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|religion=[[Baptist]]​}}​

'''Wyatt Luther Nugent, Sr.''', also known as '''W. L. Nugent''' (October 30, 1891 &ndash; April 21, 1936), was a [[sheriff]] of [[rural]] Grant Parish in north central  [[Louisiana]], who with a deputy, Delmer Lee Brunson, was slain in the line of duty. The crime, stemming from a dispute over the enforcement of the state tick eradication law, is still considered the worst in Grant Parish history. Nugent, a [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], had been elected to a third term in the [[general election]] held on the day he was slain.<ref name=nugent>{{cite web|url=http://www.libertychapelcemetery.org/files/sheriff.html|title=Sheriff Wyatt Luther Nugent, Deputy Delmer Lee Brunson [Killed]|publisher=Libertychapelcemetery.org|accessdate=January 15, 2011}}</ref>

'''Wyatt Luther Nugent, Sr.''', also known as '''W. L. Nugent''' (October 30, 1891 &ndash; April 21, 1936), was a [[sheriff]] of [[rural]] Grant Parish in north central  [[Louisiana]], who with a deputy, Delmer Lee Brunson, was slain in the line of duty. The crime, stemming from a dispute over the enforcement of the state tick eradication law, is still considered the worst in Grant Parish history. Nugent, a [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], had been elected to a third term in the [[general election]] held on the day he was slain.<ref name=nugent>{{cite web|url=http://www.libertychapelcemetery.org/files/sheriff.html|title=Sheriff Wyatt Luther Nugent, Deputy Delmer Lee Brunson [Killed]|publisher=Libertychapelcemetery.org|accessdate=June 13, 2020}}</ref>

==Background==

==Background==

Bloodhounds brought from the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola in West Feliciana Parish failed to pursue Johnson's trail because of heavy rains the previous night. The search was directed by Brigadier-General Louis F. Guerre, the commander of the Louisiana state police. Area sheriffs, including [[U. T. Downs]] of Rapides Parish, Bryant Sholars of Winn Parish, and [[Henderson Jordan]], who had two years earlier participated in the capture of the bank bandits and murderers [[Bonnie and Clyde]] in his own Bienville Parish, headed posses of local citizens in searches of the region. The men found Johnson's truck near the scene of the shooting. Bloodhounds were unable to pick up the trail thereafter. The crime occurred after months of controversy between certain cattlemen and officers over enforcement of the tick eradication law.<ref name=nugent/> When finally captured, Walter Johnson was taken to a jail and presumably executed though the author could not determine the final disposition of these murders.

Bloodhounds brought from the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola in West Feliciana Parish failed to pursue Johnson's trail because of heavy rains the previous night. The search was directed by Brigadier-General Louis F. Guerre, the commander of the Louisiana state police. Area sheriffs, including [[U. T. Downs]] of Rapides Parish, Bryant Sholars of Winn Parish, and [[Henderson Jordan]], who had two years earlier participated in the capture of the bank bandits and murderers [[Bonnie and Clyde]] in his own Bienville Parish, headed posses of local citizens in searches of the region. The men found Johnson's truck near the scene of the shooting. Bloodhounds were unable to pick up the trail thereafter. The crime occurred after months of controversy between certain cattlemen and officers over enforcement of the tick eradication law.<ref name=nugent/> When finally captured, Walter Johnson was taken to a jail and presumably executed though the author could not determine the final disposition of these murders.

Nugent died of two shots to the head; Brunson, of three shots to the body. A joint funeral was held for the officers at the First [[Southern Baptist|Baptist]] Church of Colfax, with the pastor, the Reverend D. L. Goodman officiating. The funeral party then traveled to Bethel Chapel Cemetery where Brunson, who was a deputy throughout Nugent's tenure as sheriff, was buried. Nugent was then interred at the Liberty Chapel Cemetery in the Williana Community in Grant Parish.<ref name=nugent/>​

Nugent died of two shots to the head; Brunson, of three shots to the body. A joint funeral was held for the officers at the First [[Southern Baptist|Baptist]] Church of Colfax, with the pastor, the Reverend D. L. Goodman officiating. The funeral party then traveled to Bethel Chapel Cemetery where Brunson, who was a deputy throughout Nugent's tenure as sheriff, was buried. Nugent was then interred at the Liberty Chapel Cemetery in the Williana Community in Grant Parish.<ref name=nugent/>​ One of Nugent's pallbearers was Sheriff William Michael "Bill" Payne of [[Natchitoches, Louisana|Natchitoches Parish]].

==Women sheriffs in Louisiana==

==Women sheriffs in Louisiana==

For a time after his death, Mrs. Lydia Nugent by appointment succeeded her husband as sheriff of Grant Parish.<ref name=fnpobit/> Similarly, four years later in 1940, after the death of Sheriff [[Eugene Campbell]] of Concordia Parish, his widow, Darlene Fuchs Campbell, served as sheriff until her own death eighteen months later on July 25, 1941.<ref>"Mrs. Campbell Died Yesterday: Splendid Lady of Vidalia Called by Death, Buried Yesterday", ''The Natchez Democrat'', Natchez, [[Mississippi]], July 26, 1941.</ref> No woman was elected sheriff in Louisiana until 1999, when Beth Oakley Lundy, a Democrat, won the position in Calcasieu Parish, which includes [[Lake Charles]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reocities.com/vbenson_2000/sheriffs.htm|title=First Woman Sheriffs in the United States of America|publisher=reocities.com|accessdate=July 25, 2014}}</ref> with 51.5 percent of the vote cast in the nonpartisan blanket primary.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://staticresults.sos.la.gov/10231999/10231999_10.html|title=Election returns: Calcasieu Parish, October 23, 1999|publisher=staticresults.sos.la.gov|accessdate=July 25, 2014}}</ref>

For a time after his death, Mrs. Lydia Nugent by appointment succeeded her husband as sheriff of Grant Parish.<ref name=fnpobit/> Similarly, four years later in 1940, after the death of Sheriff [[Eugene Campbell]] of Concordia Parish, his widow, Darlene Fuchs Campbell, served as sheriff until her own death eighteen months later on July 25, 1941.<ref>"Mrs. Campbell Died Yesterday: Splendid Lady of Vidalia Called by Death, Buried Yesterday", ''The Natchez ([[Mississippi]] Democrat,'' July 26, 1941.</ref> No woman was elected sheriff in Louisiana until 1999, when Beth Oakley Lundy, a Democrat, won the position in Calcasieu Parish, which includes [[Lake Charles]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reocities.com/vbenson_2000/sheriffs.htm|title=First Woman Sheriffs in the United States of America|publisher=reocities.com|accessdate=July 25, 2014}}</ref> with 51.5 percent of the vote cast in the nonpartisan blanket primary.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://staticresults.sos.la.gov/10231999/10231999_10.html|title=Election returns: Calcasieu Parish, October 23, 1999|publisher=staticresults.sos.la.gov|accessdate=July 25, 2014}}</ref>

==References==

==References==