The Killing of Joplin Policeman Claude Brice

In the wee hours of December 31, 1904, shots rang out near Broadway and Main in Joplin, and those who rushed to the scene found city policeman Claude Brice lying dead in the intersection with two or three bullets to his body. A coroner’s jury on January 4, 1905, developed “nothing of importance” in the case, but a web was “being weaved slowly but surely around Ted Daly,” a Joplin man who was among several people jailed on suspicion.

Over the next two months, authorities identified Estel Butler, John Franklin, and George Rogers as other primary suspects in the killing of Officer Brice. Daly had hung around long enough to get himself arrested, but the other three had absconded to parts unknown.

Butler was captured in Louisiana in late February and brought back to Joplin. Known as “Foot and a Half” because the front part of his right foot was split, Butler said he didn’t kill Brice but knew who did. Originally from Kansas City, he had served terms in both the Kansas State Penitentiary and the Missouri State Penitentiary and was considered a notorious criminal.

In March, Franklin was brought back to Joplin from Iowa. However, George Rogers, the fourth suspect, could not be located.

Teddy Daly was the first suspect to go on trial, in mid-May 1905. Butler was the star state witness, claiming that Brice was shot dead when he approached Daly and Franklin. Daly, on the other hand, admitted being in the vicinity but said he did not shoot Brice. The fact that he’d originally denied even being in the area weighed against him, and he was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to forty years in prison.

Daly had been reluctant testify at his own trial, but after he was convicted, he said he meant to take a few others with him. At Franklin’s trial in late May, Daly took the stand to admit that he, Butler, Franklin, and Rogers were planning to rob a drug store on Main the night Brice was killed. Daly himself was a couple of blocks away when Brice was shot, but Franklin had told him Butler was the one who pulled the trigger.  

Butler also testified for the state, repeating essentially what he’d said at Daly’s trial. On May 23, the jury returned a verdict finding Franklin guilty of second-degree murder and sentencing him to 99 years in prison.

When Butler went on trial in October, both Daly and Franklin were brought back from the penitentiary to testify against him. Butler had ratted them out, and now they planned to return the favor. Daly’s most damning testimony against Butler was that he heard the shots that killed Officer Brice while he was a couple of blocks away and, as he started south toward the sound, he met Butler coming the other direction carrying a revolver. Daly also said that Butler had at first admitted killing Brice but had later tried to blame Franklin.

Franklin’s testimony was even more damning, because, unlike Daly, he admitted being near the scene. Brice, he said, halted Rogers and Butler in the intersection and was in the process of arresting them when Rogers whipped out a pistol and fired two or three shots that either missed their mark or only wounded the officer. As Brice started to draw his weapon, Butler, who was even closer to the officer than Rogers, fired a couple of more shots that brought Brice down.

The defense strategy was mainly to impugn the testimony of the state’s star witnesses. Franklin and Daly both admitted their testimony during Butler’s trial was different from what they’d said at their own trials, but they insisted they were now telling the truth, since they had nothing to lose.

Many observers thought Butler might be acquitted or get off lightly. Not only might the jury not give much credence to the testimony of two convicted killers, but Butler, despite his reputation as an habitual criminal, had a winning personality. Women, in particular, seemed drawn to him. The jury, however, returned a verdict of second-degree murder and assessed a term of forty years in the penitentiary.  

After Butler’s trial, the county prosecutor announced he wouldn’t pursure charges against George Rogers since Daly and Franklin refused to testify against him. Daly and Franklin were returned to Jefferson City, but Butler was granted a new trial in mid-November before he could join them.

Butler’s second trial took place in January 1906. Again, Daly and Franklin were brought to Joplin from the state prison to testify. Late on the night of January 16, after the jury had retired to deliberate Butler’s fate, Butler, Daly, and Franklin were transported to Carthage because the Joplin city jail was insecure. In Carthage, the prisoners were separated because Butler had gotten into a fight with the other two men during the trip. The sheriff started toward the county jail with Butler, while Daly and Franklin took a different route, accompanied by a deputy. Near the jail door, Daly and Franklin made a break for it, escaped, and were never recaptured. George Rogers was also never apprehended.

The jury found Butler guilty the next day, and he was sentenced to fifty-five years in prison, fifteen more than he’d been assessed at his first trial. He was released after only about twelve years, though, and went on to resume a life of crime.
Sketch of Butler from Joplin Globe. This blog entry is condensed from a chapter in my book Midnight Assassinations and Other Evildoings: A Criminal History of Jasper County, Mo.