Killer of officer in 1977 dies in prison

John Lohbauer, the man convicted of killing Texarkana police officer Ed Worrell in 1977, has died in prison.

Lohbauer, 56, died Feb. 9, said Janie Runkle, public information officer for the Arkansas Department of Correction.

Lohbauer's death appears to be natural causes but a medical examiner will make the final determination, Runkle said.

Lohbauer received a life sentence plus 40 years and has been an inmate at the Tucker Unit of the Arkansas Department of Correction ever since. Two accomplices each received 20 years but were paroled to other states in 1986.

The Arkansas Supreme Court said on Jan. 31 that it would not order a new sentencing hearing for Lohbauer, who was 15 when he killed Worrell during a discount store burglary in 1977. Lohbauer had claimed a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court decision that prohibited mandatory life sentences for juveniles entitled him to another sentencing hearing.

Lohbauer had run away from his home in Illinois with two classmates. The three stopped in Texarkana on Feb. 3, 1977, because they were having car problems.

Lohbauer was standing guard outside Howard's Discount Center on State Line Avenue while his two friends attempted to steal guns and ammunition from the store.

He shot Worrell, 28, and Officer Butch Clark with a high-powered rifle when they responded to the burglary. Worrell was shot in the back and died at the hospital that night, while Clark recovered from his wounds.

Worrell left behind a wife and two small sons. His daughter was born several months after his death.

In 2004, while seeking clemency from prison, Lohbauer gave a phone interview to the Texarkana Gazette.

"I know I hurt a lot of people down there ... and there is nothing I can say that can change it. I'm sure that every time I apply for clemency, it opens a lot of wounds and I regret that," he said.

At that time, Gov. Mike Huckabee had proposed changes for the state's clemency system, and Lohbauer was afraid those changes would hurt his clemency chance.

"It's a slim chance but I have to keep trying," he said.

Lohbauer wrote several letters that year, including one to Worrell's widow and one to Texarkana Police Chief Robert Harrison.

"I know that the loss of Lt. Worrell was a terrible tragedy for your department as well as your community and I know that it was a personal loss for you as well. I wish with all my heart that I could take back that night and undo everything that I did," Worrell wrote in his letter to Harrison.

Lohbauer and his friends Darrell Edwards and Dan Vallejo had run away from home and were on their way to Mexico when their car broke down in Texarkana, Lohbauer said in 2004. They wanted to buy ammunition for guns they had brought from home but did not have identification. They decided to break into Howard's Department Store and steal ammunition and guns, Lohbauer said in 2004.

He was waiting in the car when a police car pulled up and two officers got out.

"I picked up the gun and fired two shots," he said in 2004. "I wish I hadn't."

Worrell's death was the first time a Texarkana police officer had been killed in the line of duty since the 1920s.

"At that point in time, the police profession was a very strong brotherhood. If someone needed something, whether it was mowing the yard, money or a vehicle, the other officers backed them up and everyone took care of each other," said Harrison in a 2004 interview.

Harrison was a patrol officer working the day shift in 1977.

"It seems like it was yesterday" he said in 2004. "Ed was well-respected and probably liked by every single guy in the agency."

Metro on 02/18/2019

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