Corsicana Daily Sun
Corsicana, Texas
Monday, February 4, 1935
pg 1

CITY MARSHAL OF WHITESBORO SLAIN ATTEMPTING ARREST

MAN WHO DID SHOOTING BEEN DRINKING; USED RELIEF FUNDS BUY LIQUOR

SHERMAN, Feb. 4 - (AP) - Harold Locke, 27, a former reformatory inmate, today pleaded guilty to a charge of
slaying Ches Estes, Whitesboro city marshal, and to attacking a young woman early yesterday at Whitesboro.
Estes died today in a Sherman hospital of gunshot wounds.
Locke was ordered held without bond following examining trial and charges were scheduled to be presented
to a grand jury later today.
Frank Stearns, an employe of the cafe where the shooting occurred, gave an eye-witness version of the affair.
The young woman whom Locke admitted attacking, was in the courtroom when the prisoner was brought in
under heavy guard.
She broke down and began to sob. She asked permission to leave the courtroom and did not testify.
Sheriff J. Benton Davis testified instead, telling the story the woman told him yesterday at Whitesboro.
Lock was indicted on charges of murder and criminal attack by the district court grand jury, which was in regular session here. He was ordered arraigned this afternoon.

SHERMAN, Feb. 4 -(AP) - City Marshall Ches Estes of Whitesboro died in a hospital here early today of a gunshot wound admittedly inflicted by a 27-year-old former reformatory inmate.
Witnesses were called into justice court today for the examining trial of the man arrested for shooting the officer in a Whitesboro restaurant early yesterday.
Estes, 36, was wounded fatally by shotgun fire as he entered the restaurant to arrest a man in connection with an alleged attack on a Whitesboro woman.
The man, arrested later at his home, told officers and newspapermen that he had been drinking whiskey purchased
with money obtained from the county relief fund. He admitted the shooting.
Customers of the restaurant were threatened with death if they disclosed his whereabouts as the man barricaded
himself behind a kitchen counter and awaited Estes arrival.
The man extinguished kitchen lights, leveled a shotgun over the counter and fired as Estes stepped into the door. Customers were unable to warn Estes of the man's presence.
Estes fell to the floor but emptied his pistol at the man as he jumped through a window and fled. Two officers outside were threatened by the man and fired at him, but missed.
Sheriff J. Benton Davis and other officers arrested the man in a bed at his home.
A woman said the man seized her near an alley as she was returning from a theatre and attacked her. He stifled
her screams by choking her, she told officers.



The Denison Press
Monday, February 4, 1935
pg.1

CHES ESTES, CITY MARSHAL OF WHITESBORO, MEETS DEATH AT HANDS OF DRUNKEN YOUTH
Blast From Shotgun Is Death Cause

Citizens of Whitesboro were at a boiling point Monday morning following the death earlier in the day of Ches Estes, City Marshal after he received mortal wounds when shot by Tommy Locke, Whitesboro youth, Saturday night as Estes attempted to arrest him in a restaurant on charges of a woman who claimed that Locke had attempted to assault her.  Locke is under arrest at Sherman.
Estes was said to have been shot as he entered the restaurant to find Locke.  The place was in semi-darkness and a single blast from a double barreled shotgun felled Estes.  He fired several shots at Locke as he ran through the rear entrance to escape.
Locke was arrested later at his home by Sheriff Benton Davis, who said the youth admitted having shot Estes.  Locke said that he had bought a quart of whiskey with money he had received...relief office at Whitesboro Sunday.
The death of the Whitesboro peace office brings to mind several times he had escaped death by guns in the hands of desperadoes.  The most outstanding was the time that he had a running gun battle with 3 youths who staged a series of hijackings . . .
Ches Estes encountered the trio near Whitesboro and had a running battle, the 3 desperadoes escaping and coming to Denison to hijack Doc Combest as he was fishing at Munson park.  The Combest car was later found in Paris, Texas.
The 3 desperadoes were finally caught, Woolard near Gordonville.  Morgan was captured near Chickasha, Oklahoma and Craighead near Hugo.
Craighead finally escaped from jail at McAlester, Oklahoma, September 11, 1934 and was not heard from until February 1, 1935, when he was arrested near Durant, Oklahoma and returned to the jail from which he escaped



Big Spring Weekly Herald
Big Spring, Texas
Friday, February 8, 1935
pg 10

Whitesboro Police Chief Is Shot Down

Harold Locke, Former Reformatory Inmate, Pleads Guilty to Murder
SHERMAN (AP) - City Marshal Ches Estes, 36, of Whitesboro, died Monday of a gunshot would admittedly inflicted by a 27-year-old former reformatory inmate.
Witnesses were called into justice court Monday for examining trial of a man arrested for shooting the officer
in a Whitesboro restaurant Sunday.
Harold Locke pleaded guilty to the charge of slaying Estes. He was ordered  held without bond. Charges were
scheduled to be presented to the grand jury later Monday.

WHITESBORO - A shotgun charge struck City Marshal Ches Estes, 36, under the heart when he walked into the Depot Cafe here at 1:30 a.m. Monday to arrest Tommy Locke, 27, alleged to have attempted to attack a woman in an alley a block off the main street a short time before.
Estes, taken to St. Vincent's Sanitarium at Sherman, was in critical condition. Physicians said he probably would
not live through the night.
In the county jail at Sherman Monday Locke said he fired the shot, but that he was so drunk at the time, he
remembered very little about it. He denied the allegation of attempted attack. He thought Estes was going to arrest
him for drunkenness, as he had often done before, Locke said.
Locke said he bought a quart of whiskey with 'relief' money yesterday afternoon, and that he broke into the Waldro
Hardware Store last night to get a shotgun.
After Sheriff Benton Davis and four deputies came here and arrested Locke at his home for the shooting, a physician reported to Davis that the woman was suffering from numerous bruises and scratches when he examined her.
Locke bought the whiskey with what remained of a $3.50 relief check after he paid a gas bill, he said. He added
that he 'took several drinks from other fellows' bottles, too."
Estes has been city marshal and fire marshal here six years. Previously, he had been fire chief. He is one of the
best known peace officers in this section of Texas. He is married, but has no children, and is a member of the
Baptist Church.
His father, E. G. Estes, is night watchman here but was not on duty last night because of illness>
Locke fired from the back of the cafe as Estes walked in, he said. Estes fired at him five times with a pistol
after falling, but none of the bullets hit him, Locke said.



Denton Record-Chronicle
Denton, Texas
Friday, February 22, 1935
pg 4

Both Sides Rest In Locke Trial
SHERMAN, Feb. 22, -(AP) - Testimony was completed today in the case of Harold Locke, on trial here for the admitted slaying of Ches Estes, Whitesboro city marshal.
Court was recessed while Judge R. M. Carter prepared his charges to the jury.
Only two defense witnesses were placed on the stand - the defendant's sister, Miss Aline Locke, and his mother, Mrs. J. A. Locke. They said he was drunk when he came home after the killing.
The state called on rebuttal witnesses, Roy McDaniel, a deputy sheriff, who corroborated testimony of other state
witnesses that Locke was sober when arrested at his home shortly after the shooting.



The Marshall News Messenger
Marshall, Texas
Saturday, February 23, 1935
pg 1

DEATH PENALTY IS GIVEN TEXAS YOUTH WHO KILLED OFFICER

SHERMAN, Feb. 22 (UP) - Harold Locke, 27, who bought whiskey with relief funds given him got drunk, assaulted a woman, and killed a city marshal, was sentenced later today to die in the electric chair.
A jury in Fifteenth District Court deliberated only 22 minutes before returning a verdict that Lock was guilty of murdering City Marshal Ches Estes at Whitesboro the night of Feb. 3.
Estes was killed by a shotgun charge as he entered a Whitesboro cafe in search of Locke, after being told of the attack. Mrs. Estes, the officer's wife, and John  Clark, 40, had told him of the report that Locke had assaulted a young woman.
At the time of his arrest, a few minutes after Estes was slain, Locke told officers that he attacked the young woman while drunk on liquor which he had purchased with county relief money.
Mye Stearns, cafe employe, testified, however, that Locke, a Whitesboro man know to towns-people as "Tommy," was not drunk at the time of the murder. "He might have been drinking," Stearns testified, "but he was sober when he entered the cafe."



The Courier-Gazette
McKinney, Texas
Tuesday, February 26, 1935pg 1

MUST PAY WITH LIFE FOR SLAYING GRAYSON OFFICER

HAROLD "TOMMY" LOCKE FOUND GUILTY IN SHERMAN COURT.

Harold "Tommy" Locke, 27 must pay with his life for the slaying Feb. 3 of Ches Estes, Whitesboro city marshal.
The death verdict was returned after only 22 minutes of deliberation Friday afternoon by a fifteenth district court jury at Sherman.
Tradition of more than 30 years standing was broken when Locke was given the extreme penalty. During the past 30 years no white man has received the death penalty for a crime committed in Grayson County, a check of court records reveals.
The young defendant received the sentence without a visible show of emotion, but his aged mother was near collapse as she was led from the courtroom. The widow of the slain marshal and other relatives shook hands with members of the jury.
Estes was fatally wounded the morning of Feb. 3 when he attempted to arrest Locke in the Depot Cafe at Whitesboro for an alleged criminal attack upon a young Whitesboro woman. The condemned man has also been indicted on a rape charge.



Lubbock Morning Avalanche
Lubbock, Texas
Tuesday, February 26, 1935
pg 2

New Trial Motion Is Filed For Slayer of Ches Estes

SHERMAN, Feb. 25 (AP) Attorneys for Harold Locke, sentenced to die for the slaying of Marshal Ches Estes at Whitesboro, have filed a motion for a new trial.
The motion alleged that Judge R. M. Carter committed a material error in admitting testimony of John Clark over
objection of defense counsel. Clark had testified that the defendant had made a criminal attack on a young
Whitesboro woman.
It was while City Marshal Estes was trying to arrest young Locke for this alleged attack that he was shot to
death in a Whitesboro cafe Feb. 3.



Longview News-Journal
Longview, Texas
Sunday, March 3, 1935
pg 1

LOCKE IS DENIED NEW TRIAL IN SLAYING OF WHITESBORO MARSHAL

SHERMAN, Tex., March 2. (AP) - District Judge R. M. Carter - Saturday overruled a motion for a new trial for
Harold Locke, sentenced to die for the slaying February 3 of Ches Estes, Whitesboro city marshal. The judge
granted defense attorneys 60 days in which to file a statement of facts.



Corsicana Daily Sun
Corsicana, Texas
Wednesday, November 27, 1935
pg 13

Death Sentence Grayson County Man Is Reversed

AUSTIN, Nov. 27 - (AP) The Court of Criminal Appeals today reversed and remanded the conviction of Harold
Locke, sentenced to death in Grayson county in the slaying of Ches H. Estes, city marshal of Whitesboro.
The slaying occurred Feb. 3, 1935, as Estes allegedly sought to arrest Locke on the oral complaint of
a citizen that Locke was involved in a criminal assault. The Appeals Court ruled introduction of evidence by the state tending to show commission of another crime constituted error and that the
testimony was hear-say.



Corsicana Daily Sun
Corsicana, Texas
Friday, March 13, 1936
pg 15

Jury in Sherman Murder Trial Near Completion Today

SHERMAN, March 13 - (AP) - A jury was nearly completed today for the trail of Harold Locke on a murder charge for the slaying of Ches Estes, Whitesboro city marshal. Eleven jurors had been selected at noon recess and the panel was expected to be completed during the afternoon.
The special venire of 125 was exhausted, as well as 18 extra veniremen summoned. The sheriff was ordered to bring in 10 more.
City Marshal Estes was slain in Feb., 1935 in a Whitesboro cafe when he sought to arrest Locke.
The officer had been informed Locke had criminally attacked a Whitesboro woman.



Corsicana Daily Sun
Corsicana, Texas
Saturday, March 14, 1936
pg 9

Temporary Insanity Alleged in Sherman Trail for Slaying

SHERMAN, March 14   - (AP - Witnesses for the defense today contended Harold Locke was
temporarily insane when he is alleged to have shot and killed Ches Estes, Whitesboro City marshal Feb. 3, 1935.
Locke had consumed more than a pint of whiskey and had taken several sedative tablets, witnesses said.
Dr. Vernon Tuck testified the combination might produce temporary insanity in the average person.
Locke was on trial for the second time on charges of slaying the officer.
The state's case was concluded early today.



The Whitewright Sun
Whitewright Texas
Thursday, April 16, 1936
pg 2

DENISON SLAYING TRIAL TO OPEN ON APRIL 23

SHERMAN - . . . Birge saved Harold Locke, convicted Whitesboro slayer, from the electric chair in a recent trail when he obtained a ninety-nine-year sentence for the man charged with slaying Ches Estes, Whitesboro city marshal, in February, 1935.



The Whitewright Sun
Whitewright, Texas
Thursday, May 14, 1936
pg 8

MURDERER TO GO TO PRISON THIS WEEK

The final episode in the brutal slaying of Ches Estes, Whitesboro city marshal, and trials of Harold Locke, will
be ably enacted in a few days, probably this week, when Bud Russell, State prison agent, Transfers the 28-year-old convicted murderer to Huntsville to serve his penalty of 99 years at hard labor.
In sullen mood, Locke said he wished "they would rush the transfer." Alone in the death dell of the count jail in Sherman
for thirteen months, he welcomes a chance to work alongside "someone he ca talk to."
Late Friday R. M. Carter, presiding judge, formally sentenced Locke upon the verdict returned March 16 by a
15th District Court jury.
Estes was slain in February, 1935, when he went to arrest Locke in a depot cafe at Whitesboro, after being informed that Locke had raped a young Whitesboro woman. Locke, hiding in a kitchen, killed the officer with a shotgun.
Locke was convicted and sentenced to death when he was first tried in the 15th District  Court, but a
higher court reversed the decision because of a technicality.