In the quiet mountains south of Leesburg, Virginia, a manhunt in the spring of 1935 turned deadly, claiming the life of a dedicated public servant. Corporal Clarence Jordan McClary, a 28-year-old White male and an eight-year veteran of the Alexandria Police Department, was fatally shot on March 17, 1935. He was part of a posse of federal, state, and local officers searching for men involved in a violent altercation the day before at two illicit liquor stills. The operation had already seen one federal officer wounded by gunfire, and the posse was determined to bring the perpetrators to justice.
The search led the officers to a rugged, secluded area where they eventually captured ten men connected to the moonshining operation. Among them was a 66-year-old man with a violent past. This individual was identified as the shooter responsible for the injuries to the federal officer and for firing the fatal shot that killed Corporal McClary. His history as a fugitive from justice, having escaped a Wisconsin prison camp in 1932 where he was serving a 25-year sentence for a previous murder, painted a grim picture of a dangerous and desperate man.
Following his capture, the suspect faced justice for his crimes. He was convicted of the murder of Corporal McClary and sentenced to 20 years in prison. The conviction brought a measure of closure to a grieving family and a shocked community. Corporal McClary was survived by his wife and four children. Tragically, this was not the first time the McClary family had endured such a loss; his brother, Sergeant Charles McClary, also with the Alexandria Police Department, had been killed in the line of duty in 1929. In the aftermath, a legal battle ensued regarding compensation for McClary's widow, with the Supreme Court of Virginia ultimately ruling that his death, though outside the city limits while assisting other agencies, arose out of his employment.
