On the evening of April 8, 1973, in the town of Farmerville, Louisiana, Deputy Marshal Jessie I. Neal, Sr., a 46-year-old male, was killed in the line of duty. He and a fellow officer, Deputy Marshal Ned Wiley, were responding to a domestic disturbance at the D'Arbonne Village public housing complex when they were ambushed. A man at the residence shot both deputies in the chest at close range with a shotgun.
Following the initial shooting, the assailant proceeded to beat Deputy Marshal
Neal with a pistol while he was still inside his patrol car. The attack was interrupted by the arrival of a third officer, who fired at the suspect, causing him to flee the area. A search for the gunman was launched, and he was located and arrested about three hours later, hiding in a mobile home on Circle Drive.
The suspect, who was 45 years old at the time of the incident, was later convicted on two counts of murder and was given two life sentences. However, in 1994, he was granted a new trial because of irregularities in the jury selection process of his first trial. Deputy Marshal Neal was a military veteran and was survived by his wife, a son, and a daughter.
