In the early morning hours of November 17, 1930, in Kirksville, Missouri, a dedicated lawman's life was tragically cut short. Night Marshal John Wesley Rose, a 60-year-old male who had served in law enforcement for 18 years, was on duty when he and his partner, Night Marshal George Scrivens, began to investigate a man in connection with a local gas station robbery.
The officers had been alerted to a suspicious man seen asleep in a car and soon located the vehicle at a filling station on North Elson Street.
As the two marshals approached the car to question the driver, the man exited his vehicle. In a sudden and violent turn of events, the suspect pretended to brush dust from his jacket before drawing two automatic pistols and opening fire on the unsuspecting officers. Marshal Rose was struck in the chest and neck and died instantly at the scene. His partner, Marshal Scrivens, was also wounded in the attack before the gunman fled into the nearby woods.
The man responsible for the cold-blooded murder of Marshal Rose was later identified as Lawrence DeVol. His reign of terror did not end that day in Kirksville. In 1933, DeVol was sentenced to life in prison for the murders of two Minneapolis, Minnesota, police officers, Patrolman Ira Evans and Patrolman Leo Gorski, which occurred in December of 1932. The following year, he was deemed to be insane and was transferred to a state hospital.
However, DeVol's story took another dark turn two years later when he masterminded an escape of 15 inmates and resumed his criminal activities, which included robbing banks. On July 8, 1936, his violent spree continued when he shot and killed Officer Cal Palmer of the Enid, Oklahoma, Police Department. DeVol was associated with the infamous Barker-Karpis Gang, a notorious group responsible for a multitude of violent crimes throughout the Midwest, including the murders of at least ten law enforcement officers. John Wesley Rose was survived by his wife and six children.
