Guard Samuel P. Chesshir

Samuel P. Chesshir

Guard Sam Chesshir and Guard Walter Zimmer were stabbed to death by an inmate at the Ohio State Penitentiary in Columbus.

The inmate went berserk for no apparent reason, grabbed a butcher knife from the kitchen, stabbed both guards and seriously injured another guard before being subdued. Guard Chesshir succumbed to his wounds three days later.

The inmate, serving a 15-year sentence for burglary, was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and executed in the electric chair on February 2nd, 1949.

Guard Chesshir was a U.S. Army WWI veteran and had served with the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction for five years. He was survived by his wife and daughter.

He is buried at Sunset Cemetary in Galloway, Franklin County, Ohio.