The Daily Ardmoreite
                        Ardmore, Oklahoma
                    Wednesday, March 8, 1972

                    Suspect Is Shot To Death
                    Holding a Gun on Officer

                          By Kay Evers

     An unidentified man, who was being arrested for an armed
robbery in Marietta, was shot and killed Tuesday night in Ardmore
after he grabbed a gun, cocked it, and held it to Deputy Bud
Hunt's chest.

     The man, believed to be about 25 years old, was shot by
Carter County Sheriff Robert Denney as he and Hunt were loading
four robbery suspects into Hunt's car.

     The shooting took place outside the Mulkey Hotel about
11:20p.m.

     After receiving information that the getaway car had been
located west of Plainview School and that four occupants of the
car had been brought into Ardmore by a motorist, Denney and Hunt
began a systematic check of places where they thought the
fugitives might be.

     The Mulkey was their third stop.  A desk clerk there told
them that four persons, three men and a young girl, had checked
in a short time earlier and left instructions to be called at
12:30 a.m. so they could catch a bus to Tulsa.  A porter took
Denney and Hunt to the room.

     When the officers entered the room, two of the men, Benjamin
Earle Moyer, 19, Orlando, Fla., and Andrew "Buddy" Medvetz, 22,
Newark, N.J., were in sight.  About $350 was scattered across the
bed.

     Denney and Hunt used their handcuffs to restrain the two
men, routed a third out of hiding in the bathroom, got the girl
from the room and took the four out of the hotel.

     The third man and the girl, a 15 year old runaway, were not
handcuffed because the officers had no more handcuffs.

     District Attorney James Clark, who was investigating the
shooting thoroughly, said that Hunt's car is a two-door and that
one of the prisoners was having trouble getting the seat pushed
forward in order to get into the back seat.  Hunt leaned over to
help and the man grabbed his gun.

     "The third man, known only as Jerry, grabbed Deputy Hunt's
revolver," Clark said, "cocked it, and pointed it in Deputy
Hunt's chest and remarked that he was going to kill both of the -
-- cops.

     "Evidently he realized then that Sheriff Denney was armed,"
Clark continued, "and he swung around with the gun toward the
sheriff and almost got it pointed toward him when Sheriff Denney
shot him once in the left chest area."

     The man was dead on arrival at a local hospital.

     "There is absolutely no question that the killing was
justified," Clark said.   "Robert Denney's coolness and bravery
saved not only his life, but the life of Deputy Bud Hunt."

     Clark said that Sheriff Denney has requested a hearing to
clear the air of any doubts as to his action.  "Although I
appreciate his sincerity and admire his integrity," Clark said,
"I have investigated the case and have determined that not only
was the shooting justified, but there was absolutely no
alternative other than the sheriff and Deputy Hunt being killed."

     Continuing, Clark stated, "My decision, pending a routine
investigation (by the state Crime Bureau which Clark has called
in) is that I will decline to file anything against Sheriff
Denney in this matter and I commend him for the efficient manner
in which he acted under fire."

     Clark said one of the suspects has an extensive criminal
record.  "We are under the impression that the deceased does
also," he said.

     Reiterating, Clark said, "There is absolutely no question in
my mind that Robert Denney acted properly and that his killing of
the subject probably saved numerous lives because the person was
armed and was a dangerous individual."

     The incident began about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday evening when
Jiffy Jim's Grocery in Marietta was robbed by two armed men. 
"The woman in the store had reason to believe there was another
man in the car," Clark said.

     The pair took about $350 from the cash register, then used
small hand guns and herded the storekeeper into a backroom.  A
they left, Clark said, they fired "numerous gas pellets in the
store."

     "We went from no lead to about 10:15 p.m. when I received a
call from a young man in Marietta who gave the license number and
a description of the subjects." Clark said the youth had seen the
men around the store earlier and thought they acted suspiciously. 
"He very alertly took down the tag number and got a description
of the car," Clark said.

     Armed with that information, an all-points bulletin was put
out on the car.  At 9:44 p.m., a motorist stopped two Ardmore
police officers and told them there had been a one-car accident
west of Plainview School.  The motorist also told the officers
that he picked up four people from the car and brought them into
Ardmore.

     "We were in constant radio and telephone contact with
Sheriff Denney from the outset," Clark said.  After city police
went to the accident scene, they notified Clark and other
officers that the car was the getaway car.

     "That's when Sheriff Denney and Deputy Hunt went to the
Caddo Street area and found all the establishments closed," Clark
said.  "They went to the Stag Bar, then checked the Mulkey
Hotel."

     Clark credits two alert citizens, the boy in Marietta and
the man who brought the quartet into town and then notified
police, for the speedy capture of the suspects.

     However, city police failed to get the name of the man who
told them about the wreck.  "Whoever that man is," Clark said
today, "I would like to interview him."  He asked that the man
who transported the suspects into town to please get in touch
with the District Attorney's office or the Sheriff's office as
soon as possible.

     Moyer and Medvetz will be charged in Love County today,
Clark said, and the girl will be held as a material witness.


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Note:  The dead man was identified as Frank Anderson Venable, 25,
of Baxter Springs, Kansas