DICKENS DIGGING At the Spur–Dickens County Museum last Friday was Lanell Allen of Fort Worth, granddaughter of Deputy F. E. Dillon, who helped bring the killer of 1930s Dickens sheriff Bill Arthur to justice. Allen, who arranged with the museum to photograph artifacts such as a portrait of Arthur and the murder weapon, which was recovered in Dickens County, is completing a book titled “The Line of Duty: Dickens County Sheriff W. B. ‘Bill’ Arthur.” On October 27, 1934, Dickens County Sheriff William B. “Bill’ Arthur was shot and killed with his own weapon during an escape from the Dickens County Jail. According to the Officer Down Memorial Page online, “Two prisoners had asked him to fix some stopped-up plumbing and as Sheriff Arthur walked past their cell one of the inmates grabbed his gun and shot him in the neck. The suspects escaped but were apprehended. The shooter was sentenced to death and executed on May 4th, 1936. The other suspect was sentenced to 99 years. Sheriff Arthur had served two terms as sheriff and had been nominated for a third term. He was survived by his wife and five children.” As Allen’s manuscript notes, the sheriff’s widow was sworn in to fill her husband’s unexpired term—and aided in the search for the killers by lawmen far and wide. Allen welcomes information that will aid work on the book, which she said is due to be finished in about six weeks. Email her at BLanellallen@ gmail.com
