Detective Walter T. Hart D1
Age: 49
Served 26 years
May 1, 1929 to September 19, 1955
On September 19, 1955, at 11:50 p.m., ex-convicts from Kilby Prison; Lemuel Trotter, a twenty-eight year old black male of Shubuta, Mississippi; Robert Lee Jackson, a forty year old black male of 623 West Sixth Street; and Willie Barnet, a twenty-four year old black male of 507 Carlisle went to the Grey Eagle Café, located at 201 West Sixth Street in District Two, with intent to rob the café and its customers. Detective Walter Hart, of 3717 Applegate, a twenty-one year detective, including twenty years in the Homicide Squad, was a customer in the café. Trotter carried a Smith & Wesson .38 caliber revolver and Barnett a .32 caliber semiautomatic pistol. Jackson waited outside as a lookout. Detective Hart engaged the two gunmen with his Colt Police Positive .38 caliber revolver. He wounded Barnett and Trotter shot Detective Hart in the heart. He staggered to the telephone, tried calling for help, collapsed, and died. He was pronounced dead by Dr. Goettle at 12:36 a.m. at the Cincinnati General Hospital.

Detective Hart left a wife, Lillian, and two grown children. A bronze bust of him is still displayed at the Hart family pharmacy at 4861 Glenway Avenue, near Guerley Road.
Patrolmen George Reese, Highway Safety Bureau, and Wilson Day, District 2, heard the shots, responded to the café, and soon after found and apprehended Willie Barnett as he hid in a hallway at 229 West 6th Street. Detectives Marvin Friedman and John Ritter recovered personal papers and money belonging to victims robbed in the café. Barnett was found guilty of 1st Degree Murder with a recommendation of no mercy.

Jackson went to his home, changed clothes, and caught a cab. Patrolmen William Breckel and William Hayes, District One, conducted stops of vehicles going over the C&O Bridge. They stopped the cab Jackson had caught, identified him as a suspect and arrested him. Patrolman Harry Batters, Vice Squad, Patrolman Lehman Foster, District Four, and Detectives John Greene, Eugene Moore and Donald F. Roney recovered the murder weapon and Detective Hart’s wallet in Jackson’s apartment. Jackson was found guilty of 1st Degree Murder with a recommendation of no mercy. Robert Lee Jackson was executed almost three years later on July 7, 1958.

Trotter escaped through a side door and through an alley. He caught a cab and went to 1543 Baymiller Street and changed clothes. Eventually, he went to went to Newport, Kentucky and jumped on a freight train making his way to Mobile, Alabama. Using the name Reco Glover, he was apprehended almost 1½ years later, on February 8, 1957, in Selma, Alabama. Lieutenant Charles Martin, Crime Bureau, interviewed Trotter and extradited him to Cincinnati. Trotter was found guilty of 1st Degree Murder with a recommendation for no mercy. Lemuel Trotter was executed almost three years later on July 7, 1958.

Patrolman Donald Martin P338
Age 29
Served: 5 years
April 30, 1956 to March 11, 1961

On March 11, 1961, Walter Walls, Jesse Walls, and Charles Jillson were in the Downtown Lincoln Mercury car lot, 715 Reading Road, for the purpose of stealing a battery from one of the cars. The Wallses entered the lot on foot while Jillson waited in the car. About 3 a.m., Patrolman Donald Martin, of 4300 Foley Road, a recipient of three bronze stars during the Korean War, pulled his patrol car onto the National Biscuit Company (Nabisco) parking lot at 721 Reading Road, exited his vehicle and walked onto the car lot. A violent struggle ensued; so violent that Patrolman Martin’s blouse was ripped at the lapel and several buttons were torn from his uniform. Walter Walls, possibly with Jesse’s assistance, gained control of Patrolman Martin’s .38 caliber service revolver and shot Patrolman Martin in the chest. Patrolman Martin turned and ran with Walter Walls in pursuit, firing into Martin’s back.

At 3:10 a.m., Jack Wenner, Hugh Moore, and Harold Stiver, all of Pitt, Ohio, were northbound at 721 Reading Road when they observed the chase and continued shooting. They observed Patrolman Martin with his hands in the air, Walls fire again into his back and, after he fell to the ground, Walls firing a final shot into his head.

Jillson drove away and Walter Walls fired a shot at Jillson’s Cadillac. Walter Walls ran across Reading Road and up Dandridge Street. While going up a muddy embankment, he fell, pushing the revolver partially into the mud. Walls discarded Patrolman Martin’s gun and his own shirt and jacket into a trash can in the rear of 542 Dandridge Street. Jesse Walls ran eastbound through the Nabisco lot toward the railroad tracks behind the Elsinore Warehouse.

Harold Stiver exited the witness vehicle and tried to assist Patrolman Martin. The others drove to a gas station to call the police. By the time the police arrived, the offenders were gone. Sergeant Max Abel was the first car on the scene. Detective Elam took photographs.

Patrolman Martin left a wife, Alethea, and children. They were also in the process of adopting an infant. Mrs. Martin was the daughter of then Chief of Detectives, Henry Sandman.

Numerous detectives worked the case initially and sporadically over the next four decades. A young detective who had just been trained in a “new, state-of-the-art” process of plaster casting, made an impression of the hole in the mud made by the Martin’s revolver in the muddy embankment, confirming Walls’s route. The jacket in the trashcan was examined and found to have “Negroid” hairs attached. Therefore, the early investigation focused on a black suspect or suspects. A specific man, a black male named Murph, was being considered by Lieutenant Martin (no relation). He worked on a “Tip Sheet” and determined that Murph was in jail on the day of the murder. He closed out the Tip Sheet placed it in his Desk Bin. That day, Lieutenant Martin suffered a massive heart attack and died. The closed Tip Sheet was not found until some time later, which probably stalled the investigation. Later, it was concluded that the hairs transferred to the jacket when it was placed with commingled trash.

This crime went unsolved until 2005 when a tipster called the Homicide Unit with some information. That information turned out to be inaccurate, but it caused the case to be reopened. Two Homicide Unit detectives, Ballman and Schare, neither of whom was born yet when Patrolman Martin was slain, found Jesse Walls. After further investigation, they found that Jillson was never heard from again, probably also killed by Walter Walls. Walter Walls had died during 2004. They talked to Walter Walls’ son and daughter who immediately asked why it had taken the detectives so many years to ask them about their father killing “that policeman” in 1961. Walter Walls was such an abusive father, husband, etc. everyone was too frightened to tell the story until after his death. The detectives and Hamilton County Prosecutor closed the case by the “death of the offender”, Walter Walls.

Detective Howard F. Smith D12
Age: 55
Served 31½ years
November 1, 1940 to September 13, 1972
On December 30, 1971, Detective Smith was working a protection detail at the Fifth Third Bank, 2026 Central Parkway, when Raymond Sams, a nineteen year old black male of 674 Glenwood Avenue, and Isaac Beasley, a seventeen year old black male, entered to rob the bank. Beasley pointed his firearm at Detective Smith and pulled the trigger, but the firearm was jammed. Sams then shot Detective Smith. Sams and Beasley were arrested by Lt. James Daley, Detective Bluhm, and Specialists Heinzelman, J. Day, Gus Feldman, and Wilson Day. Detective Smith lived for 8½ months before finally expiring on September 13, 1972. He was pronounced dead at 3:30 a.m. by Dr. J. Krautmann.
Detective Smith left a wife, Frances.

Raymond Sams was sentenced to die in the electric chair. However, his sentence was commuted and he was paroled during September 2002. He currently resides in Avondale.
Isaac Beasley was sentenced to die in the electric chair. However, his sentence was commuted and he was paroled during June 2002. He currently resides in Avondale.

Sergeant Charles F. Handorf S64
Age: 49
Served 22 years
September 15, 1952 to December 8, 1974
On December 8, 1974, at 1:45 a.m., Sergeant Handorf and other officers surrounded a house on Home City Avenue. Inside, Herbert Merz, a thirty-eight year old white male, of 6438 Home City Avenue, barricaded himself after having fired shots from the house. Sergeant Handorf was crouched down below a rock wall along the driveway. Merz fired a shot from the second floor window striking Handorf in the head, killing him. The other officers returned fire, killing Merz. Sergeant Handorf was transported to General Hospital by Police Officers Phemann and Rinear where he was pronounced dead by Dr. Troop at 3:00 a.m.

Sergeant Handorf left a wife.

Sergeant Robert A. Lally S114
Age: 38
Served 19 years
June 18, 1956 to December 8, 1975

On December 8, 1975, Sergeant Robert Lally and Police Officer Bob Oliver were partners. Sergeant Lally was scheduled to be off, but voluntarily worked because there was a shortage of supervision that night. They found a suspicious vehicle parked behind 5552 Colerain Avenue, a television repair shop. It was past midnight; only one vehicle, a station wagon, was absent of frost and its hood was still warm; blankets were spread out in the cargo area; and lights were on inside the television repair shop. At 12:55 a.m., Sergeant Lally tested the rear screen door and as he turned the handle. The door flung open and Richard Strunk, a thirty-year-old white male of 5424 Hamilton Avenue and owner of the shop, stuck his handgun out the door and shot once, striking Sergeant Lally under his arm, missing his bullet-resistant vest. Officer Oliver pulled his revolver and shot twice, striking Strunk once in the arm. Still alive, Sergeant Lally was transported to General Hospital where Dr. Palmer pronounced him dead at 1:32 a.m., thirteen minutes less than one year from the time Sergeant Handorf was killed by a barricaded person.

Detective Snodderly, Homicide Squad, arrested Strunk and charged him with Involuntary Manslaughter. Strunk claimed that he thought Sergeant Lally was a burglar. During May 1976, Richard Strunk was sentenced to one to ten years imprisonment. He was paroled less than one year later, on April 19, 1977.

Sergeant Lally’s brother, Donald Lally, retired as from the Deer Park Police Department as its Chief. As of 2007, four nieces and nephews also served law enforcement: Sergeant Joseph Lally of the Cheviot Police Department; Deputy Michael Lally of the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department; Police Officer Ann Lally of the Cincinnati Police Department; and Judy Lally of the Hamilton County Central Warrant Processing Unit.