Saxonburg chief shot, killed 40 years ago
Last Friday marked the 40th anniversary of the fatal shooting of Saxonburg Police Chief Gregory Adams.
Adams, 31, was shot and killed Dec. 4, 1980, while making a traffic stop in the parking lot of the Agway Feed Store in the borough.
It was believed Adams was on Water Street when a vehicle sped past a stop sign. Adams pursued the vehicle and caught up with the driver when the man attempted to turn in the parking lot.
Adams used his patrol car to block the exit of the parking lot and approached the driver's side door. When asked to provide his driver's license, the driver gave Adams a fake ID and then shot him twice. The man then got out of the car and the chief returned fire, but the shots were not fatal.
The suspect then used Adams' gun to pistol-whip him and fled the scene. Adam's weapon was found seven miles away on Cornplanter Road in Winfield Township, and the suspect's car was found in Warwick, R.I.
A suspect in the murder, career criminal Donald Eugene Webb, was placed on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list in 1981, but was removed from the list in March 2007.
Webb had convictions for burglary, possession of counterfeit money, possession of a weapon and dangerous instruments, breaking and entering, armed bank robbery, grand larceny and car theft.
For years, there was no movement in the case until July 2017, when Webb's body was found buried in his ex-wife's backyard in Dartmouth, Mass. Investigators believe he died of a stroke in 1999.
Massachusetts State Police and the FBI, during a search of Lillian Webb's home in an illegal gambling case, found a hidden room containing a cane and eventually coaxed the truth from Webb's ex-wife: that Webb had shot Adams during the traffic stop, but not before Adams broke Webb's ankle and bit off a part of Webb's bottom lip.
It appears Webb remained inside the house since 1980, since even the closest neighbors reported that they never saw him outside.
The murder of Adams was never solved by prosecution of the criminal; it was the longest-running cold case of a police officer in the country.
Adams was a U.S Marine Corps veteran. He had served with the Saxonburg Borough Police Department for seven years and had served in law enforcement for nine years. He had previously served with the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, DC. He was survived by his wife and two sons. He is buried in St. Mary's Cemetery in Herman.
Adams' murder was only the second murder in Saxonburg's nearly 150-year history; the first was in 1942.
