On a spring day in Seattle, the life of Dale Eggers, a 39-year-old Caucasian male, was tragically cut short. It was April 23, 1985, and Eggers, a Seattle Police Officer, was working an off-duty security detail at the SeaFirst Bank on Beacon Avenue South. Around noon, a man named Ray Albert Lewis entered the bank and handed a teller a note demanding money.
Unaware of the robbery in progress, Officer Eggers was seated at a desk, engaged in a telephone conversation.
After receiving the money, Lewis walked past the unsuspecting officer. In a sudden and violent act, Lewis pulled a sawed-off. 410 gauge shotgun from a briefcase and shot Eggers in the head. The officer was rushed to Harborview Medical Center, but succumbed to his injuries approximately 45 minutes later.
The perpetrator, Ray Albert Lewis, was identified as a Navy veteran and a parolee. A manhunt for Lewis ensued, and he was apprehended just a couple of hours before Officer Eggers' funeral. In 1986, Lewis was convicted of aggravated first-degree murder for the senseless killing. He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
