Wister Lee Reece

North Carolina Highway Patrol — Raleigh, NC

Felonious Veteran

End of Watch November 5, 1957

Age 39

Tour of Duty 10 yrs

The Vigil Panel 93 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 68

Incident

Patrolman Wister Reece was shot and killed in Richmond County after stopping the driver of a vehicle for speeding on U.S. 220 near Ellerbe. After the shooting, the suspect fled but was later pulled over by Patrolman James Brown in Lee County. During that stop, the suspect also shot and killed Patrolman Brown. The vehicle, later found to be stolen, was being driven by a New York state mental hospital escapee. The escapee was en route to Mississippi to attempt to break his brother out of death row. Three weeks later the suspect was captured in Bakersfield, California. Since his escape a month earlier, it was discovered that he was involved in numerous burglaries in Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and North Carolina. He was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to two life terms on March 19, 1958. The suspect, who was North Carolina's oldest and longest-serving inmate, died in prison on July 21st, 2012. He was 90 years old. Patrolman Wister Reece was a U.S Army Air Corps veteran of WWII and served with the North Carolina Highway Patrol for ten years. A section of U.S. 74 near Hamlet, North Carolina, was renamed in honor of Patrolman Reece. He is buried in Eastside Cemetery, Rockingham, Richmond County, North Carolina.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-NC-DDAFEE79
Stewardship: Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw: April 2, 2026
Last updated: July 23, 2026

Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.

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Tributes

I served 1985 to 1993. You served too, before the badge - different uniform, same idea. You go where you are sent and you do not get to pick the call.
Patrolman Reece gave the North Carolina Highway Patrol 10 years.
Thank you for your service to the people of North Carolina, and for your service before it. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, brother.

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

Agency

Department North Carolina Highway Patrol

Location Raleigh, NC

Platform Identity nchp.nc.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch November 5, 1957

Tour of Duty 10 yrs

Age 39

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Felonious

Weapon Gun; Unknown type

Offender Died in prison

Military Service

Wister Lee Reece served in the United States military before joining law enforcement. Full service record available on salute.nw.

Patrolman Wister Lee Reece is one of 17,623 officers killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 54.2% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In NC, 385 of 664 officers were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 58% of this state's fallen. That is 3.8 percentage points above the national rate of 54.2%.

At North Carolina Highway Patrol, 23 of 69 officers on record were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 33.3% of this agency's fallen.

North Carolina Highway Patrol

of 69 officers

33.3% Felonious

NC — Statewide

385

of 664 officers

58% Felonious

Nationwide

17,623

of 32,508 officers

54.2% Felonious