Charles LeRoy Edinger

Charles LeRoy Edinger, an officer with the Pittsburgh Police Department, was killed when responding to a liquor store burglary on June 6, 1917. The assailant, Robert Henry Brown, shot and killed William J. Elford, the son of the store owner. When police arrived and engaged Brown, Edinger was caught in the crossfire and killed.

Brown was sentenced to death for killing Elford and was executed on January 5, 1920. He was convicted of second-degree murder for killing Edinger due to questions about whose weapon fired the fatal shot.

Author: Bill Lofquist

I am a sociologist and death penalty scholar at the State University of New York at Geneseo. I am also a Pittsburgh native. My present research focuses on the history of the death penalty in Allegheny County (Pittsburgh), Pa. View all posts by Bill Lofquist