Rex Sanford

In the heart of Alabama, the city of Sylacauga is known as "The Marble City" for the massive bed of hard, white marble that lies beneath it, a resource that has helped build and beautify the nation. In the early 1950s, the city was a growing community, its economy bolstered by defense contracts. It was a place of families and main-street businesses, watched over by a small police force. One of its officers was Rex A. Sanford, a 26-year-old white man who had joined the department just a year earlier. In his short time on the force, he was known as a kind and helpful presence. One local woman would later share a story of how Officer Sanford had stopped to help her grandmother, who was stranded with a stalled car late one night. Unable to fix the vehicle, he drove the woman home, ensuring her safety—an act of service remembered long after he was gone.

The quiet of the early morning on Thursday, September 18, 1952, was shattered by sudden violence that would end Officer Sanford’s life. He and his partner, 25-year-old Officer Neal Denny, were conducting their routine patrol, checking the doors of businesses along their route. At approximately 4:00 a.m., they drove into the parking lot of the Comet Drive-In on the edge of town. There, they spotted a man inside a parked car who appeared to throw a pistol from the vehicle. The two officers got out of their patrol car to investigate and question the occupants. As they approached, one of the men opened fire without warning.

Officer Sanford was hit multiple times, with bullets striking his arm, leg, and shoulder. As Sanford fell, Officer Denny immediately returned fire, hitting the gunman three times as he attempted to escape. The suspect and another man in the car then fled the scene, leaving Officer Sanford critically wounded in the dark parking lot. He was rushed to a Sylacauga hospital, where medical staff fought to save his life. Despite their efforts, he succumbed to his injuries about four hours later. He was survived by his wife and a young son. The traumatic event deeply affected his partner, Neal Denny, whose family said he carried the weight of that night for the remainder of his life.

The Sylacauga Police Department, aided by surrounding law enforcement agencies, launched an immediate and intensive manhunt for the shooter. The search yielded swift results. Just two hours after the murder, the wounded gunman was located and arrested 64 miles away in Montgomery. The other man who had been in the car was apprehended in the nearby community of Goodwater. He was later released and was not charged in connection with the crime.

The man who fired the fatal shots was brought to trial to answer for the murder of Officer Sanford. On January 16, 1953, a jury found him guilty of first-degree murder. He received a sentence of life in prison. However, his time served was far less than a lifetime. After just over a decade, on August 18, 1963, the man convicted of killing a police officer was granted parole and released from prison.

Though the case is legally closed, the memory of Officer Rex Sanford’s sacrifice endures in Sylacauga. He is one of only two officers in the city’s history to be killed in the line of duty. His death serves as a solemn reminder of the dangers inherent in police work and the profound loss experienced by families and communities when an officer falls. As Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall later stated, Officer Rex Sanford "will always be remembered, and their service cherished by the Sylacauga community."