In the autumn of 1904, a young Alexandria police officer named Benjamen Garfield Aymond, known as 'B.G.', found his life tragically cut short. Born in Plaucheville, Louisiana, in 1882, the 22-year-old male officer had only been with the Alexandria Police Department for a few weeks before that fateful night.
On the evening of November 10, 1904, while on patrol near the city's railroad station, Officer Aymond heard the sound of gunshots.
Rushing to investigate, he entered a boarding house to find a woman named Iretta Parker deceased from a gunshot wound. A witness at the scene, Peggy Underwood, identified the shooter as her estranged husband, Tom Underwood, who had just fled through a window.
Without hesitation, Officer Aymond pursued the suspect, confronting him in a back courtyard. Aymond ordered Underwood to stop, but the man turned and fired his Colt 45, striking the young officer in the abdomen. Tragically, Officer Aymond's own pistol misfired, leaving him defenseless. His brother-in-law and fellow officer, M. L. Broussard, arrived to find Aymond mortally wounded. Benjamen Aymond succumbed to his injuries on November 11, 1904.
A manhunt for Tom Underwood ensued, with the City of Alexandria and the Rapides Parish Sheriff offering a reward for his capture. On November 21, 1904, Underwood was apprehended in Calcasieu Parish while on a freight train. He was brought back to Alexandria to face justice. Following a trial, Tom Underwood was convicted of the murder of Officer Benjamen Aymond. On February 17, 1905, he was executed by hanging.
