Deputy Sheriff

Ernest Earle Goode Sr.

Felonious
End of Watch June 12, 1938
Age 43
Gender Male

Incident

Deputy Goode was shot and killed during an escape at the Galveston County Jail. He was removing an inmate from his cell when the inmate produced a semi-automatic pistol which had been smuggled to him by a friend. The man ordered Deputy Goode to release two other inmates. After Deputy Goode complied, the inmate shot him in the chest as he pleaded for his life. As they attempted to flee they were confronted by the Chief Jailer, who was beaten severely by the men with a iron pipe. One suspect, 28, was apprehended in Salt Lake City, Utah, on July 7, 1938. Another, 34, was apprehended in Des Moines, Iowa, in late August, 1938, in connection with a robbery committed there. The third suspect, 27, and the triggerman, was apprehended in Tacoma, Washington, on October 15, 1938. He refused to say who gave him the pistol. On November 9, 1938, the suspect, 28, was convicted of murder and sentenced to life. A week later the suspect, 34, was sentenced to 50 years. On November 23, 1938, the third suspect was sentenced to life. It was his mother that smuggled the pistol to him. On December 2, 1942, he escaped from the Retrieve Prison Farm in Angleton. On February, 24, 1943, he surrendered himself to authorities in Houston. He was paroled on March 15, 1956.

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Tributes

I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Deputy Sheriff Goode served with the Galveston County Sheriff's Office.
Thank you for your service to the Galveston community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Deputy Sheriff Goode.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Type Sheriff's Office
Location Galveston, Galveston County, TX
Platform Identity gcso.galveston.tx.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch June 12, 1938
Age 43
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Felonious
Weapon Handgun

The Sacrifice · Felonious

Ernest is one of 15,743 officers killed feloniously in the United States, 57.1% of the 27,552 remembered there.

34,103 officers are remembered on this memorial. Each number below is one of them.

  1. See the roll
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Compare against
I

Time

In 1938, 111 officers in the United States were killed feloniously, the 45th heaviest of 213 years on record. The heaviest was 1921, with 248.

Every year on record · United States
II

Who

Ernest was 43. Of the 14,219 killed feloniously in the United States whose age is recorded, half were between 31 and 47; the middle age was 38.

Age at death
Where he stood among them
Age by years of service
III

When

June holds 8.1% of these deaths in the United States; December holds the most, 9.4%. Sundays: 15.2%.

By month
By day of the week
IV

How

Felonious deaths account for 57.1% of all 27,552 deaths in the United States, the most common cause. The weapon recorded was handgun, in 23.4% of these deaths.

Every cause
Weapons recorded
V

His people

Galveston County Sheriff's Office has 5 officers remembered here, Ernest among them.

Deputy Sheriff Ernest Earle Goode Sr.

Galveston County Sheriff's Office · End of Watch June 12, 1938

Where the Name Is Cut

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