In the late summer of 1930, a White / Caucasian man named Deputy Game Warden Joseph Saunders, met a violent end in Marcola, Oregon. On August 29th, Saunders, along with Eugene Police Officer Oscar Duley and several Lane County sheriff's deputies, was involved in a raid on an illegal liquor operation, a common and often dangerous undertaking during the era of Prohibition. The officers' attempt to enforce the law was met with armed resistance.
During the confrontation, both Deputy Game Warden Saunders and Officer Duley were shot and killed. The sudden and brutal nature of their deaths sparked an immediate and intensive manhunt for the individual responsible. Law enforcement from the area dedicated their efforts to tracking down the suspect who had slain two of their own.
The search for the killer continued for several months. Finally, on November 25, 1930, officers located the suspect near Eugene, Oregon. In the ensuing confrontation, the man who had murdered Saunders and Duley was shot and killed by police. His death brought an end to the manhunt and the case itself, as the sole suspect was never brought to trial. Consequently, there were no arrests made in connection with the deaths of Deputy Game Warden Joseph Saunders and Officer Oscar Duley.
