Correctional Officer Eli Jenkins was stabbed to death by two inmates during a prison break.

On February 28, 1918, Correctional Officer Eli Jenkins was stabbed to death by two inmates who were attempting to escape from the state penitentiary in Jefferson City. At 4:40 am Officer Jenkins opened the cell of two inmates who worked in the prison kitchen. As Officer Jenkins opened the cell door the two convicts, Kenneth Brewer and David Bartlett, leaped upon him and stabbed him to death. Officer Jenkins was found dead with three deep cuts near his heart locked in the prisoners' cell. The two prisoners used Officer Jenkins keys to free a third prisoner, Joe Kenney, and the three escaped over a 50 foot wall using stacked boards under the cover of fog. The escape was discovered when a prison official investigated after the two inmates failed to show up in the kitchen for their work detail.

Joe Kenney was shot by prison guards and was not expected to live. When Kenney did survive he was sentenced to another 5 years for his part in the escape. Bartlett and Brewer were sentenced to life for the murder.

Officer Jenkins, 55, served the Department of Corrections for 25 years. Officer Jenkins was survived by his wife, Jennie. Interred: Riverview Cemetery, Jefferson City, MO.