Almer Loin Terry

Deputy Sheriff Almer Terry and Deputy Sheriff Daniel Kenyon were shot and killed by members of the "Cotton Top Walker Gang" who had just robbed a bank.

While the deputies were searching for the suspects around 3:15 a.m., a car pulled up behind them on the roadway near Whittenburg (present-day Phillips). When the officers exited their vehicle, they were gunned down. They never drew their weapons.

Three of the men were apprehended, but one fled after being released on bond. He escaped prison in Oklahoma, but was in a Texas prison in 1934 for another crime when he was killed trying to escape. One of the other men was never apprehended and never charged with the death of Patrolman Buchanan since Oklahoma refused to extradite him in 1928. Another suspect was never apprehended since he was convicted of killing Chief of Police W.J. McAnally of the Beggs, Oklahoma Police Department. His death sentence was commuted to life in prison. There are no records of the other two men being tried for Patrolman Buchanan's murder.

Deputy Terry was appointed on January 3rd, 1927, and had served with the Hutchinson County Sheriff's Office for only three months. He was single and had no children.

He was buried in the White Deer Cemetery in Carson County, Texas.

Cotton Top Walker Gang was a Prohibition Era criminal gang that robbed banks throughout Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. Members of the gang were responsible for the murders of Patrolman Coke Buchanan of the Borger, Texas, Police Department, on March 19, 1927; Deputy  Sheriff  Daniel Kenyon and Deputy Sheriff Almer Terry, both of the Hutchinson County, Texas, Sheriff’s Department, on April 1, 1927; and Chief W. J. McAnally of the Beggs, Oklahoma, Police Department, on May 18, 1927.

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