Shawnee, Oklahoma, on Highway 270. Confessing to Benningfield's murder, he led officers to the body in a ditch 14 miles north of Durant. Benningfield had been beaten to death with a claw hammer.
W.H. "Pat" Riley - Died December 13, 1943
Chief Sergeant, Oklahoma State Reformatory
Granite, Oklahoma
On December 13, 1943, an inmate told Sergeant Riley that he had been robbed of a watch and $30 by two other inmates. He also told Sergeant Riley the names of the two prisoners. About 3:15 p.m. the same day, Sergeant Riley located both suspects in the boiler room where they worked. As he questioned them about the robbery, one inmate hit Sgt. Riley over the head with a piece of pipe, and the other stabbed him in the face and back with a knife. Leaving the officer on the floor, the two inmates then ran to the canteen where the inmate victim worked behind the counter. When the two ran in the canteen, the other inmates ran out before the inmate victim was killed with an ice pick.
Sgt. Riley was survived by his wife, a daughter and four sons.
W.H. Aston - died August 4, 1948
Correctional Officer, Oklahoma State Penitentiary
McAlester, Oklahoma
On July 30, Officer Aston was on duty on the fourth floor of the west cellblock which was the solitary confinement area. Officer Aston saw a mirror, prohibited in solitary confinement, extended from an inmate's cell and went to check on it. When he opened the cell door, an inmate sprang upon him and began beating Aston's head on the floor, wall, and against the cell bars. When other officers came to his rescue, Aston was still conscious, and his injuries did not appear to be serious. He was taken to a local hospital but did not want to be admitted. He was examined and sent home, but the next day his condition worsened. Taken to a hospital in Holdenville, he was diagnosed as suffering from a fractured skull and intra-cranial bleeding.
Officer Aston died of his injuries on August 4, 1948.
Albert J. Cox - Died March 5, 1977
Prison Farm Supervisor, Oklahoma State Penitentiary
McAlester, Oklahoma
Correctional Officer Cox, 47, was a supervisor at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary’s chicken farm on the prison grounds in McAlester. At about 12:40 p.m. on Saturday, March 5, 1977, Cox and an inmate trustee were discovered missing. At 4:45 p.m. that same day, Cox’s body was found in a chicken coop. He had suffered multiple stab wounds and his throat was slashed. The trustee had taken Cox’s prison pickup and drove 80 miles southwest to the Washita River near Tishomingo, where he kidnapped a farmer and his young son. A short time later, he released them unharmed and took their car. The inmate was tracked to Florida but never found.
Supervisor Cox left behind a wife and two children.
Raymond L. Chandler - Died December 18, 1980
Correctional Officer, DOC Security - Griffin Memorial Hospital Unit
Norman, Oklahoma
Officer Chandler was off duty at a laundry mat in Norman, when a former inmate walked in, and a fight ensued. As the two struggled, both fell through a large plate glass window. A large piece of glass cut Officer Chandler’s jugular vein as he fell. After falling through the window, the semi-conscious officer, dressed in street clothes, fired one shot from a handgun at the offender who was running away, but he did not strike the ex-inmate.
Chandler then collapsed and died at the scene.
At the time of his death, Officer Chandler was assigned to the inmate unit at Griffin Memorial Hospital.
Rex J. Thompson - Died September 1, 1981
Correctional Officer, Lexington Correctional Center
Lexington, Oklahoma
On August 31, 1981, after an earlier confrontation between inmates, a general lockdown was in progress at the Lexington Correctional Center. At approximately 7:00 P.M. an inmate who was serving a two-year sentence on a conviction of assault and battery with intent to kill approached Officer Thompson. It looked as though he asked Thompson a question as Thompson raised his hand and shook his head as if to say I don’t know. The inmate twisted a little to the side and then hit Officer Thompson in the left jaw. Thompson made about a quarter turn then landed on the sidewalk, not even trying to catch himself. Another officer stated Thompson fell backwards hitting his head on a one inch steel frame. Also according to this officer, the inmate started jumping up and down like a boxer. Other officers ran to the area and wrestled the inmate to the ground, placing him in restraints.
Officer Thompson was taken to the Purcell Hospital and later transferred to St. Anthony’s hospital in Oklahoma City where he died from his injuries at 6:20 a.m. the next morning, September 1, 1981.
Officer Thompson was survived by his wife and two children.
Eugene L. Young - Died July 28, 1989
Probation and Parole Officer
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
On the afternoon of July 28, 1989, at the Oklahoma City probation and parole office, a parolee was being arrested during his visit to the office preparatory to have his parole revoked. The offender violently resisted arrest, and Officer Young was one of five officers called to subdue him. A short time later, Officer Young suffered a heart attack and died at Presbyterian Hospital in Oklahoma City.
Kenneth Denton - Died August 3, 1989
Correctional Officer, Oklahoma State Reformatory
Granite, Oklahoma
At about 9:30 a.m. on August 3, 1989, Officer Denton was transporting five inmate road crew workers in a Department of Corrections van. On Highway 9 about six miles west of Granite, Oklahoma, Officer Denton suffered a heart attack while driving, causing him to lose control of the vehicle, which struck a bridge abutment and turned over.
Officer Denton was pronounced dead at the scene and five inmates received minor injuries..
Gay Carter - Died November 13, 1998
Correctional Food Supervisor, R.B. "Dick" Conner Correctional Center
Hominy, Oklahoma
On November 13, 1998, an inmate savagely and repeatedly stabbed Gay Carter, using a prison-made "shank" similar to a sharpened screwdriver. On a previous stay at the prison, this inmate had worked in the kitchen but lost this job because he was fighting with another inmate.
The morning of and the morning before this murder, the inmate and Ms. Carter argued over the breakfast tray served. The previous morning, the inmate threatened to “get” Ms. Carter. After the last argument, other inmates saw this inmate loitering in a storage area where cleaning supplies were kept, adjacent to the main dining area. Carter left the dining area to go to another building where the kitchen was located. When she returned, the inmate grabbed her and pulled her into a mop closet. Inside the closet, the inmate stabbed Carter numerous times in the chest. Witnesses summoned help and the first correctional officer to arrive saw the inmate still struggling with Carter, and then run off. Medical personnel arrived to aid Ms. Carter. She was transported to the hospital, but efforts to revive her were unsuccessful.
Joe Allen Gamble, Jr. - Died June 6, 2000
Correctional Officer, Oklahoma State Reformatory
Granite, Oklahoma
On June 5, 2000, Sergeant Joe Allen Gamble was assigned to D Unit at the Oklahoma State Reformatory. At 8:15 a.m., Sergeant Gamble heard the call for help from Officer William Callaway. Sergeant Gamble immediately left the area he was counting and went through the unit control room to D-1 pod. When he arrived at D-1 pod, he did not know Officer Callaway had escaped the day room. Thinking only of his friend's call for help and without regard for his own personal safety, Sergeant Joe Allen Gamble entered the day room to help his fellow correctional officer. An inmate armed with two homemade knives called “shanks” ambushed Sergeant Gamble as he entered the day room, stabbing him in the throat.
Sergeant Gamble was able to escape and ran immediately to medical for treatment. He was rushed to Jackson County Memorial Hospital in Altus where he later died from his injuries early the next morning.