On January 18, 1971, Deputy Sheriff Rex Atwood Stone, 51, was killed while serving a civil writ of attachment at 5344 East Van Buren Street in Phoenix. He and Deputy Warren LaRue went to repossess a mobile home to satisfy an $833 bank judgment. The mobile home owner met them armed and opened fire with a .32 caliber handgun.

Deputy LaRue was struck four times in the back. Deputy Stone returned fire, hitting the suspect five times, but was himself shot three times. All three men — Deputy Stone, Deputy LaRue, and the shooter — were killed at the scene. The loss compounded a family tragedy: Deputy Stone’s son, Phoenix Police Officer Dale Crist Stone, had been killed in the line of duty about three weeks earlier.

Does anyone have additional information about the Phoenix case or recall reporting from that winter in 1971?