James Orval Bishop, 51, male, was the elected sheriff of Carroll County, Arkansas, when he was gunned down on the night of July 14, 1969. Around 9:30 p.m., he answered a domestic disturbance call at the Boostrom Apartments in Green Forest. Knowing the man inside, Sheriff Bishop identified himself at the door and tried to talk things down. The door was chained.
A warning cry from the suspect’s estranged wife—telling the sheriff that her husband had a gun—was followed by shots through the door. Bishop fell mortally wounded. The gunman then shot his wife and himself; both survived.
The case did not stall for lack of a suspect. The shooter, William Archie “Bill” Mayfield Jr., had forced his way into his ex-wife Clarice’s apartment earlier that evening, locked the doors from the inside, displayed a handgun, and threatened to kill the sheriff if he intervened. Multiple witnesses later recounted hearing Mayfield argue that it was a “family fight” and to keep out; when Bishop arrived and asked him to come out and talk, Mayfield fired through the chained door, then turned the weapon on Clarice and himself.
A Carroll County jury began hearing the case on December 3, 1969. On December 10, it found Mayfield guilty of second-degree murder but could not agree on punishment; on December 16, the judge sentenced him to 15 years in the state penitentiary. The Arkansas Supreme Court affirmed the conviction on October 12, 1970, rejecting Mayfield’s arguments about jury composition, instructions, and evidentiary rulings.
Bishop’s death is recorded in line-of-duty memorials and regional remembrances, which place the shooting in Green Forest in Carroll County. Contemporary remembrances and memorial sites also list the date as July 14, 1969; obituary material places Bishop’s age at 51.
