County Policeman Frank M. Tucker

Frank M. Tucker

County Policeman Frank Tucker and Chief County Policeman Floyd Malone were shot to death while on a hunt for an illicit still.

The policemen had left Gray at an early morning hour after receiving an anonymous letter about a still in the southern part of the county. Twelve hours later their bodies were found at an abandoned mill near Haddock. Their bloodstained automobile was found nearby.

Two days later two brothers, 29 and 36, who owned the still where charged withe their murder. Both were convicted of their murders and sentenced to life. The Georgia Supreme Court awarded one a new trial when it was discovered that a juror was related to the prosecutor. On June 16, 1927, his second trial resulted in an acquittal. His older brother was paroled on November 17, 1933. On October 12, 1936, he was returned to prison for violating his parole. He was paroled a second time on April 8, 1937.

The double murder enraged citizens in Jones and Bibb Counties who accused some law enforcement officers and certain prominent men of collusion when it came to the lax way the prohibition law was being enforced. The Jones County Sheriff and a Jones County officer were arrested on federal warrants charging them with conspiracy to violate the National Prohibition Law. They were accused of allowing moonshiners to operate under police protection.

In 1914 the Georgia State Legislature authorized county commissioners to elect or appoint county policemen. The Jones County Police Department no longer exist.