COPPERTON, Utah, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- The Utah Law Enforcement Memorial organization wants to locate the graves of fallen lawmen in an old Copperton cemetery, an officer of the group said.
John C. Morrissey and James Douglas Hulsey may have been buried in graves marked with wooden crosses or sandstone markers, but those have long since disappeared, Clarke Christensen said.
"We believe any officer killed in the line of duty deserves the respect of the community," Christensen, of the Orem Police Department, told the Salt Lake Tribune. "At the very least, they deserve not to be forgotten."
Morrissey was killed in an accidental shooting in 1895 when his partner was attempting to subdue a drunk by hitting him with the butt end of his pistol. The gun discharged and the bullet went into Morrissey's chest.
Hulsey was shot along with four other lawmen during pursuit of Raphael "Red" Lopez in 1913. Another of the officers, Special Deputy Vaso Mandarich, is buried in Copperton in a marked grave. The two were part of a posse pursuing Lopez who was wanted for murder and had already killed another lawman. The posse tracked Lopez to a mine and, as Hulsey and Mandarich pushed a mine car loaded with hay and oil into a tunnel to try and smoke Lopez out, he shot them dead.
Now the law enforcement memorial group hopes to erect headstones even if the exact locations of the graves are never found.
