Deputy Sheriff Jim Beckwith

Jim Beckwith

Deputy Sheriff Jim Beckwith, Deputy Sheriff Charles Layton, and Deputy Sheriff Joaquin De La Torre were shot and killed while attempting to arrest a suspect wanted for murdering two other people.

They were members of a posse organized by the sheriff that had gone to the man's shack along the Salinas River south of Rancho El Tucho (Rancho Las Salinas). A woman came to the back door and told Deputy De La Torre that the suspect was not there. The man suddenly emerged from inside and fatally shot Deputy De La Torre before shooting Deputy Layton and Deputy Beckwith.

The man fled on Deputy Beckwith's horse but was later captured by a mob and lynched.