In the quiet community of Mountain Home, Arkansas, the morning of May 4, 1968, was shattered by violence and the loss of a dedicated public servant. Baxter County Sheriff Emmett O. Edmonds, a 49-year-old male, was killed during a jailbreak at the Baxter County Courthouse. A man of the law, he was serving his third term as sheriff, having previously served as an Arkansas State Policeman for five and a half years.
On that fateful morning, Sheriff Edmonds, accompanied by a city marshal,
went to the third floor of the courthouse to give the prisoners their breakfast. As he was speaking with two of the inmates, he was suddenly attacked. One of the prisoners, Edwin Odus Pittman, had obtained a. 32 caliber handgun that had been smuggled to him by his wife. Pittman shot Sheriff Edmonds, fatally wounding him. In the ensuing chaos, Pittman managed to escape from the jail, triggering a massive manhunt that gripped the region with fear.
For 65 hours, law enforcement from all over Arkansas and Missouri searched for the escaped inmate, as frightened citizens armed themselves for protection. The extensive search finally came to an end when Pittman was captured in the nearby town of Cotter. He was charged with the murder of Sheriff Edmonds. In the following March, Edwin Odus Pittman went on trial. In a remarkable display of grace, Sheriff Edmonds' widow, Pauline, and their sons took the witness stand to ask that Pittman be spared the death penalty. Honoring their wishes, the court sentenced Pittman to life at hard labor in the State Penitentiary, where he remained until his death in 2004. Following her husband's death, Pauline Edmonds was appointed to serve out the remainder of his term, becoming the first and only female sheriff in the history of Baxter County.
