Marshal Roy Woofter

Roy Woofter

Marshal Roy Woofter succumbed to a gunshot wound received the previous day when he and other officers attempted to arrest a man for selling illegal alcohol from his home.

The subject let the officers into his home and then barricaded himself in another room. He shot Marshal Woofter through a window.

The 36-year-old suspect was arrested, convicted of first-degree murder, and sentenced to death. In 1913 the New Mexico Supreme Court granted him a new trial. He was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 99 years. He was pardoned by Acting Governor Antonio Lucero on December 21, 1918, with the condition that he leave New Mexico and never return.

Marshal Woofter had served with the Roswell Police Department as Marshal for one year and previously served with the Albia Police Department in Iowa and in West Virginia. He was survived by his wife.

He is buried in Oakview Cemetery in Albia, Iowa.