After 13 months on the run, a former small-town police chief wanted for murder and armed robbery was captured in Tennessee on Sep. 27, 1929. Had Tom Shook always been a crooked cop concealing his crimes behind a badge? If that was true, he sure had fooled a bunch of people during his eight-year career in law enforcement with different departments in North Texas. And the town council in Electra, the Red River boomtown northwest of Wichita Falls, would not have hired him as the new chief of police had he not come highly recommended.
Shook lasted no more than a year as Electra’s top cop. Whether he was fired or left of his own accord is unclear to this day. It may be that the town elders got wind of his after-hours activities and chose to play it safe by terminating his employment or Shook simply resigned to pursue a life of crime fulltime.
On the night of Aug. 10, 1928, the ex-chief stabbed to death a 42 year old father of three. To save the sheriff the trouble of looking for him and to avoid any unpleasantness, Shook turned himself in before sunup.
