Chief of Police John J. Finnell

John J. Finnell

Chief John Finnell and Detective Sergeant Charles Gradwell were shot and killed while attempting to question two burglary suspects in a rooming house on Baldwin Street. The two men they went to question were suspected in a string of recent burglaries. Both officers were shot in the room where the men were staying.

Both suspects fled the scene. One was apprehended a short time later but the other was identified but never apprehended. The suspect was convicted of murder in the second degree of Sergeant Gradwell and sentenced to 20 years to life. He was paroled in 1930 and sent back to Chemung County to face a 1915 burglary charge. He was convicted of burglary, sent back to prison, and released in 1935.

Chief Finnell was survived by his wife.