Not to worry. It wasn’t long before Collier set
his sights on another young woman, thirty-year-old Rose Proctor. Rose, “a small and pretty blonde,” had
first married when she was sixteen, but she got divorced after
a few years. She married Ben Proctor in 1902,
but her second marriage didn’t take either, and she separated from Proctor in
late 1905. Afterward, she and an unmarried sister took rooms at 1216 Main
Street in Joplin. Collier had
known Rose since she was a girl, and his job guarding stores along Main at
night let him see her on a regular basis. In the spring and summer of 1906, he
started spending time with her and became lovestruck.
But Ben Collier wasn’t the only man attracted to Rose.
Twenty-three-year-old Will “Rabbit” Cofer had known Rose
since he was a boy growing up in Joplin, where his father, Tom Cofer, served as chief of police. His folks
moved away in 1905, but Rabbit stayed in Joplin and
was hired as a policeman himself. He spent most of his first year as a beat cop
along Main Street, where he renewed his acquaintance with Rose Proctor. Rabbit was married with a five-year-old
son at home, but that didn’t stop him from spending time with Rose. In fact,
the rooms at 1216 Main where Rose and
several other young women lived became somewhat notorious as “a rendezvous for
policemen.”
Recently Rabbit had been promoted to day captain, but he
still found time for Rose. In mid-August 1906, Rose attempted suicide,
reportedly because she was despondent over her separation from her husband.
Rabbit took a special interest in his old friend after that, consoling her and
assisting in her recovery. But Ben Collier suspected there was more than just friendship
between the two. He was jealous of the attention Cofer was paying Rose
and protested her relationship with the young police captain.
But Collier’s jealousy didn’t faze Rose Proctor and
Will Cofer. Rabbit often took Rose to the wine room
of the Mascot Saloon at 926 Main, and on Wednesday, August 29, he even escorted
her to Carthage.
Collier saw
Rose and Rabbit together as they were leaving for Carthage. The next morning he showed up at Rose’s
rooms and threatened to kill both her and Cofer if she didn’t stop
seeing Rabbit.
Early Friday morning, September 7, Collier renewed his threats toward Cofer, saying he planned to get
Cofer before night
Apparently Rabbit didn’t get the warning, or if he did,
it didn’t scare him. He spent most of Friday afternoon with Rose, and they went
to the Mascot about 7:30.
Meanwhile, Ben Collier was
on the prowl. He showed up about 8:00 p.m. at Rose’s rooming house in the 1200
block of Main, and learning that Rose was with Cofer, he sowre to kill the
other man.
About 9:30, Collier stomped into the Mascot Saloon just as Cofer and Rose were leaving.
Cofer had started out a back door when he
heard Collier and Rose arguing. He came back in and told Rose he would take her
home. Collier immediately turned his ire toward Rabbit and
drew his pistol. Cofer made a rush toward
Collier and
grabbed his arm before he could shoot. The bartender also grabbed Collier’s arm. While holding Collier with
one hand, Cofer drew
his own pistol and began shooting. Two shots were misfires, but three bullets
slammed into Collier’s body. Collier toppled into a nearby slop bucket and died
almost instantly.
Cofer and Rose were both taken into custody, but they
were released the next day when a coroner’s jury declared that Cofer had shot Collier in self-defense. However, the incident had caused a rift in the
police department and the city in general, and Cofer turned in his
badge later the same day.
Not long after leaving the Joplin Police, Cofer and his wife moved to Oregon. Later the wife died or separated
from him, and he remarried a woman named Rose, but she was not the
same Rose he had killed a man over back in Joplin, Missouri.
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