Patrolman Larry Walton was shot and killed after stopping a speeding vehicle in Robeson County.
A Rowland police officer found him laying in a ditch beside his patrol car on state road 130, close to the South Carolina state line. He had been shot five times.
A man was arrested the next day and charged with Patrolman Walton's murder. He had been released from prison two months earlier after serving five years for manslaughter. He was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life on March 21, 1973.
Patrolman Walton is survived by his wife and two children.
