Deputized Civilian James P. Burk

James P. Burk

City Marshal T. B. Sullivan received information about a house of prostitution. At 12:15 a.m. City Marshal Sullivan decided to raid the house to arrest the occupants. As he was proceeding to the house, James P. “Jim” Burk volunteered to go with him. Burk took the marshal’s pistol and walked around the house. The occupants opened fire and Burk was shot through the heart and he died in about 4 minutes. Marshal Sullivan rushed to Burk’s aid and caught him as he was reeling from the effects of his wound. The marshal and sheriff’s deputies arrested three men, Ed Hargrave, Will Manning and Albert Smith. Ed Hargrave was tried and convicted of murder in the second degree and sentenced to 25 years in prison. The Court noted “Defendant allegedly shot the victim, who was a police officer, at a house of prostitution.”

Very little information is known about Jim Burk at this time. He was reportedly 36 years old and unmarried. His body was sent to Denison, Grayson County, for burial, but the place of burial is unknown.