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James Franklin Beckham
- Feb. 03, 1928 -
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(280)
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Resided: |
FL, USA
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Born: | Sep. 07, 1898 |
Fallen: | Feb. 03, 1928 |
Race/Sex: | Caucasian Male / 29 yrs. of age |
| Agency |
Dept: | Miami Police Dept. - FL
400 NW 2nd Avenue Miami, FL
33128 USA (305)603-6640 |
County: | Miami-Dade |
Dept. Type: | Municipal/Police |
Hero's Rank: | Detective |
Sworn Date: | 1920 |
FBI Class: | Homicide - Ambush |
Agency URL: | Click Here
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On The Job: |
4 years
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Bio: James Franklin Beckham was born on Sept. 7, 1898, in Georgia, to Nathaniel M. and Annie L. Beckham. His father was described in the Miami Herald as a "prominent farmer, near Thomasville." He enlisted in the U.S. Army in Thomasville, GA, and "served overseas with the 51st artillery" for 18 months during World War I. He returned to Grady County, GA (near Cairo), after the war.
Frank Beckham married Allie Viola Cassels (born June 10, 1901), the daughter of Thomas Samuel and Carrie Estella Collins Cassels in Grady County. In 1923 Beckham and his wife moved to Miami where he worked as a plasterer before joining the police department in 1924.
Frank Beckham joined the Miami Police Department in the early 1920's and was soon promoted to detective. He was described as "one of the most beloved and efficient members of the Miami police department" who "figured in several examples of extraordinary police work" (e.g., he was one of the detectives who captured three "bandits" who were caught with a "stolen auto loaded with stolen rifles and guns"). After making detective, he was assigned to the auto theft division. "It was through his keenness and alertness that many stolen automobiles were recovered by the department." Funeral arrangements were made by Philbrick's Funeral Home. Funeral services were held on Monday, Feb. 6, at the White Temple (Methodist) Church with more than 500 persons in attendance. Services were conducted by Rev. R.N. Merrill, pastor of the White Temple Church. Members of the American Legion (where Beckham was a member) and of the police department served as pall bearers. A "profusion" of flowers decorated the church as friends of Beckham had given more than $50 for this purpose.
On Monday night the body was transported by train to Cairo, GA (15 miles from Thomasville), for burial. Ten Miami police officers escorted the body and the Beckham family to Georgia. Six of the officers were from Beckham's auto theft division and four were motorcycle officers. This gesture of respect on the part of the Miami police department made a very deep impression on the many friends of the slain officer. (Cairo Messenger, Feb. 10, 1928) Evidently, Frank Beckham had a premonition of his death a week earlier as he told his wife, "if anything happens to me, have my body sent to Cairo and buried on your lot." Funeral services were also held in Thomasville on Feb. 7 with burial in the Big Creek Baptist Church cemetery near Coolidge, GA. Frank Beckham was buried at the side of his younger brother, Billie Nathaniel, who died in 1916. Beckham's father (in 1942) and mother (in 1944) were buried beside their two sons. Beckham's grave marker reads:
James Frank Beckham Sept. 7, 1898 Feb. 3, 1928
For some strange reason Justice of the Peace J.E. Tulloss indicated on Beckham's death certificate that his death was due to a "justifiable homicide" though his killer, Haynes, was convicted of manslaughter. This is even more strange in that it was justice Tulloss who bound Haynes over to trial after he presided at a coroner's inquest into Beckham's death.
James Franklin Beckham, 29, was survived by his wife Allie V. Beckham, and three daughters, Louise, 7, Myrtice 5, and Foy, 3. The Miami Daily News established a fund for Beckham's widow and children. Within four days, $870 had been collected.
Proof of the slain detective's popularity with all classes of Miamians came when a man who preferred to be known just as "a bootlegger," gave a check for $50. "I'm not asking any favors for this: I just want to help the widow. You can come over and raid me any time," he told police. (Miami Daily News, 2/4/1928) |
Survived by: |
Allie Viola Beckham - Wife
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three daughters, Louise, 7, Myrtice 5, and Foy, 3
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Fatal Incident Summary
Offender: |
Charles E. Haynes
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Location: |
Miami,
FL
USA
Fri. Feb. 03, 1928
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Summary: |
Detective Frank Beckham, 29, was shot and killed by a bootlegger near midnight on Friday, Feb. 3, 1928. Beckham had been in pursuit of a "rum laden...truck" and was ambushed when the truck stopped in front of the killer's home. He was the ninth Miami officer killed in the line of duty.
The fatal event began when Det. Frank Beckham and Det. J.A. McLendon received a report at the police station that there was a shooting near N.W. Sixth Ct. and 54th St. When they arrived at the alleged shooting scene around 11:00PM, they found a car and a truck parked at the corner. The two detectives decided that McLendon would investigate the car while Beckham would investigate the truck. McLendon got out of the police car to question Coney Quarterman, 47, the driver of the car. Quarterman had been arrested one week earlier after a raid at his home in which "100 sacks of liquor" were confiscated.
But before Officer Beckham could get out of his patrol car the truck "started off". Beckham shouted, "Stop there, boy, police officers!" But the driver only "accelerated his speed." Beckham followed the truck to the front of the home of Charles E. Haynes, 27, an alleged bootlegger, who lived at 5451 N.W. Sixth Ct. Beckham parked parallel to the truck and saw the driver get out and run into the house. But before the officer could turn off his engine and get out of the car, four shots rang out. "Two loads of buckshot crashed through the windshield of the police car driven by Beckham and entered the detective's left side and right chest." Beckham was killed instantly.
Haynes admitted to the police that he fired the shots that killed Det. Beckham and said that he was hiding in the bushes when Beckham's car stopped at the front of his home. At first police thought that more than one gunman was involved as both "double one" buckshot and birdshot had been found in Beckham's body. However, Haynes apparently used a "magazine type shotgun" which could have been loaded with shells of both kinds. Presence of a ".32 caliber pistol bullet" in the top of the police car was explained when Haynes admitted that he fired both a pistol and a shotgun.
A woman who lived near the shooting said (at the inquest) that she saw Haynes fire "four shots at Beckham, advancing a few steps between each discharge of his shotgun." When the last of the four shots was fired Haynes was close to his victim. Shortly before the shots were fired a witness had heard Beckham shout, "police officer". (It appears that Beckham was not in uniform.) Another witness reported seeing the body of Beckham in the seat of the patrol car immediately after the shooting with "his head lying backward." Haynes told this witness to "get the hell away from here before you get the same thing."
However, by the time police arrived, Beckham's body was "stretched beside the car and a cocked revolver was in the hand of the dead detective." Haynes claimed that he fired in self-defense under the mistaken belief that Beckham was a hijacker who was going to steal his truck filled with illegal liquor. He claimed that "nothing was said or done that would indicate to him that Beckham was a detective." Haynes denied that he was the driver of the truck and claimed that he was hiding in the weeds in front of his house awaiting the return of alleged hi-jackers who, he said, had tried to rob him a few minutes earlier.......Haynes said he thought Beckham was a hi-jacker, one of several whom, he says, had been chased away from the house earlier." (Miami Daily News, 241928) In fact, it appears that Haynes had considerable reason to be afraid. One of his bootlegging partners, C.E. Conroy, had been shot through the neck a year earlier by liquor hijackers and one hour earlier on the evening of Sept. 25, 1928, shots had been fired into Haynes home by persons he thought to be hijackers. Interior of the Haynes house is badly shattered by bullets and police have learned that some strange men visited the house before arrival of the police car. Haynes insists he thought Beckham was driving a hi-jackers' automobile. (Miami News, 261928) In fact, the earlier shooting at the Haynes home was what prompted the call to the police station which resulted in the two detectives being sent to check out the report. Haynes' wife, who had called the police after Beckham was shot, later told police that the shooting earlier that evening that led to the police response by the two detectives involved three men who attempted to force their way into the Haynes' home saying, "We are the law." She claims she awoke her husband and that several shots were fired and the three men fled. Her testimony appears to have been an attempt to corroborate her husband's story that he feared he was being attacked again and that his attacker might again pose as a police officer.
It appears that once Haynes realized he had shot a police officer and not a hijacker, he removed Beckham's body from the car and placed it on the ground near the car. He also placed Beckham's gun in his hand to make it appear that he had reason to fear the driver of the car. P.B. Gibson, Miami police inspector, measured and photographed the death scene and announced that the body had been removed from its original position.
Police rejected the explanation of Haynes that he shot in self-defense not knowing that Beckham was a police officer. Their investigation indicated that Haynes intended "to kill anyone who should come around" his liquor supply. They conceded, however, that there was no attempt by Haynes to 'get' any particular member of the force."
Meanwhile, Det. McLendon had taken a gun from Quarterman and handcuffed and arrested him when he heard the four shots from half a block away. The officer and his handcuffed prisoner ran the half block to the shooting scene and found silence except for the "purring of the police motor." Det. Beckham was found dead, lying face down near his police car. McLendon then had to "walk several blocks to a telephone before he could summon help."
When the ambulance arrived the lights in Haynes' house were turned on and Det. McLendon and other officers approached the house. They found Haynes inside along with his wife and mother-in-law. "Haynes readily admitted the shooting" and was arrested. A search of the house turned up several guns and "122 bags of liquor." Several relatives of Haynes and Quarterman were held as material witnesses. Within minutes several more police officers arrived on the scene as news of the killing of Det. Beckham spread. A crowd of more than 500 observers also gathered around the Haynes house. The mood of the police officers and the crowd turned ugly and Haynes was severely beaten by three Miami police detectives and a civilian. Haynes received "severe injuries in his face" and was placed under the care of a physician at the county stockade. At first, it was thought that the injury to one eye was so severe that he might lose sight.
City Manager Weldon A. Snow ordered an investigation into the beating and on Feb. 22, two of the detectives were suspended indefinitely by Police Chief H. Leslie Quigg while a third was suspended for 15 days without pay. One detective ultimately received a fine in the Criminal court of Record while the other was "acquitted for lack of identification." Both detectives quit the force and returned to their hometowns (in Georgia and North Carolina). The civilian allegedly involved in the beating was never arrested. The beating allegations led to the "reorganization of the police department."
On Feb. 7, a coroner's inquest was held before justice of the peace J.E. Tulloss. Haynes did not testify but his statement to the police was read and entered as testimony. The coroner's jury, after deliberating for one hour, bound over the case to the Dade County grand jury but did state that "it is our opinion that the said Charles E. Haynes thought he was shooting at hijackers". Haynes was held in the Dade County stockade pending the outcome of the grand jury's investigation.
The grand jury investigation began on Feb. 15 under the direction of Judge A.J. Rose and continued for five days. Vernon Hawthorne, the state attorney (who in 1933 prosecuted Guiseppe Zangara for the attempted murder of President-Elect Franklin D. Roosevelt), presented more than twelve witnesses to the grand jury. On Feb. 23 the grand jury indicted Haynes for first degree murder.
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Disposition: |
The jury recommendation for the minimum sentence for manslaughter was evidently taken seriously by Judge Rose. Haynes was sentenced to "three months and a number of days, the exact time that he had been in the county stockade awaiting trial." The Miami Herald also suggested that the judge might have been influenced by the alleged police misconduct that occurred at the scene of the killing of Det. Beckham when Haynes was allegedly beaten by two police officers and a citizen. |
Source: |
Book Excerpted in part or in whole from Dr. Wilbanks book-
FORGOTTEN HEROES: POLICE OFFICERS KILLED IN DADE COUNTY, FL, 1895-1995
by William Wilbanks
Louisville: Turner Publications
1996
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