Deputy Sheriff Joseph Arthur Harnest

Deputy Sheriff
Joseph Arthur Harnest

Deputy Sheriff Joseph Arthur Harnest was fatally shot on Wednesday December 14, 1937. Deputy Harnest was 35 years old living in the city of West Columbia at the time of his death. Deputy Harnest was killed instantly, when he was mistaken for an escaped convict from the West Columbia area. At approximately two o'clock in the morning, the suspect, Brook Votaw, was held at the Angleton Jail as the aftermath of a shooting hunt for the escape convict concluded. Mr. Votaw, the son of a former Texas Ranger, was noted to be in a state of shock due to the incident.

	Deputy Sheriff Joseph Arthur Harnest
	Deputy Sheriff Joseph Arthur Harnest was fatally shot on Wednesday December 14, 1937. Deputy Harnest was 35 years old living in the city of West Columbia at the time of his death. Deputy Harnest was killed instantly, when he was mistaken for an escaped convict from the West Columbia area. At approximately two o'clock in the morning, the suspect, Brook Votaw, was held at the Angleton Jail as the aftermath of a shooting hunt for the escape convict concluded. Mr. Votaw, the son of a former Texas Ranger, was noted to be in a state of shock due to the incident.