Probation Supervisor Bjorn Thomas Svenson, 33, was ambushed and fatally shot on August 31, 1982, in Scott Lake, Florida. He was leaving the parole and probation office late and unarmed when parolee Harry Franklin Phillips, who had previously been under Svenson’s supervision and had been returned to prison once by him, attacked Svenson in the office parking lot. Phillips emptied his weapon into Svenson, reloaded, and shot him twice more; Svenson died of multiple gunshot wounds.

Investigators found Phillips had a long criminal history, including robbery and shooting a state trooper, and carried a strong resentment toward Svenson. Phillips was quickly arrested and charged with first-degree murder. During the trial inmates testified that Phillips had confessed, and the court convicted him of first-degree murder and sentenced him to death. Svenson’s name is inscribed on the National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington, D.C.