Killed in the line of duty 90 years ago today

SALT LAKE CITY — The Salt Lake City Police Department remembers the loss of one its own: Officer David H. Crowther, killed in the line of duty October 12, 1923.

Officer Crowther was shot to death by a transient. When he failed to return home from patrol the previous night, the Department began a search.

At 10 a.m., the body of the 45-year-old officer was found on a bank of the Jordan River, three blocks from his home. He had been shot once in the head with a .32-caliber pistol. His vehicle, handgun and watch were missing.

Three men driving Officer Crowther’s bloodstained vehicle were arrested in Ludlow, California, October 16. The men were extradited to Utah, charged, tried, and found guilty of robbery and murder.

Two of the men were eventually paroled. The suspect who shot Officer Crowther was executed at the Utah State Prison in 1926.

Officer Crowther was married and the father of three children. He is buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery. His nephew, Leonard C. Crowther, would rise through the ranks to become police chief.

To learn more about our Fallen Officers, please visit police.slc.gov/fallen.