Sheriff Jackson Stanland, aged 46, was shot and killed on November 30, 1908, in Southport, North Carolina. Stanland, who served in the Brunswick County Sheriff's Office, was attempting to arrest Jesse Walker, a suspect wanted for breaking into a store and being a deserter from Fort Caswell. During the arrest attempt at Little Shallotte, Walker shot Stanland, leading to his death.
Following Stanland's death, Walker was captured and incarcerated in the Southport Jail.
However, on January 29, 1909, Walker managed to overpower the guard and escape from the jail. It wasn't until March 7, 1915, that Walker was recaptured in Brunswick County when he attempted to visit his wife and child. A doctor who had previously treated Walker's gunshot wounds identified him as the same man who had murdered Deputy Constable George Kirk in Oklahoma. Walker was convicted of Stanland's murder and sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Walker's case was marked by multiple escapes and re-captures. He escaped from the Central Prison in Raleigh in 1919 and relocated to Mississippi, where he assumed a new identity and remarried. In 1935, Walker voluntarily returned to prison and admitted his true identity to his wife. He was paroled in North Carolina in 1936 and returned to the Oklahoma Penitentiary to complete his sentence, finally being paroled in Oklahoma in 1944.
Sheriff Stanland was survived by his wife and seven children. His death was a significant event in the history of Brunswick County, and the subsequent investigation and trials surrounding Walker's capture and conviction were widely covered in the media of the time.
