Sheriff George Law and Deputy Dundon were shot and fatally wounded while escorting prisoners.

On June 19, 1873, Sheriff Law was notified that two horses had been stolen by the Peter Kessler and his son Augustus. Five weeks later both Kesslers were arrested in St. Louis and were subsequently taken to Jefferson City for imprisonment. The prisoners were taken to Fulton August 1 and committed to the county jail. Peter Kessler was widely hated and that night an angry mob appeared on the edge of town but was dispelled with diplomacy and tact. Sheriff Law sought to remove the Kesslers to a place safer than the tiny jail and the next day he returned them to the prison in Jefferson City.

The Kessler trial was set for August 15. On the 13th, Law asked Governor Silas Woodson for additional security for fear of the eruption of mob violence on the return of the Kesslers to Fulton. Governor Woodson declined saying that outside intervention should be avoided. Sheriff Law made the best preparations he could. Among the men were assisting Mr. John N. Burnett, of Cedar City, and Constable Miles, of Cedar township. The prisoners were put aboard the Louisiana & Missouri River Railroad. Just a few miles from the river, Augustus Kessler managed to escape from the window of a water closet when the moving train was about 3 miles from Cedar City. Bennet and Miles left the train in pursuit of Augustus Kessler. At Bigbee rail station, W. W. Dundon was prevailed upon to accompany and assist a remaining Deputy Boulware, to Fulton, Missouri to deliver Peter Kessler to the court. Sheriff Law tightened security and met the train in Fulton and transported Peter Kessler to trial.

Of the Fulton trial, a reporter wrote, "Seeing from the temper of the crowd that danger was imminent and postponement would prove fatal to Kessler, they concluded the best course would be to plead guilty," which is what was done. Kessler was sentenced to six years in the penitentiary by Judge Burckhartt. He was kept in the courthouse for more than two hours, then placed in a closed carriage near the court-house square with Sheriff Law, prosecuting-attorney Provines, Constable Arthur, and Mr. Dundon to be taken back to the train to Jefferson City. A mounted guard of eight or ten men were assembling at the carriage just as the assault started. The owner of the vehicle and driver, Mr. F. W. Henderson, was deprived of the reins by one of the mob, who took the driver's seat and at once commenced whipping the horses and attempted to drive off down Court Street. The carriage had traveled more than fifteen or twenty yards when the driver presented a pistol to the head of Kessler. Sheriff Law stated he told him not to shoot and knocked or raised the pistol upwards and it went off, the ball going through the top of the carriage. Instantly a number of men rode up to the carriage and commenced firing into it rapidly. The men kept firing until the carriage was more than a hundred yards from the starting point. Sheriff Law was mortally wounded. One ball entered his left hip, another six to eight inches above the first which lodged in his spine. Deputy Dundon was also seriously wounded, a bullet struck him in the neck and ranged down into his chest. The men endured a jarring ride of almost two miles toward the Synodical female college on Mexico Road before the carriage drew to a stop near the graveyard. The suspects then put a halter around Peter Kessler's neck and hung him. A passerby took Sheriff Law and Deputy Dundon to Sheriff Law's home in Fulton where physicians treated the men. Sheriff Law's mind was clear until his death. His good friend Colonel Elijah Gates, now sheriff of Buchanan county, was summoned to the deathbed and stayed during the sheriff's last hours. George Law died 9 days later on August 23, 1873. Deputy Dundon hung on for 19 days.

A suspect was charged with both murders but was acquitted at his trial seven months later. It was believed that other participants of the murders fled the county.

Sheriff Law was preceded in death by his wife, Amanda, in 1871. He moved to Missouri from Virginia when he was 32. He joined the Missouri State Militia during the Civil War and fought under Sterling Price of Chariton County. By 1862 George Law had become a lieutenant colonel. His left arm was amputated as a result of an injury received at Big Black River Bridge but he managed to serve until the final surrender of the Confederacy on May 4, 1865. Following the Civil War, George Law returned to his home and resumed life on his farm. He was elected sheriff in 1872. Interred: Law Cemetery on their farm. He was preceded in death by his wife and eight children.

Deputy W. W. Dundon hailed from Harrison County, Ohio. Interred: Hillcrest Cemetery, Fulton, Missouri.

Article by Brent Marchant