by William Novarese
12/30/1929, in the rear of 512 St Martin.
On December 30, 1929, while on walking patrol by himself, Patrolman Walter H. McEwen approached 3 suspicious persons on Calhoun near St Martin. As the Patrolman patted down one of the three suspicious male blacks, he noticed one of them was armed with a handgun in a shoulder holster. Before the patrolman could attempt to disarm the suspect he ran. Patrolman McEwen caught him after a few steps but the suspect broke away. Patrolman McEwen, without any hesitation, began chasing him. 
Patrolman Walter H. McEwen began serving with the Memphis Police Department in July 1922. His ward was in the area of Union Station. Patrolman McEwen and his current partner, Patrolman Pat Roberts, had worked in the area for three months. The ward was considered to be dangerous.
People from many places were continuously moving through the area after arriving on the trains. Travelers walked through the two block area between Union Station and Central station to change trains, look for lodging or a place to eat. The area had numerous restaurants, Cafes’ and Saloons all there to cater to travelers.
The increased foot traffic in the area attracted undesirables, pick pockets, robbers, confidence men, bootleggers and prostitutes. These things combined created a potentially volatile situation. Walking Patrolmen assigned to the area were responsible for maintaining order and keeping the people traveling through Memphis safe.
Patrolman McEwen’s partner, Patrolman Pat A. Roberts, was not with him that morning. An abscessed tooth had caused Roberts to miss several days’ work and he was given permission to see the Dentist that morning while on duty. This left Patrolman McEwen by himself for the amount of time the dentist visit required.
Patrolman McEwen was not at ease about it, but probably agreed to go along with it. He most likely wanted to give his regular partner a chance to deal with his bad tooth so he could return to work.
Before Patrolman Roberts left to go to his appointment, Patrolman McEwen told him, “Don’t be too long, I don’t like walking this ward alone.”
At about 10:00 am, Patrolman McEwen spotted three Black males at St Martin and Calhoun Avenue. Something about them apparently aroused his suspicion and he approached the three and began patting them down.
He patted down one and was in the process of patting down the second. The third began to move away and McEwen stopped, moved toward the third male and grabbed him. He pulled away from the Patrolman and began running down St Martin. McEwen ran after him.
The suspect turned down an ally next to 512 St Martin. It turned out to be a blind alley with a board fence blocking it. The suspect tried to climb the fence but McEwen was close behind him The Patrolman pulled the suspect down from the fence and began fighting with him, attempting to place him under arrest. McEwen had his revolver in his hand and apparently struck the suspect with it.
It is doubtful McEwen saw the shoulder holster the suspect was wearing when he initially approached the three males.The suspect had on a coat that covered it. Had he seen it he would have immediately moved to disarmed him. Apparently he did not. This is where having a partner there with you is so important, especially when you are dealing with more than one suspect. Another pair of eyes makes a difference.
McEwen may have seen the shoulder holster after the fight started but, there is no way to know. If he did, it would have become a situation where deadly force could be used. McEwen had his handgun out and had apparently used it to strike the suspect in an attempt to subdue him. All indications are, he was overpowered by the younger suspect and lost control of his weapon.
According to the witness, the suspect and Patrolman McEwen struggled as they fell to the ground. The suspect quickly gained control of the Patrolman McEwen’s gun and immediately fired two shots at him. One shot missed but the second entered the Patrolman’s head just below his right eye. The suspect got up and ran out of the alley taking the officer’s revolver with him.
Patrolman Walter McEwen lay in the alley mortally wounded.
In 1929 there were no portable radios. Officers had no way to call for help except by telephone or Police call box. Telephones were not as available as they are today or as in the years before cell phones. Incidents usually had to be taken to a conclusion before being called in or be reported by a citizen.
A crowd began to gather near the entrance to the alley where Patrolman McEwen was lying. Patrolman J.H. Cunningham, working a half block away at Union Station, saw the crowd rushing to the ally. Cunningham went to the alley to check out what was happening and found Patrolman McEwen lying on the ground. The patrolman was unable to speak and soon passed away.
Headquarters was notified and a description of the suspect was obtained from witnesses. A female witness who lived at 512 St Martin described the suspect as a black male in his early 20’s wearing a red sweater and a checkered coat.
The description was broadcast over WMC radio and printed by the Commercial Appeal and The Evening Appeal.
Not long after the description was broadcast the suspect was reportedly seen in the Frisco RR yards. Detectives stopped a train leaving the yards for Arkansas before it crossed the Harahan Bridge.
Detectives Morris Solomon, Captain Glisson, O.P. Caldwell, Mario Chiozza and Railroad Special Agent W.P. Smith searched every car of the train.
Two Hobos were found in one of the cars. They readily told Detectives a male fitting that description had boarded the train near Elmwood Cemetery and got off at Porter Street. They described him as 5’10” wearing a red sweater under a faded army coat with a red bandana around his neck.
Detectives went immediately to the Porter Street crossing and began questioning people in the area. Several stated they saw a male fitting the description of the suspect drop from a train near the crossing.He was last seen running across a field from that location.
Detectives changed locations to the RR tracks near Elmwood Cemetery. Canvassing the area they learned a male, who fit the description and was very excited, approached several people offering 30 dollars for a ride to Mississippi.
The trail ended for detectives at this point. They were close on his heels, but could not close the distance. The suspect remained at large for the time being.
Commissioner Clifford Davis said,” Patrolman McEwen was a quiet and splendid officer and a most painstaking and conscientious man. I think it is unfortunate he didn’t shoot the suspect instead of taking such a chance. The public criticizes when someone is killed by an officer, but it’s unfortunate Mr. McEwen didn’t shoot this time
Chief Lee ordered Detectives looking for the suspect to,”Bring him in, Shoot to kill if necessary”.
When informed of her husband’s death, Mrs. McEwen at first would not believe it. After a while with the help of neighbors she became calm. The four younger children hugged each other and sobbed.
After she had calmed down she told officers, who were sent to notify her of her husband’s death, “You don’t need to tell me he was brave, I know”.
A reward for the capture of the suspect began the day of Patrolman’s McEwen’s death. Mayor Overton and Clifford Davis contributed 100 dollars followed by another 100 from Captain Hulet’s relief, another 100 from Patrolman Roberts and 100 from the Tennessee and Mississippi Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association. Chief Lee also asked Tennessee Governor Horton to add to the reward.
Detectives continued to question suspects. A tri state broadcast of the suspect’s description went out and various agencies reported sightings of persons fitting the description. Some were brought in and questioned. None of those questioned so far were found to be associated with the Patrolman’s death.
Detectives received reports of possible suspects from all over the tri state area fitting the description of McEwen’s murderer. Based on information received on the day of the shooting, they focused on reports from Mississippi.
Local organizations, businesses, radio and newspapers began immediately working to raise funds to aide Patrolman’s McEwen’s family. WMC, WNBR, and WGBC radio stations broadcast appeals to their listeners for donations to help the Patrolman’s large family. The newspapers launched a fund immediately after the Officers death with an initial contribution of 50 dollars. Immediately gifts and donations began pouring in.
Local Radio stations began offering their airtime to help raise funds for the family. Entertainers from the area performed for free and asked listeners to donate money to help the McEwen family keep their home and have money to get by on. For several days the three local stations put on programs to help the family.
Patrolman Roberts donated 100, Chief Lee donated 100 and the members of his watch donated another 100.
A Memorial service held at Seventh Street Baptist Church. Commissioner Davis delivered the memorial address and the Police Quartet sang. Donations came from all over the area reached by the Memphis radio stations WMC, WHBR, and WGBC. Many local artists performed during radio benefits
Mrs.McEwen would receive 1000 dollars from her husband’s group life insurance policy with the Police Department, 500 dollars from the Mississippi Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association and 250 dollars from the Police Relief fund. At this point in time, the city did not provide a pension for the widows of officers killed in the line of duty. That subject that had come up recently when a Memphis Fire Captain died in a fire.
Mayor Overton intended to ask the Tennessee Legislature to provide such a fund.
The McEwen family lived in a modest home at 977 North Dunlap. Approximately 2000 dollars was owed on the mortgage. Much of the fund raising effort was aimed at generating enough donations to pay off the mortgage. Two of the children were very young and made it impossible for Mrs. McEwen to work.
The funeral service was held at the McEwen residence at 3:30 on December 31st. As was the custom of the day, the body was initially taken to a funeral home where the embalming and dressing of deceased was done. Once this was completed the body was taken to the residence of the deceased and the services conducted there.
The Reverend I.N. Strother of the Seventh Street Baptist Church conducted the services with Reverend J.H. Wright assisting. The McEwen’s were members of the Seventh Street Baptist Church.
Officers assisting in the service as active Pallbearers were Patrolman Roberts, Sergeant R.H Turner, Sergeant R.D. Almond, Emergency Officer D.H. Klyce, McEwen’s former partner: Patrolman R.P. Gipson and Patrolman J.H. Cunningham. Patrolman McEwen is buried at Elmwood Cemetery.
Efforts by local Memphis citizens to raise money to help pay off the mortgage on the McEwen home continued.
The Commercial Appeal had collected over 5000.00 from various sources and pledges generated by the radio programs. The money is to be placed in the hands of three Memphis Businessmen as trustees. The final event is to be a dance in the Hotel Gays Ballroom on Friday night the 10th. Frank Zito’s orchestra will play. The dance is sponsored by Bennie Bluestein.
On January 9, MPD received information from Holly Springs PD that a male was seen discarding a red sweater. Witnesses stated he wore goggles and had only been in town a short time.
Sergeant Lemmer conducted an investigation at Holly Springs regarding the red sweater found there. W.R. Jones was identified as the person who discarded it.
W.R. Jones was arrested in the Illinois Central train station by Deputy Sheriff Rowe and Night Patrolman A.D. Hill. And identified as the person seen discarding the red sweater.
After questioning by Holly Springs officers Memphis Police were notified and Detectives were sent to Holly Springs to investigate.
Jones had a pair of goggles similar to the ones worn by the person who discarded the sweater. He also had a bloody handkerchief and a pair of blood spattered shoes. Papers in his possession indicated his name was W.R. Jones but he told officers he went by Ulysses Jones.
Captain Glisson, Lieutenant Granville Heckle and Sergeant Lemmer went to Holly Springs to bring Jones back to Memphis. Witnesses were brought in to attempt to identify the suspect as the one involved in the death of Patrolman McEwen.
On January 9th, the two ladies who witnessed the shooting were brought in to attempt to identify Jones as the suspect. Jones was placed in a cell with five other inmates. Both ladies immediately identified Jones as the person they saw shoot Patrolman McEwen.
One of the male suspects Patrolman McEwen was checking also identified Jones as the person with the shoulder holster Officer McEwen chased into the alley. The informant stated he did not know the suspects name.
Jones was also identified as the person who discarded the red sweater in Holly Springs as officers closed in on him.
Jones told detectives he worked in Wyoming until Christmas then went to Holly Springs passing through Memphis. His story and movements were vague after he left Wyoming.
He stated he worked on a railroad construction crew in Jonesboro Arkansas which proved to be false. He then changed it to Kansas City, Kansas. Detectives were working to verify his statements. A lot of the information he gave detectives regarding his movements since Christmas proved to be false.
Jones was investigated thoroughly, but a case could not be made on the evidence available. His name was on a list of Railroad workers from out of state. The list indicated he was at work in another state at the time of the officer’s death.
There were some questions about the information, but it was clear enough that the investigators had to accept it. Jones was released January 17.
In the following months, several suspects were picked up and questioned by investigators. None of them proved to have been involved.
On June 13, 1931, Memphis Homicide Detectives arrested several people from Millington. One, a male black named Will Daniel, was believed to be responsible for the homicide of Patrolman McEwen. Memphis Patrolman Charles Peak provided information to Detectives regarding the suspect. Patrolman Peek worked on the case of the slain officer for months.
The events surrounding the arrest came after Daniel and his sister, with whom he was staying at the time, became involved in a heated argument over some un cooked eggs. During the confrontation, on June 6, 1931, Daniel had beat his sister Irene Nash and shot at his brother in law Zeb Nash.
Daniel’s sister Irene told, Mrs. Pannell, that her brother had killed a Memphis Police Officer and she had the red sweater he was wearing when the murder occurred.
Irene retrieved the sweater from where it was hidden, in a flour barrel, and gave it to Mrs. Pannell. Mrs. Pannell told her husband the story Irene had related to her and he in turn contacted his landlord a Mr. Herring. Mr. Herring contacted a County Commissioner, Luther Jones and Deputy Sheriff John Friddle.
Deputy Friddle went to the Pannell home on Friday night June 12, and retrieved the sweater. He then notified Inspector Will Griffin.
On Saturday morning Deputy Friddle, Detective Captain Frank Glisson and Detective Sergeant Bill Lemmer, The two Memphis Police detectives assigned to the case, went to the Nash residence and arrested Will Daniel and Irene and Zeb Nash. Zeb and Irene at first denied any knowledge of the murder, but later admitted they lived at 269 Pontotoc at the time it occurred. They also stated that Daniel and another male L.C. Sykes from Widner AR often stayed at their home. Detectives went to Widner Ar. picked up Sykes and brought him to Police HQ for questioning. Sykes gave information that clarified several aspects of the case.
Sykes stated, on the morning of the shooting Will Daniel, Zeb Nash, himself and another male had left the 269 Pontotoc address in route to an unemployment office on Calhoun.
Once they arrived as they were walking in Patrolman McEwen approached them and asked what they were doing. He began searching Will Daniel. Sykes admitted that both he and Daniel were carrying pistols. During the pat down, officer McEwen had felt the pistol in Daniel’s pocket and reached in to get it. Daniel started running before McEwen could get his hand on the gun. McEwen chased Daniel towards St Martin. Sykes hid his gun and waited behind a building at St Martin and Calhoun.
While hiding behind building at St Martin and Calhoun Sykes stated he heard a gunshot and a few minutes later heard an ambulance. He left the area and returned to 269 Pontotoc. The other two also returned to the Pontotoc address.
Detectives brought Daniel in and had Sykes tell his story in his presence. Afterward Detectives took Daniel to the scene and he gave a complete confession.
Daniel stated after the shooting he climbed over the fence and went North on Butler to Second St. I dodged behind houses then walked a path to the rear of 269 Pontotoc. He went in the back door and told his sister what happened. She got him a change of clothes. He gave the Patrolman’s gun and his pistol to his sister and left the house.
Daniel told investigators he stayed on Deans Island for a while and also lived in Widner Arkansas. He returned to the Memphis area in May of 1930 and stayed with his sister and her husband until arrested there by Officers.
He told investigators he returned several times to the location where he and officer McEwen had struggled and where he took the Patrolman’s life.
The day of the shooting, Patrolman Roberts, McEwen’s partner that day, went with officers to McEwen’s residence to notify the Patrolman’s family of his death. Shortly after arriving there Patrolman Roberts passed out. Once he was revived, he promised Mrs. McEwen he would never stop looking for the suspect who took her husband’s life.
At the time of suspect Daniel’s arrest, Patrolman Roberts had been very sick for about four weeks. Two officers went to his bedside to let him know they had the suspect who murdered McEwen in custody
Patrolman Roberts died at 5:00 am the next morning, seven hours before Daniel confessed. Hopefully, knowing the party responsible for his partners death was in jail, gave him some peace with the tragic events of that day.
When Detectives went looking for Mrs. McEwen, they found her at Patrolman Roberts’s home giving comfort to his wife and children.
When told of the capture of her husband’s murderer and the District Attorney’s intention to ask for the death penalty she replied:
“Of Course, I am grateful for what Captain Glisson and the other officers have done. I am glad they caught the man, now he cannot kill anyone else and leave some woman with four little children orphans. I don’t care whether they put him to death or not, just so they lock him up.”
On June 16, 1931, The Grand Jury returned an indictment against Will Daniel for first degree murder and set a trial date for July 6, 1931. The DA wanted to bring the case to a speedy trial. The States intention was to ask for the Death Penalty. A public defense lawyer was appointed to represent Will Daniel.
The trial began on July 7, 1931. Attorney General H.T. McLean and Assistant Attorney General Sam Campbell represented the State and asked for the Death penalty on a charge of First Degree Murder. Will Daniels was represented by three local public defenders, Grover McCormick, Carl Graves and Edward Burton.
Will Daniel took the stand. The story he told in court was nothing like the story he told Detectives. He testified that the gun must have gone off accidentally, that he didn’t pull the trigger as he fought with Patrolman McEwen. He also changed other parts of his story from the version he told during questioning.
Several witnesses were called and related the story as they had from the beginning. The two eye witnesses identified him and related the same story Daniel told during questioning.
Daniels attorneys tried to argue that Daniel acted in self-defense. That he was stopped illegally and the Patrolman could not have known he was armed.
The trial ended on July 8 and the jury was given instructions by the Judge. They deliberated for an hour and a half before arriving at a verdict.
They were unanimous in deciding guilt on the charge on First Degree Murder, but were split on the Death Penalty. Will Daniel was sentenced to life in prison on the murder charge. Daniels attorneys stated they would appeal.
Will Daniel’s attorneys were attempting to create the doubt in the minds of the jury by having him change his story. They had very little else to defend him with. The State had a good case and the murder conviction was not in doubt.
The tactic used by the defense was aimed at avoiding the death penalty by creating doubt. The slightest doubt in the mind of just one juror was enough as the death sentence required a unanimous verdict. They succeeded.
Patrolman Walter McEwen and his partner on that day Patrolman Pat Roberts are both buried at Elmwood Cemetery. They were friends and working partners in a job that requires a feeling of comrade and shared sense of purpose. A mentality that is part of the job that has to be there. Both officers’ lives depend on it.
A bond between Officers that is unique to the profession often develops from shared stressful experiences. The pain obviously felt by Patrolman Roberts of loss and shock after Patrolman McEwen’s death is evidence these Officers had a good working relationship.
It is likely that Patrolman Roberts suffered from what we now know as “Survivor Guilt”. When an officer loses a partner it often creates this problem. Today there are programs and counseling available. In those days it was not recognized. Officers had to deal with it alone. Hopefully he found peace with it before he passed away knowing the guilty party was in jail.
The story of Patrolman McEwen’s death in the line of duty touches many areas of that time. It shows us what kind of City Memphis was in those days. Local people from all walks of life in the Memphis area immediately came to the aide of McEwen’s family. People donated what they could afford and more. Approximately five thousand dollars was raised by various organizations and individuals to benefit the McEwen family.
The city did not have a pension available for widows of Officers who died in the line of duty. That benefit was several years away from being adopted. But, the plight of widows was being recognized and steps were being taken to correct it.
Around the time of the trial a bill was passing through the State legislature to provide a pension for the families of Fire and Police employees who died in the line of duty. This case and others had a definite effect on the decision create a fund to aid families.
Another aspect of this incident has to do with suspect identification. Ulysses Jones the first person taken into custody regarding this Homicide was not the guilty party. He was positively identified by three witnesses and fit the physical description and clothing description of Will Daniel. Had they not found an alibi for him he would have been sitting in jail awaiting trial on a murder charge he was not guilty of.
Forensics was improving in the 1920’s, but was not sophisticated as it is today. Often the deciding factor in most cases was eyewitness testimony. Most cases, especially homicide cases, were vulnerable to misidentification. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time could have a disastrous effect on your life.
According to Detectives he was so close in build and appearance to Will Daniel they could have been twins. Good detective work saved him from a lot of misery.
Patrolman Walter H. McEwen was a dedicated Police Officer. He deserves the respect of his peers, past and present and the people of the city of Memphis whom he served. Rest easy Patrolman; you can stand down now…We have the watch.
Completed 12/21/2025
References
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