American criminal and murderer. Will Laurence (sometimes spelled Lawrence) and his younger brother, Albert Beauregard "Babe" Laurence, were part Cherokee Indians (from their mother's side) who went on a crime spree in the early 1920's. Will Laurence left home at age 13 according to his Oklahoma prison records. Laurence had already served time for Grand Larceny in the Oklahoma State Prison for stealing sugar from a freight train as well as three other cases that all ran concurrently with each other. He was convicted out of Muskogee County, Oklahoma, on 2/21/1916 of Grand Larceny by Judge Charles G. Watts. At the time of his arrest and incarceration he was living with his parents at 216 North End Street in Muskogee. He was a mechanic and a farmer by trade and tried to go straight upon his release from prison. He married a local girl named Nellie England in Wagoner County, Oklahoma. Nellie gave birth to Laurence's only child but the baby girl died on 11/9/1923 and Nellie died on 11/11/1923, in Muskogee. His mother said that after Nellie and the baby's death Laurence went downhill and began to get in trouble again. In 1924, Laurence and his brother Babe stole a Muskogee County "Speed Car" assigned to Deputy Joe Morgan. They picked up an underage girl and drove to Texas, headed for Mexico, but were stopped and arrested in El Paso, Texas. The girl was sent home but the boys were held for the Muskogee County Sheriff's Office to pick them up. Deputy Morgan and another deputy were sent to bring them back to trial in Muskogee. While driving through Ft. Worth, Texas, one of the boys got a gun from one of the deputies and shot Deputy Morgan in the back of the head, killing him instantly. They handcuffed the other deputy to a tree and took off in the car - the same car they had originally stolen from Muskogee. While on the run they hooked back up with the girl they had taken to Texas with them and drove through several states. In Livingston, Montana, they were involved in some burglaries and Officer (some sources say Constable) Charles Wilson found them in a railway yard and approached to question them. One of the brothers shot and killed the officer. They were identified as the shooters as they left behind items that had belonged to Deputy Morgan. After a period of time they dumped the girl in Colorado (due to her constant complaining) and drove to Phoenix, Arizona. There, they were seen stealing gasoline from a car by Phoenix Police Officer Haze Burch (see Find-A-Grave entry #46079935). Officer Burch attempted to arrest the brothers when Will Laurence pulled a revolver and shot him. Several shots by both parties were fired but only Officer Burch had been hit. He would later die that night from his wounds, being the first Phoenix city police officer killed in the line of duty. His wife and children were at home not far from the scene and heard the shots being fired, not knowing that their husband and father was being killed. Two days later the brothers were captured on a mesa overlooking the town. Their trial was a media event in that they had killed three police officers in three states within one year. Will Laurence was found guilty and in January 1926 he was hung in the state prison yard at Florence for the murder of Officer Burch. He denied to the end that he had killed the officer. The warden stated that Laurence took his execution with dignity. A newspaper account noted that 69 men and one woman witnessed the hanging, to include two brothers of Officer Burch. Laurence prayed aloud for approximately 20 minutes during which time he again denied killing Officer Burch and asked for forgiveness from his enemies. He was smiling as the black hood was placed over his head. The museum at the prison still has the rope he was hung with on display along with his prison mugshot photo situated in the center of the noose. His body was sent by train back to Muskogee where his family took charge of it and buried him next to his wife and baby.

His Arizona Death Certificate information was provided by his sister, Fay Gene Laurence. It showed she was living at 215 East Polk in Phoenix, Arizona.