Deputy Sheriff Willard Hall

Willard Hall

Deputy Willard Hall and Deputy David Galloway were shot and killed while attempting to serve an arrest warrant on a man at another man's home.

As the two talked to the homeowner and the suspect, the homeowner's wife opened fire from behind a door with a shotgun killing both. When the sheriff and others arrived at the home, the woman confessed she shot both after their conversation turned ugly, and a deputy drew his gun and grabbed her husband. She said she opened fire because she feared for his life. Both men and the woman's 16-year-old son said they did not know what happened. All four were arrested and jailed for murder.

In March of 1948, the man, 58, that the warrant was for was rushed to a hospital when a piece of meat got stuck in his throat. The meat was successfully removed, but because of the stress, he died of a heart attack an hour later. The woman's husband was convicted of two counts of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to 42 years. He was paroled in May of 1954. In May of 1949, the woman, during her trial, held to her story that she killed to save her husband. Her husband and son stuck to their story that they did not know what happened. She was acquitted. Charges were dropped against her son.

Deputy Hall had served with the Letcher County Sheriff's Office for 25 years. He was survived by his wife and three sons.