Roll of Honor

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Town Marshal

John Finley

Morning Sun Police Department — Morning Sun, IA

Felonious

End of Watch October 5, 1896

The Vigil Panel 14 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice

Incident

Town Marshal John Finley succumbed to gunshot wounds sustained 15 days earlier by a man he arrested for disturbing the peace outside of the home of man's ex-wife. The suspect suddenly produced a gun and shot Marshal Finley as he was escorting him to jail.

The suspect was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison March 24, 1897. He was pardoned by Governor George W. Clarke October 20th, 1914.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-IA-E48AAA1E
Stewardship: Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw: August 2, 2026
Last updated: September 9, 2026

Honored here by 1 tribute.

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Tributes

130 years is a long time for a name to go unread. Not today.
Town Marshal Finley served with the Morning Sun Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Morning Sun community. Gone but never to be forgotten.

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

Agency

Department Morning Sun Police Department

Type Police Department

Location Morning Sun, IA

Platform Identity mspd.louisa.ia.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch October 5, 1896

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Felonious

Weapon Handgun

Town Marshal John Finley is one of 1 officers killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 0% of all 97,772 officers honored here.

In IA, 129 of 226 officers were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 57.1% of this state's fallen. That is 57.1 percentage points above the national rate of 0%.

Morning Sun Police Department

of 1 officers

100% Felonious

IA — Statewide

129

of 226 officers

57.1% Felonious

Nationwide

of 97,772 officers

0% Felonious

National Cause Distribution

How Felonious compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John Finley's cause is highlighted.

Felonious

1 (0%)

Accident

1 (0%)

Illness

1 (0%)

Cardiac

1 (0%)

Undetermined

1 (0%)

Suicide

1 (0%)

How John Finley Compares

When Felonious Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Felonious deaths across the full memorial record. John Finley is highlighted in Oct.

Jan

1,392

Feb

1,295

Mar

1,373

Apr

1,516

May

1,504

Jun

1,442

Jul

1,587

Aug

1,517

Sep

1,491

Oct

1,371

Nov

1,447

Dec

1,624

Weapons Used Against Officers

Most common weapons in felonious officer deaths. John Finley was killed by handgun.

Handgun

3,684

Gun

3,592

Gun; Unknown type

1,492

Shotgun

1,109

Rifle

935

Officer's handgun

909

Others Who Wore This Badge

0 officers from Morning Sun Police Department are honored on badge.nw.