Forty years later, daughter seeks justice in Miscannon murder case
Written by Kristen Criswell | | krapin@toledofreepress.comIt’s been 40 years since Toledo Police Officer William A. Miscannon was killed in the line of duty, and still no one has been convicted of his murder. Miscannon was mortally wounded Sept. 18, 1970, as he sat in the passenger seat of his police cruiser at the corner of Junction Avenue and Dorr Street.
Shortly before 2 a.m., a male approached his window, muttered something and shot Miscannon point-blank in the head with a long barreled handgun.
Miscannon
According to the police report, the assailant fired several more shots at Miscannon’s partner, Walter Shaw, who managed to roll out of the car uninjured. Shaw chased the suspect on foot and was joined by other police officers. A suspect was arrested a few blocks away and later charged with Miscannon’s murder.
“My father was a good man, he was dedicated to his job,” said Diane Miscannon, who was 10 when her father was shot. “He was a dedicated family man, even though he and my mother were divorced. They got along and he was over all the time and we were over there and he took us out and did things with us.”
The night Miscannon was shot was his night off and someone had asked him to cover, Diane said.
The suspect in the case, John Melvin McClellan, was tried twice in court and both trials ended with a hung jury.
Miscannon was 33 years old when he died and had four children under the age of 12. Diane said somewhere there is a cop killer and she would like to see justice for her father.
In 2008, a scholarship was established by the Toledo Police Department and the Oregon Fraternal Order of Police at Owens Community College in Miscannon’s name. The first scholarship was awarded in June for the 2010-11 academic year. The scholarship, which is renewable, is awarded to a criminal justice major who plans to pursue law enforcement.
Tags: DIane Miscannon, William Miscannon
Sad as anything.
This comment was posted on September 16th, 2010 at 5:55 pmWell, if it takes 30+ years for an overwhelmingly guilty Priest,to get Justice served here in T-Town.
Maybe, with Little Detroit’s citizens prodding a real Justice minded prosecuting attorney ( something we do not haven now )into action may just get Justice !!
Something that the Miscannon family,has waited long enough for.
Godspeed on that…