Officer Patrick Jones was shot and killed while attempting to apprehend two stealing suspects.
On April 3, 1882 at 7:40 pm, Officer Jones had just gone off duty and was speaking to a man in front of Flemings bar, near his home when he stopped to speak to a neighbor, named Miller. While talking he noticed two men walking, one with a pail and the other with a sack containing something. The men were walking about 300 to 500 yards from the Adams Express Company's Kansas City office and both Jones and Miller's suspicions were aroused that the items were stolen goods. As Officer Jones approached the subjects they started running west from St. Louis and Hickory. Officer Jones gave chase and was shot at St. Louis and Liberty by the larger of the two men. Miller heard the shots and went to investigate to find Officer Jones lying on the ground dead, his pistol and club still in his belt and with a sack and two pails of butter near him. The next morning it was discovered that two pails of butter had been stolen from the Adams Express Company office.
Newspaper accounts describe the city that day as experiencing great excitement over the news, on the same day as Officer Jones death, of the killing of Jesse James by Robert Ford to the degree that court trials of unrelated cases were upended. That same evening a man named Levi Harrington, who was believed to be associated with Officer Jones' murder, was being escorted by officers to Police Headquarters when he was taken by a mob of and lynched on the Bluff Street Bridge.
George Grant was arrested shortly after midnight of the day of the shooting and indicted for the murder of Officer Jones. In the newspaper account of the trial the prosecution produced witnesses that prior to the murder, Grant declared that he would kill the first 'blue coat' that tried to arrest him.
After the court heard the evidence Grant was sentenced to death for the first time on August 7, 1882. Testimony included the attending physician reporting that Officer Jones was killed by a .32 caliber round that had been shot into Officer Jones' body, passing through his heart, a man who reported that Grant stated that he shot Officer Jones when he attempted to arrest Grant, a young man who reported he previously sold a .32 caliber revolver to Grant and the recovery of .32 caliber cartidges found in Grants possession at the time of his arrest. Retrials resulted in two convictions that were successfully appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court, both resulting in reversals and a third prosecution resulted in a hung jury. During the fourth murder trial the prosecutor encountered difficulty locating witnesses. Grant was subsequently offered a plea bargain in December 1884 that resulted in him serving only an additional two years in prison for manslaughter.
Officer Jones, was employed by the Metropolitan Police Department serving the City of Kansas, the city to be renamed Kansas City, Missouri in 1889. He was born in Ireland and was survived by his wife, three sons and two daughters. Interred at Mount St. Mary's Cemetery, Kansas City, Missouri.
Article by Brent Marchant
Missouri Law Enforcement Memorial