Thomas G. Tompkins

In the autumn of 1978, a dedicated 31-year-old male Shreveport Police Patrolman named Thomas Glen Tompkins had been with the department for a mere eight months. On the evening of Friday, October 20, 1978, he was tasked with transporting a man who had been arrested for causing a disturbance at a local establishment called the Dragon Lounge. The suspect, Wayne Robert Felde, was an escapee from a Maryland prison where he had been serving time for manslaughter.

Unbeknownst to Officer Tompkins ...