Town Marshal
James Joshua Payne
Fairmount Police Department
Thursday, November 26, 1903

Age: 56
Served: 6 months
Badge #:
Panel 31E, Line 33 (2022)
Included (2022)

Incident Details

Cause of Death:
Gunfire
Date/Time of Incident:
Thursday, November 26, 1903
01:40 pm
Incident to Death Duration:
Same day
Incident Location:
Fifth and Main streets, Fairmount
Incident County:
Grant
Incident Township:
Fairmount
Weapon Used:
.38-caliber handgun
Suspect Disposition:
Died in prison
Burial Place:
Park Cemetery, Fairmount

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   Town Marshal James Payne was shot and killed while serving an arrest warrant on a subject for burglarizing a clothing store the previous evening.

   He and a deputy marshal took the 35-year-old man into custody and as they proceeded to walk toward the jail, the subject pulled a revolver and began firing at the officers.

   Marshal Payne was fatally shot through the heart after he returned fire striking the man once. The suspect held back a gathering crowd, firing at citizens who came to assist Marshal Payne as he lay dying in the street, before he made his escape out of town.

   The parolee, who had been released from prison six months earlier while serving a two-year sentence for burglary, was apprehended three days later by police in Tiffin, Ohio.

   He was extradited, subsequently convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison where he died in 1941.

   Town Marshal Payne was survived by his wife, two sons and sister.

Military Service


United States Army
Civil War (Union)
Private (PVT) ▪ 1864–1865



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Town Marshal James Joshua Payne - Fairmount Police Department - INLEM.org