A character in Larry McMurty’s 1985 novel Lonesome Dove, and later in the television miniseries, infamous nineteenth century outlaw Bluford “Blue” Duck, wreaked havoc across Indian Territory. In 1884, while drunk near in what is now eastern Oklahoma, Blue Duck and a cohort emptied their revolvers into an unsuspecting farmer, killing him. The two were quickly caught, convicted of murder, and sentenced to life in prison. Blue Duck, a romantic love interest of famed female Old West outlaw Belle Starr, died in 1895. He is buried in his home town of Catoosa, in northeast Oklahoma.

In 1978, Catoosa, the home and final resting site of Oklahoma’s infamous nineteenth century killer, was itself the scene of a twentieth century homicide. The small town which produced a Lonesome Dove character experienced the murder of its lone lawman, forty-six-year-old Police Chief J.B. Hamby.

Police Chief J.B. Hamby

Oklahoma distributed automobile licenses through privately owned franchises called Tag Agencies in the 1970s. The agencies kept little cash on hand at their offices, but they were still frequently targeted by robbers who trafficked stolen vehicles. One Tag Agency office was in the small town of Catoosa, a suburb of Tulsa.

Two women were working in the Catoosa Tag Agency building on September 1, 1978. Shortly after 8:00 a.m., two hooded men entered the building with guns drawn. One woman was on the telephone at the time and, before she was threatened by one of the gunmen, told the caller they were being robbed. That person called the police.

Chief J.B. Hamby, a twenty-four year law enforcement veteran and Catoosa’s only lawman, responded to the call.

The Lawman Responds

As Chief Hamby entered the agency, he was greeted by gunfire. A shootout commenced between he and the gunmen. Twenty rounds of ammunition were exchanged through the small office in a matter of seconds, several of which struck the police chief. He managed to stagger to the next door laundromat where customers summoned help. The chief, however, died before paramedics arrived.

One of robbers, Jackie Young, was killed at the scene. Reports conflict about how he died: some say he took his own life; others say he accidentally shot himself to death; some state he was killed by the ricochet of the hail of gunfire.

Miraculously, despite the barrage of bullets, the two female clerks were unharmed.

The Chief Is Killed in the Shootout

The second robber was shot several times in his leg and groin but managed to escape. He was identified as twenty-five-year-old David Smith, the son of prominent Oklahoma State University professors and described as the “All-American Boy.” The incident was the Stillwater native’s first brush with the law.

Smith was apprehended two hours later while being treated for the gunshot wounds at a nearby hospital. His physical wounds healed, but his good-boy image was permanently scarred.

David Smith was charged with murder after ballistics tests proved the bullet that killed Chief J.B. Hamby had been fired from Smith’s gun.

David Smith

Smith took the stand in his own defense at his trial, claiming he participated in the robbery only because of death threats from Young.

Smith testified Young was his neighbor at his apartment complex and that they had worked on cars together. Smith claimed they planned to defraud Young’s insurance company by claiming Young’s car was stolen, collect the insurance money, and sell the car. He said Young paid him $500 to participate in the scam by moving his car to a hidden locale.

Smith claimed he only learned of Young’s plan to rob the tag agency while they were moving the car. After he refused to participate, Smith claimed Young pulled a gun on him, and threatened to kill him and his fiance if he did not do so. His defense team also tried to dispute the ballistics determination that Smith had fired the fatal shot that killed Chief Hamby. All of the arguments were unsuccessful.

David Smith was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after serving fifteen years.

In 1982, after three years as a model prisoner, Smith was given trustee status, meaning he had significantly more freedom. He attained the highest level of trust as he was approved to live and work outside the prison at a small water pumping station where his job was to monitor equipment at a nearby lake. Guards assigned to check on him regularly found him always at the station performing his duties.

Convicted

The imprisoned Smith married his fiance, Jo Beth McNary, on June 26, 1982.  He remained a model prisoner for three more years, until October 28, 1985.

That morning, a prison guard stopped by for his regular 1:00 a.m. check of Smith’s sleeping quarters at the lake. To his shock, the trusted inmate was not there.

Prison officials believe Smith walked from his sleeping quarters at the lake to the nearest highway, approximately one mile away, where Jo Beth was waiting. Authorities found the couple mailed two letters from Macalester, a mile away.

It was also learned that Jo Beth had closed out her bank account, sold her home and furniture, and borrowed $1,000 from friends during the previous week. She told her travel agent she was going to Mexico, but investigators found no evidence the fugitive couple traveled south of the border.

Instead, in February, 1986, the two were seen at a convenience store in western Arkansas, only ninety miles from where Smith had escaped five months earlier. The police were notified, but by the time they arrived, the duo had vanished.

Jo Beth Smith at Age Seventeen

David Smith eluded detection for eight years.

Unsolved Mysteries profiled Smith’s case twice. After the second airing in March, 1993, the Tulsa FBI office received an anonymous tip saying Smith was living under the name Gary Johnston and working as a service manager at an automobile dealership in Spearfish, South Dakota. Local authorities, along with the FBI, arrested him at the dealership.

David Smith After His Capture

In December, 1993, over eight years after he walked away from “prison,” David Smith was sentenced to an additional four years for escape on top of his previous life sentence.

Returned to Prison

During their time as fugitives, Jo Beth Smith, under the name Bobbie Johnston, had been working in a hospital in nearby Deadwood. She had been arrested for stealing Versed, an injectable prescription drug from the hospital. Her true identity was not learned at that time and she received a suspended sentence.

Charges filed against Jo Beth in South Dakota as an accessory to a felony and impersonation to deceive law enforcement were later dropped. I could not find any source stating if charges were filed against her in Oklahoma for aiding the escape of a prisoner, nor could I find if federal charges were filed against her.

Jo Beth Smith died in 2003 at age forty-nine.

Jo Beth Smith After Her Capture

The now seventy-year-old David Smith remains imprisoned at the Lexington Correctional Center in Lexington, Oklahoma. He has not regained his trustee status. Records state he was denied parole in 2001, 2003, and 2008.

Smith’s appeal to have his conviction dismissed was denied by the Tenth Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals in 2010. Current Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, who was then a Judge on the Tenth Circuit, wrote the summary and opinion rejecting the appeal.

Imprisoned Smith

Similar to Blue Duck in the nineteenth century, Catoosa’s most infamous twentieth century outlaw appears out of luck.

Blue Duck and Belle Starr

Sheriff J.B. Hamby’s Campaign Poster

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/47064720/j-b-hamby=

J.B. Hamby at Officer Down Memorial Page

SOURCES:

• Claremore Daily Progress
• JUSTIA US Law
• KOTV-DT Tulsa CBS Affiliate Channel 6
• Los Angeles Times
• The Oklahoman
• Rapid City Journal
• Tulsa World
• Unsolved Mysteries