End of Watch:
July 30, 1895
Age: 62
Echo Police Department
Homicide: Rifle
Constable Thomas A. Stagg and Uinta County (WY) Deputy Edward N. Dawes were killed in a gun battle near the Wyoming border.
Constable Stagg and Deputy Dawes were part of a four-man posse alerted to watch for two suspects who had attempted to murder the Summit County sheriff. Receiving word that the suspects were hiding in a cabin on Duck Creek, approximately 12 miles west of Evanston, the posse surrounded the cabin in the early morning hours. At dawn, a gun battle erupted. One of the suspects suffered a minor wound. Constable Stagg was shot in the throat and died immediately. Deputy Dawes was shot through the lungs. Their ammunition exhausted, the two remaining posse members withdrew. Following a massive manhunt and another gun battle, the two suspects were captured in Tooele County on August 5. One suspect was convicted and subsequently executed by firing squad in 1896. The second suspect was sentenced to prison and paroled in 1902. Constable Stagg was survived by his wife and several grown children. He is buried in Echo Junction Cemetery.
The bronze memorial name plaque of Constable Thomas A. Stagg is sponsored by Layton Police Chief Terry Keefe and his wife, Jann Keefe.