Irvin Ellis Powell was 48 and worked as a jailer and dispatcher for the Haskell County Sheriff’s Office in Sublette, Kansas. On March 17, 1995, three inmates on a work detail cut through a locked gun cabinet with a hand grinder, gained access to a .22 caliber pistol and shot Powell twice during an escape attempt.

Powell was airlifted to Oklahoma Memorial Hospital in Oklahoma City but died of his wounds on March 19, 1995. One of the three men involved was reported to be Powell’s cousin. The three escapees were later apprehended in Colorado.

Did anyone in the community have contact with Powell or the jail staff around that weekend who can add details about the escape and its aftermath?