From the Library of Congress. The Rogue River (Grants Pass, Or.) Courier, November 27, 1918.
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"Deputy Sheriff Frank Walter Twombley
On Tuesday, November 19, 1918 Deputy Sheriff Frank Walter Twombley was riding his police motorcycle, attempting to catch and pull over a speeding motorist. As he got alongside the car he was probably able to observe a young couple in the front seat; a young man driving with a young woman passenger. As Deputy Twombley pulled next to the speeding driver’s window, the driver produced a pistol and shot the deputy off his bike. Deputy Twombley died instantly at the corner of Union and Portland Blvd. Unknown to Deputy Twombley, his killer had just robbed the toll plaza at the Southern end of the Interstate Bridge. The killer,
John Cyril Laird, was eventually arrested and convicted of 2nd Degree Murder and sentenced to life in prison. During the trial, Laird stated his true name was John Knight Giles. According to documents, Giles escaped from the Salem, Oregon prison and was free until 1935 when he was arrested along with six others for attempting to rob the Denver and Rio Grande Mail Train as it pulled out of Salt Lake City. Giles was sentenced and sent to McNeil Island and was quickly transferred to Alcatraz Prison due to the length of his sentence and his escape record.
Giles is considered by some to be one of the only inmates to ever escape from Alcatraz as, in 1945, while working a laundry detail, he donned the uniform of a US Army soldier and jumped aboard a departing boat. He was questioned and arrested as he stepped off the boat at Ft McDowell.
Our thoughts and prayers will always be with the Twombley family."
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