Detective Oliver Carpenter was shot when he interrupted an armed robbery in progress.
Detective Carpenter and his partner, Edward H. Young, interrupted an armed robbery by 5 men at the downtown Mercantile Trust Company. He was cut down by a fusillade of bullets sustaining 14 gunshot wounds. Detective Carpenter and a company janitor was both killed when the suspects opened fire with a machine gun. John Dugan (24) and John (Blackie) Mingori were both apprehended and charged with 1st degree murder. Dugan was found to be the owner of the pistol that killed Detective Carpenter and was arrested as he attempted to dispose of the murder weapon. Mingori originally confessed and was identified by a witness but was found not guilty after recanting his confession and the witness's testimony was brought into question. The charges against Dugan were dismissed when evidence involving bullets found at the scene linking his weapon to the crime were brought into question.
Detective Carpenter, born in Kentucky, was survived by his brothers, Ruben, John and George. Parents: John & Elizabeth Carpenter. Interred: Strasburg Cemetery, Strasburg, Missouri.
Article by Brent Marchant