In the autumn of 1920, a dedicated Federal Prohibition Agent by the name of Kirby Frans met a tragic and untimely end in the line of duty. A man of 43 years, he was committed to enforcing the recently enacted Volstead Act, a law that made the production and sale of alcoholic beverages illegal. It was this commitment that led him and his partner, Agent Joal Bates, to a property just outside of Perry, Oklahoma, on the crisp afternoon of Friday, November 19th.
They arrived at the home of George Willis, armed with a search warrant, intent on investigating reports of an illegal moonshine operation.
Upon their arrival, the agents were met by Mrs. Willis, who, perhaps resigned to the inevitable, led them to a cellar concealed in the backyard. Inside, their suspicions were confirmed by the presence of a fully operational fifty-gallon still, a clear violation of the new federal law. As the two agents began to inspect the contraband apparatus, the quiet of the cellar was shattered. From the shadows at the rear of the cellar, George Willis emerged and, without warning, opened fire on the unsuspecting officers. A single shot struck Agent Frans in the chest, mortally wounding him. In the ensuing chaos, Mrs. Willis reportedly pleaded with her husband not to inflict further harm, and the wounded agent and his partner were permitted to leave.
Agent Bates, with the help of others, rushed his grievously injured partner to a hospital in Oklahoma City. Despite the efforts of the medical staff, Kirby Frans succumbed to his injuries during surgery the following morning, Saturday, November 20, 1920. In the wake of the shooting, George Willis and his brother-in-law, Dan Dexter, who was also present in the cellar, fled the scene in an automobile. While Dexter would surrender to authorities the next day, claiming ignorance of Willis's whereabouts, George Willis, the man who fired the fatal shot, vanished. He was never apprehended for the murder of Agent Kirby Frans, leaving a painful and unresolved chapter in the early and often violent history of Prohibition enforcement.
