Sheriff John Polk was shot and killed when he attempted to make an arrest at a residence.

On May 25, 1905 at 5:30 pm, Sheriff Polk was went to the home of two brothers and attempted to arrest one of them for an assault resulting in serious injury that occurred 20 minutes earlier in an Ironton restaurant. Prior to the sheriff's arrival at the suspect's home a witness account revealed the suspect threated to kill whoever came to arrest him. This statement was reportedly met with concurring statements from the suspect's brother and mother. When the sheriff arrived at the suspects house the suspect and his brother left the front porch and walked inside the home. The sheriff stepped up on the porch and was met a shout of "kill him" along with gunfire from inside the residence. The suspect and his brother exited the residence, ejected spent casings from their guns and reloaded before fleeing the scene. The suspect's mother ran with the two suspects for a time then pointed them toward Shepherd's mountain. She then returned to her home alone. Officers responded to the suspect's residence to find Sheriff Polk lying dead on the kitchen floor with four gunshot wounds, one which entered below the sheriff's right shoulder blade, one that entered his skull above the right ear, one that entered his body under the left arm and passed through his lung. One shotgun blast from close quarters and a wound inflicted by a blow from a hatchet to the top of his skull, any of which could have caused his death. The suspects and their mother were arrested, taken to jail, and charged with Sheriff Polk's murder. Two months later a group of men broke into the jail, tied up the sheriff, and shot both brothers in the legs.

One of the brothers, Arthur Spaugh, was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to 99 years in prison. The other brother, William Spaugh Jr., was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death. His sentenced was affirmed by the Missouri Supreme Court and by the United States Supreme Court in 1907. His sentence was later commuted to life in prison. Their mother, Mary E. Spaugh, was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to 10 years in prison. All three cases were appealed to and confirmed by the Missouri Supreme Court. Mary Spaugh was later granted a new trial and acquitted.

Sheriff Polk was elected sheriff in 1902 and again in 1904. Interred: Polk Cemetery, Arcadia, MO.

Article by Brent Marchant