Sergeant Willard N. Carver

Willard N. Carver

Sergeant Willard Carver was shot and killed when he and another officer attempted to arrest two men for auto theft on a gravel road west of Zarah.

They found a stolen car stuck in a ditch and hid nearby to wait for the suspects to return. When the men arrived with a stolen truck to pull the car out the deputies confronted them and ordered them to put their hands up. The men opened fire and Sergeant Carver was shot through the heart. As the other officer returned fire the suspects ran into a nearby woods.

One of the suspects was captured a short time later. The other suspect was captured in St. Louis, Missouri, on August 30th, 1952. Both men, ex-convicts, and brother-in-laws, were convicted of first degree murder. One, 37, was sentenced to life in prison on December 2nd, 1952, and the other, 42, was hanged on July 16th, 1954.

Sergeant Carver was a U.S. Navy veteran and recipient of both the Purple Heart and Presidential Citation for action during the invasion of Normandy Beach. He had served with the Johnson County Sheriff's Office for four years.