Auto Thieves Kill Another Policeman

William Dillon was responding to reports about the murder of Officer McKenna by the Lewis Brothers.   Dillon believed that the Lewis Brothers, who were auto and wire thieves, were responsible for McKenna’s death.

Dillon proceeded to the DeMorris home at 4232 Athlone Avenue. He observed two of the Lewis brothers enter the garage in the Ford. Dillon entered the garage behind them. No one saw Dillon alive again.

According to In The Line of Duty: St. Louis Police Officers Who Made the Ultimate Sacrifice by Barbara Miksicek, David McElreath and Stephen Pollihan, Dillon drew his revolver, when one of the brothers started to pull a gun. Dillon told him to drop the gun, and the man complied.

However, as Dillon investigated the trunk of the vehicle to inspect stolen copper wire, Frank Lewis struck Dillon in the head with a hatchet. His younger brother Ora joined in. The Lewis brothers bludgeoned Dillon to death.

A third brother, Roy Lewis, who was with Ora, when Ora shot Officer McKenna, walked into the garage after the murder of Dillon. Roy Lewis later confessed to his participation in the crimes and provided details to the police.

According to the April 8, 1916, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, witnesses saw Dillon entering the garage. One of the witnesses, a delivery driver, saw Dillon enter the garage by himself. However, the driver said when he left 10 or 15 minutes later, he did not see Dillon. Both the Ford and Hudson were gone from the alley, when the delivery driver left.

The Lewis brothers abandoned the Ford at Belleview and College Avenues. The original reports said the Lewis brothers abandoning the car after killing McKenna. However, the Lewis brothers took the Ford home first, where Frank Lewis murdered Dillon.

St. Louis Detectives believed one of the bundles the Lewis brothers removed from the vehicle was the body of Officer Dillon. Detectives found blood on the trunk and door frame of the vehicle. The detectives also found a button from a police uniform on the floorboard of the Ford.

The Lewis brother abandoned the Hudson in Overland Park. Detectives found two hundred pounds of stolen copper wire. Hours later, a farmer found Officer Dillon’s body in a field. A fractured skull killed Dillon.

Police arrested John DeMorris, the Lewis’ stepfather, and Roy “Joe” Lewis. Police found a stolen vehicle, auto parts, firearms, and equipment used to stop trains at the Athlone house. The family used the aliases DeMorris, Lewis and Baty.

Officer Dillon was born on September 19, 1877. He was 38 years old at the time of his death. He left a father, who was a city firefighter, and seven brothers.

In September 1916, Kansas City Police arrested Ora and Roy Lewis. Frank Lewis escaped. The Lewis brothers were originally from Kansas City but left there in 1914, when Frank or Ora shot a Kansas City Police Officer.

A jury convicted Ora Lewis and Roy Lewis for Officer McKenna’s murder. Roy Lewis served 24 years before the state paroled Roy Lewis in 1941. Roy managed to stay out of trouble after his parole.

The state paroled Ora Lewis three times but Lewis violated parole and returned to prison every time for new crimes. In 1956, St. Louis Detectives shot and killed Lewis. Lewis was on parole for the third and last time.

The Kansas City Police captured Frank Lewis in 1917. Frank Lewis contracted pneumonia, while awaiting extradition. Frank Lewis died at 18 years of age ending his short but violent life.

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