Prosecutors Memorial Unveiled and Dedicated

Above: Some members of the Prosecutors Memorial Committee.
	Left: The gathering at the dedication ceremony.

A somber and moving ceremony marked the dedication of the Prosecutors Memorial September 20 at the Ernest F. Hollings National Advocacy Canter on the campus of the University of South Carolina in Columbia. The memorial, an NDAA project, honors prosecutors who were killed during the performance of their duties.

Several hundred people attended the ceremony, including members of the families of the prosecutors whose names were the first to be inscribed on the memorial, members of the NDAA Board of Directors, and prosecutors who were attending the NDAA Fall Conference.

NDAA President Walsh told the gathering, “Prosecutors, as the people’s attorneys, are charged with the responsibility of protecting victims of crime and their families, ensuring that truth and justice prevail by holding criminals accountable for their actions and keeping their communities safe for law abiding citizens. Those who are prosecutors have answered a calling, and are among the true heroes of our society. This memorial will stand in modest recognition of the selfless acts of prosecutors in the pursuit of justice.”

Former NDAA President Dan M. Alsobrooks, district attorney general of Charlotte, Tennessee, and originator of the memorial idea, related the background of the memorial project, declaring:

“Every day, there are prosecutors in this country who get up and go to work, sometimes with extra protection from law enforcement, sometimes wearing body armor, not knowing and usually putting out of their minds whether they will return to their families or if their families will become victims. Despite the interception of bombs aimed at the homes and offices of prosecutors, despite efforts to hire assassins, despite threatening phone calls and letters, we thank God that so few of these attempts have succeeded.

“It takes courage and determination,” he said, “to continue to seek justice and do the job of a prosecutor in the face of attack. Thankfully there are not a lot of names on the memorial here in Columbia, which makes the stories of the bravery and selflessness of those names even more significant. These sacrifices stand as an example for the men and women working every day to make this country safe and free, every day representing victims of crime, every day seeking justice and fairness, even when under threat.”

After the memorial was formally unveiled, President Walsh read the names of the prosecutors honored on the memorial and briefly recounted the details of their deaths.

The prosecutors:

Prosecutors and family members of the victims inspect the new monument.

Eugene C. Berry, an assistant state attorney in Florida’s 15th Judicial Circuit, was fatally shot at his home on January 19, 1982, by the wife of a man whom Berry had prosecuted on drug charges and who had been sent to prison.

Fred Capps, commonwealth’s attorney in Kentucky’s 40th Judicial Circuit, died on June 5, 2000, defending his home and family after a defendant whom Capps was scheduled to prosecute later that day on a child molestation charge, broke into the Capps residence wielding an automatic rifle. Capps grabbed his personal revolver and in the ensuing exchange of gunfire, both Capps and his assailant were killed.

Floyd G. Hoard, then solicitor (now called district attorney) of Georgia’s Piedmont Judicial Circuit, was killed on August 7, 1967, after he turned the ignition key in his car, detonating 12 sticks of dynamite connected to the vehicle’s electrical system. The murder was believed connected to Hoard’s vigorous prosecution of a local crime gang.

Paul R. McLaughlin, an assistant Massachusetts attorney general detailed to the Suffolk County (Boston) DA’s office on special assignment, was ambushed and shot to death by a hooded assailant on September 25, 1995, as he was walking to his car from a commuter train station. An intensive investigation led to a notorious Boston gang leader whom McLaughlin was prosecuting on a carjacking charge.

Victor C. Breen was DA of New Mexico’s 10th Judicial District when he was shot to death on December 1, 1971, while getting into his car to drive to his office. His assailant was a former mental patient, who had previously been committed to a state mental hospital on DA Breen’s recommendation. At the time of the murder, Breen was considering having the man recommitted.

C. Chris Marshall, an assistant DA of Tarrant County (Fort Worth), Texas, was shot to death on July 1, 1992, in an appellate courtroom by a man who was about to be extradited to Illinois to face a charge of sexually abusing his son. The man reportedly shot Marshall, who happened to be sitting in the courtroom awaiting another case, to call attention to the injustices he believed he had been dealt at the hands of the appellate court.

Michael C. Messer, a special assistant U.S. attorney in Chicago, died on August 20, 2001, after he and a colleague were shot during a robbery attempt near the Ernest F. Hollings National Advocacy Center, where they were attending a training seminar. Messer’s colleague survived.