Carlton Edmund Smith

Lane County Sheriff's Dept. — Eugene, OR

Felonious

End of Watch July 6, 1965

Age 33

Tour of Duty 2 yrs

Badge 15

The Vigil Panel 100 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 6

Incident

Deputy Sheriff Carlton Smith was shot and killed after stopping a vehicle for speeding at the Goodpasture Island Road and Delta Highway interchange. During the stop, two suspects exited the vehicle and shot him seven times. The suspects were parolees who had absconded from supervision. Two days earlier, the pair robbed a Tigard, Oregon, motel and raped the owner. The next day they robbed a Portland bank. After they killed Deputy Smith, they kidnapped a woman and her 12-year-old son and forced them to drive to Marion Forks where they stole a truck and took four more people hostage. The suspects then drove to Sacramento, California, where they released all six hostages unharmed. The next day they broke into a Sacramento home, kidnapped a couple, and forced them along with their 19-month-old daughter, to drive them to Nevada. They later released them unharmed and surrendered to police. Both suspects were convicted of first-degree murder and kidnapping and sentenced to two life terms. On May 17th, 1974, one of the suspects escaped from the Oregon Penitentiary. He fled to Washington with a pair of elderly hostages whom he killed near Spokane. Four weeks later he was shot and critically wounded by a police officer near Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, after a standoff. He received two life sentences for murdering the elderly couple and a 75-year term for kidnapping. He died in prison on April 27th, 2005. The other suspect died in prison on September 21st, 2004. Deputy Smith had served with the Lane County Sheriff's Department for only two weeks and had previously served with the Springfield Police Department for two years. He is survived by his wife and six children. One of his sons went on to also serve with the Lane County Sheriff's Department. Another son also became a police officer.

Survivors

He is survived by his wife and six children.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-OR-B3423420
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 never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Deputy Sheriff Smith gave the Lane County Sheriff's Office 2 years.
Thank you for your service to the Eugene community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Deputy Sheriff Smith.

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

Agency

Department Lane County Sheriff's Dept.

Location Eugene, OR

Platform Identity lcso.lane.or.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch July 6, 1965

Tour of Duty 2 yrs

Age 33

Badge Number 15

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Felonious

Weapon Handgun; .38 caliber

Offender Died in prison

Deputy Sheriff Carlton Edmund Smith 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 OR, 115 of 197 officers were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 58.4% of this state's fallen. That is 4.2 percentage points above the national rate of 54.2%.

At Lane County Sheriff's Dept., 5 of 7 officers on record were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 71.4% of this agency's fallen.

Lane County Sheriff's Dept.

of 7 officers

71.4% Felonious

OR — Statewide

115

of 197 officers

58.4% Felonious

Nationwide

17,623

of 32,508 officers

54.2% Felonious