On this day, Jan. 23, in 1991, a Texas constable unwittingly recorded his own murder during a routine traffic stop. Three men with a load of marijuana in the trunk of their car jumped Nacogdoches County Constable Darrell Lunsford. They tackled, stabbed and shot him with his own gun along the East Texas highway.
The attack was remarkable because it was captured by the patrol car’s dashboard-camera, at the time, a relatively novel crime fighting tool.
The videotape was used to solve the officer’s murder and led to the conviction of the three men.
The Lunsford video is now used by police academies everywhere to help train new officers, to show them the hazards of a traffic stop and the importance of calling for backup.
— Scott McCabe
