Here are two articles with respect to John M. Cantrell who is buried in Oaklawn Cemetery in Sulphur, OK.  To my knowledge, he is the only Murray County lawman to be killed in the line of duty in Murray County, OK.

SULPHUR TIMES DEMOCRAT

Sulphur, OK; 1 Sep 1930

Funeral services for John Mathew Cantrell, deputy sheriff of Murray county who died Wednesday, August 27, were held in the Calvary Baptist church, Sunday at 2:30 p.m., August 31.  The church, beautifully decorated, was filled to overflowing as evidence of the esteem in which he was held by his many friends here.  Rev. O.C. Cooper was in charge of the services, which were under the direction of the Masonic Lodge here, of which Cantrell was a member.  Mr. Cantrell was a pioneer resident of Sulphur, and was well liked here.  He had worked here as a farmer, and in the transfer business.  He was a city peace officer before becoming a deputy sheriff, an office which he had occupied about twenty months at the time of his death.  He was born September 15, 1884 in Hope, Arkansas, and died August 27, at the age of forty six.  He is survived by his wife, Lottie Cantrell; three children, Emit, age 14, Leo, age 12, and Joyce Nell, age 9; a daughter, Mrs. Orville Smith of Glendale, Arizona; a sister, Mrs. Bell Robins of Ozan, Arkansas; and his brother, Marshall Cantrell of Sulphur.  Mr. Cantrell was a Mason, and member of the Calvary Baptist church.  Pall bearers were Rex Chaney, Bob Green, W. L. Tuck, Ira Potes, Boss Tillerey, and Clyde Parker.  Arrangements were in charge of A. G. Dunn Funeral Home, with interment in Oaklawn cemetery.

THE DAVIS NEWS

Davis, OK; 28 Aug 1930

J. M. Cantrell, deputy sheriff of Murray County, was shot and killed last evening about 7 o'clock a point 3 miles east of Davis.  Search for his assailant was pushed through the night by officers and posses of this and adjoining counties but he was not apprehended.

Having seen a car containing a man and woman parked for a considerable time on the Sunshine road about 100 yards off the Davis-Sulphur highway, Deputies W. L. Tuck and Cantrell and the latter's two young sons went to investigate.  As the officers' car stopped and Cantrell was getting out, without a word the man in the parked car opened fire with a shotgun, striking Cantrell in the left breast, killing him instantly.  Tuck then drew his revolver and emptied it at the assassin, and made three holes in the body of the car where the man was sitting and is believed to have wounded him.  The man dodged around the car and made his escape through a field.

 Many stories of the killing have been told, but this seems to be the most accurate.

 The woman was taken to Sulphur where she is being held in jail.  She gave the man's name as J.W. Scott and said he lived in Kansas City.  It is said she has told many conflicting stories and probably the true story has not been told.

After scouring the county for the fleeing murderer without avail, blood hounds from the penitentiary at McAlester were secured this morning.  They are said to have taken up the scent and followed it across the field where it was lost.

Traces of blood were found at points across the field, and it is believed the assassin is badly wounded.

Mr. Cantrell was a deputy sheriff under Sheriff Potes and was a faithful and efficient officer.  He was well liked and stood high in official circles.  He was about 45 years of age and leaves a wife and three children.  His wife is a sister of Jesse Ramsey of Davis former mail carrier between Davis and Hennepin.

Officer Cantrell was shot down in cold blood without a chance.  The citizens of the whole county deplore the dastardly deed.  Sheriff Potes, assisted by officers and posses, is leaving nothing undone to locate and capture Mr. Cantrell's assign and bring him to justice.

I later received an email from John Cantrell, the grandson of John M. Cantrell, who provided this additional information:

“The man who killed my grandfather was Bill Grantham.  They caught up with him in Little Rock, AR about four months later.  He made a run for it and ran up a dead end alley.  When he knew he couldn't get away, he turned his gun on himself.  His wife, Elnora Grantham, was with him when he killed John M. and they held her as an accessory to murder.  For some reason, they let her out to attend Bill Grantham's funeral and - surprise - she was never heard from again.

There was also a couple, man & wife, who claimed to be private investigators and convinced the sheriff, Ira Potes, to hire them.  As it turned out, they were total frauds and it cost the county money and, worse yet, time.  As a part of the con, the wife agreed to be locked up with Elnora and befriend her after which she would offer to take word to Bill on the outside.  On the last day of her 30 day "sentence" she discovered - so she said - where Bill was hiding out and it was just outside Oklahoma City but she and her husband would have to go up there alone so as not to scare him off.  To make a long story short, there was delay after delay until finally, Potes supposedly put them on the spot and they admitted it was a hoax.

I want to get a look at the official report and any other data the corroborates this story.  There's also some physical evidence that either should still be around somewhere or at least a description such as the shotgun that was used to kill John reportedly jammed which is why Deputy Walter Tucker was not killed nor was my father (who was 14) and his younger brother. 

Also, according to the articles and to my uncle's first hand account, after John was shot, Tuck immediately pulled out his service revolver and started firing at Grantham who took off on foot through a field.  Although he emptied the revolver, he was only able to wound Grantham.  Since I know the approximate location of the incident, I'd like to see if I can find any of Tuck's bullets that missed their mark with my metal detector.

One final bit of curiosity - my grandfather had been out all day with Sheriff Potes looking into another matter.  When they returned, Tuck was on the phone with a local farmer who was reporting a suspicious vehicle on Sunshine Road.  He said he'd looked into it and saw a man and a woman laying down.  He thought they might be dead.  Rather than go back out with John, Potes sent Tuck instead.

There are a lot of loose ends and unanswered questions with neither Grantham ever going to trial and the long delays in the early part of the investigation.”