Incident Details
Cause of Death:Officer Thomas Graham was shot and killed with his own service weapon after a burglary suspect gained control of his revolver.
The prisoner was being transported from the scene of a north side business burglary to police headquarters. As they approached the entrance to the prisoners' elevator in the basement to proceed to the fifth-floor jail, a physical struggle ensued between the two.
Officer Graham was shot in the head by the prisoner and he was transported to General Hospital where he died nearly three hours later.
The 28-year-old suspect fled the scene but was apprehended after a 41-hour manhunt when police received a tip he was hiding at a boarding house. He was arrested on a warrant for first-degree murder and found mentally incompetent to stand trial.
After being committed for four years to the Dr. Norman M. Beatty Memorial Hospital in Westville, a state psychiatric hospital that also served the criminally insane, he waived a jury trail and pleaded guilty by reason of insanity.
He was sentenced to life in prison which was later reversed by the judge. In a new trial, he was found guilty of second-degree murder by a jury in a change of venue to Hancock County and again sentenced to life in prison.
Officer Graham was survived by his wife.
Military Service United States Navy |