Sheriff William Wesley Dunlap

William Wesley Dunlap

Sheriff William Dunlap was shot and killed with his own weapon when he was overpowered by two prisoners and disarmed while transporting them to Cortez.

The two prisoners had been housed in the jail at Glenwood Springs for safety reasons. Sheriff Dunlap and a deputy were returning them to Cortez to attend an arraignment when one of the men reached over the seat, grabbed Sheriff Dunlap's service weapon, and shot him in the back. The two prisoners then disarmed the deputy before escaping in the sheriff's car.

Both prisoners were brothers responsible for the starvation death of an aged sheepman whom they had robbed, gagged, tied up, and then left to die in his cabin.

Both brothers were arrested and convicted of Sheriff Dunlap's murder. On February 14th, 1936, one of the brothers was executed in the gas chamber. The other was sentenced to two life terms.