The Stories Behind the Badge

Sunday, September 8, 2019 marks the 50th year following the tragic incident which led to the deaths of Police Officer Robert A. Mumford and Police Chief Thomas P. Reilly killed in the line of duty in Sherrill, New York. The tragedy from fifty years ago is the subject of the pilot episode of a docu-series titled, Blue Legacy: The Stories Behind the Badge. The documentary, currently in production, will include firsthand accounts from victims and witnesses to the 1969 case, along with family members of the deceased officers and others. 

At about 9:30 PM on that fateful night, Martin Fitzpatrick, held up the attendant of Finn’s Gulf Station in Canastota, New York at gunpoint stealing his wallet and the station’s receipts, about $400. Police were immediately called which resulted in a radio alert by Oneida Police to other police cars in the region, including Sherrill Police about 7 miles away. At about 9:48 PM, Mumford and Reilly stopped a car matching the description of the wanted vehicle and interviewed the driver who denied knowledge of the robbery. It appears that Fitzpatrick was being cooperative and providing some story to the officers which caused Chief Reilly to doubt that they had stopped the right car. At 9:54 PM, Reilly radioed to the dispatcher that he thought they had the wrong man, and that Fitzpatrick was being cooperative. But during his interaction with the officers, Fitzpatrick apparently became aware that the Canastota police were bringing the victim to Sherrill to identify him, a procedure known by police as a “show up”. About four minutes later, Fitzpatrick drew a pistol, shot both officers, and sped away in his car. Chief Reilly was able to reach his police radio and at 9:58 PM, broadcast that he and Officer Mumford had been shot. Wayne Coston was on duty as the Desk Sergeant at Oneida police headquarters that night and he remembers taking Chief Reilly’s radio call. Coston said, “It’s been fifty years and I will never get that out of my mind, he said, ‘We’re shot, we’re shot, God help me, please hurry…’” The injured Reilly had also written down Fitzpatrick’s name and license plate number in his police notebook. 

Fitzpatrick fled the shooting and drove to Munnsville where he found a darkened home in a remote area. It was just minutes after the shooting in Sherrill when he knocked on the door of the occupant, Marie DiLapi, asking for a glass of water and directions. DiLapi said, “He wanted to know how to get to Syracuse, and I gave him directions via Route 5, but he didn’t want to go that way.” Mrs. DiLapi was home alone with her two daughters ages 4 and 6. After a short conversation, Fitzpatrick forced his way into the home brandishing his handgun. He checked out the home and the bedroom where the two little girls slept. He then told Mrs. DiLapi that she was going to drive him to Syracuse in her car, likely knowing that a large police dragnet would be looking for him in his own car. After all, he had been stopped once after committing the armed robbery in Canastota, and now he had shot two police officers. Fitzpatrick forced Mrs. DiLapi and her two girls into DiLapi’s car and ordered her to drive back roads to Syracuse. “When we got near Jamesville I was really scared that he would kill us and dump us over a hillside”, she remembered. “But we continued on to Syracuse where he directed me where to drive until he got out.” Mrs. DiLapi and her girls were finally free. She drove around until she was able to alert someone to call police. 

Mrs. DiLapi’s information would turn out to be a critical clue in the investigation and manhunt for Fitzpatrick as the search was previously focused toward the areas east of Sherrill, rather than west toward Syracuse. 

Deputy Fran Broski worked for the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office at the time and was on duty that evening back in 1963. “I was in Vernon when the call came in that there were two Sherrill police officers down. I drove to the scene and found that the ambulances were loading Bob and Tom to get them to the hospital.” Additional police vehicles arrived on scene and Broski took off in the direction pointed out by witnesses to search for the suspect. “I started searching Route 5 and went all the way to Kirkville, and then I checked side roads looking for the car.” A civilian witness, John Orr, was across the street at a gas station he owned, when the officers were shot. Orr’s stepson, Bruce Rochester, remembered the night. “I was talking with my stepdad out in front of the gas station and we had seen that the police had a car stopped. All of a sudden we heard gunshots, and my stepdad instinctively took off after the fleeing car.” Rochester described his father as a hard-charger, former military and a sitting justice of the peace for nearby Vernon. “But my stepfather was driving a Chevy Blazer K5 and couldn’t keep up with him.”

The harrowing night of September 8, 1969 is still remembered to this day by many in Sherrill, New York. A park has since been named in honor of the fallen officers, Reilly-Mumford Park, where various community events are held throughout the year. A monument at the park commemorates their service and sacrifice. We remember the heroism of not only the police officers, but also two civilians who found themselves in danger: a young mom kidnapped at gunpoint thinking on her feet and trying to make sure she can get her daughters to safety; and the gas station owner and justice of the peace who tore after a suspect knowing that the man had just shot at police. 

Press release by: Mark Spawn and Jeanna Spawn of The Spawn Group, LLC, Costa Mesa, California. Contact: BlueLegacyTV@SpawnGroup.com; Sept. 5, 2019