Deputy Sheriff Dennis Rowe, 25, was shot and killed on the night of January 11, 1976, while on patrol in the Double Springs area of Winston County, Alabama. Rowe and his partner, Deputy Chuck Thompson, had stopped to check a car that had driven into a ditch near a motel. While assisting the driver, a vehicle driven by Olynn Kenneth Burnett Jr. passed them, then stopped and backed up. Burnett opened fire, fatally wounding Rowe with a shot to the head and then fired at Thompson, who returned fire and was unharmed.

The investigation led to Burnett’s arrest and trial. On May 17, 1976, a jury found Olynn Kenneth Burnett Jr. guilty of murder and he was sentenced to life in prison; he was also convicted of assault with intent to murder for firing at Deputy Thompson. Reports tie the motive to illicit activities Burnett and his family were allegedly involved in that had attracted attention from the sheriff’s department. Does anyone have memories of Deputy Rowe or information about that night to share?