Special Agent William Joseph Jackson Jr., aged 43, was born in Plymouth, North Carolina, and served with the Bureau of Prohibition. On March 8, 1938, he was conducting surveillance on Highway 17, along the Virginia-North Carolina border, with Officer John Estes of the Norfolk, Virginia Police Department. They were following a Buick sedan occupied by Joe Thomas West and Bernard E.
Royals, two known bootleggers, who were suspected of transporting illicit whiskey.
As Agent Jackson alighted from the government automobile, West and Royals immediately shot and killed him. The pursuit continued into Virginia as the officers and suspects exchanged shots from their moving cars. Both suspects were arrested, convicted of murder, and sentenced to life imprisonment. Agent Jackson was survived by his wife, Isolaud.
This tragic incident highlights the dangers faced by law enforcement officers during the Prohibition era, as they worked to enforce the ban on alcohol and combat organized crime.
