Deputy Sheriff Ollie F. Sammie Childress Jr., 54, of the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office was abducted while on duty and executed on November 4, 1983. Two suspects forced him from his patrol car, stripped and handcuffed him, and placed him in the trunk so they could use his uniform and vehicle to rob a bank on U.S. 87. After the robbery at 11:50 a.m., they returned, opened the trunk and shot Deputy Childress in the neck. When he was still alive they shot him a second time, killing him.

The suspects were later apprehended; the shooter received a death sentence and the other suspect, described as the shooter’s nephew, was sentenced to 25 years. Deputy Childress had served three years with the sheriff’s office and left a wife, two sons, a daughter, six grandchildren, his father, and four siblings.

Does anyone have memories of Deputy Childress, the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office in 1983, or information about the case that could add to the record?