THE DARK SIDE OF NEBRASKA
Howard Crooks
#26044
Full Name: Howard Crooks
DOB: November 24, 1928
Charge: 2nd degree murder
County: Lancaster
City: Lincoln
Current Status: Deceased
Partners in Crime: James Byrd
Date of Crime: August 10, 1967
Victims: Paul Whitehead
DOB: November 24, 1928
Charge: 2nd degree murder
County: Lancaster
City: Lincoln
Current Status: Deceased
Partners in Crime: James Byrd
Date of Crime: August 10, 1967
Victims: Paul Whitehead
Paul Whitehead, courtesy Lincoln Journal Star
Paul Whitehead pulled over the car in the early morning of August 10, 1967, not knowing three fugitives who'd escaped from an Indiana state prison were inside, armed with shotguns.
Paul's partner, Detective Paul Merritt, would later say that they stopped the 1966 Pontiac Bonneville after it pulled out of a gas station at 29th and O Streets because "it was from out of state and kind of beat up." Whitehead and Merritt shined their cruiser lights on the Bonneville and approached from the back. Whitehead took the driver's side to check IDs while Merritt stood behind the car on the passenger side.
Whitehead asked the men to get out and two of them did - holding 12-gauge shotguns. In the firefight that followed, the 30-year old father of three was shot at close range. Paul Whitehead died.
Police caught James Byrd at the scene because he was hurt in the firefight. They caught the other two - Aurthur Murray and Howard Crooks - a few hours later after a search including more than 100 officers.
The men had escaped a week earlier by scaling a 42-foot prison wall at the Indiana State Penitentiary.
Paul's partner, Detective Paul Merritt, would later say that they stopped the 1966 Pontiac Bonneville after it pulled out of a gas station at 29th and O Streets because "it was from out of state and kind of beat up." Whitehead and Merritt shined their cruiser lights on the Bonneville and approached from the back. Whitehead took the driver's side to check IDs while Merritt stood behind the car on the passenger side.
Whitehead asked the men to get out and two of them did - holding 12-gauge shotguns. In the firefight that followed, the 30-year old father of three was shot at close range. Paul Whitehead died.
Police caught James Byrd at the scene because he was hurt in the firefight. They caught the other two - Aurthur Murray and Howard Crooks - a few hours later after a search including more than 100 officers.
The men had escaped a week earlier by scaling a 42-foot prison wall at the Indiana State Penitentiary.
