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Reason First: Agent Edwin J. Shanahan and His Tragic Place in History

Martin J. Durkin also made history for all the wrong reasons. How did he do this?

By Skyler SaundersPublished 4 years ago 3 min read
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Before the authorities recognized it as a federal offense, Martin J. Durkin escaped capital punishment or life in prison for murdering the first FBI agent to die while on the clock.

Durkin had been a car thief only stealing the top of the line vehicles. In 1925, an attempt to capture or kill Durkin, Special Agent Edwin J. Shanahan accompanied by Chicago police sought Durkin in a garage. Over time, the police would leave and Agent Shanahan found himself going solo on this particular occasion.

Shanahan expected to make a clean arrest of Durkin. The suspect had appeared in the garage. Instead, Durkin had other plans. He reached for a firearm in the passenger seat and blasted the Agent in his chest nearly canceling him in an instant.

Durkin would be arrested for Agent Shanahan’s murder and received fifteen years tacked onto that sentence under the Dyer Act. Durkin served his sentence in Illinois state prison and at Leavenworth Federal Prison until the government granted him parole on July 28, 1954. He perished at 80-81 in 1981.

The law against murdering a Special Agent of the FBI as a federal offense did not see reality until 1934. Thus, Durkin never experienced any federal charges against him for Shanahan’s murder.

What all of this shows is another man without a purpose. Durkin had no drive, no ambition, no self-esteem to pursue his rational interests. The fame of this case is of course tied to the initial killing of an FBI Agent. But what should also be remembered is the fact that Durkin committed his crimes based on a total negation of the real world.

Durkin brought to this world only death and destruction. He did not apply himself to any trade or any display of ability. His car stealing “acumen” could’ve been transferred into selling those cars as a sales representative or he could have risen through the ranks as a senior vice president of an automobile manufacturer. Or he could have been the owner.

No, he emoted and chose the easy way out and selflessly murdered a man of the law. Agent Shanahan should be hailed as a hero. For his bravery in the line of duty, he paid the ultimate price. But this in no way represents a sacrifice. Shanahan possessed values and sought to protect them in his work. He knew that he could be struck down for just being a law enforcement agent. He realized that one day he may not come home in good health. But he cherished his values and was willing to die for them. Durkin just knocked on Shanahan’s door out of fear and cowardice.

The FBI will study this case for its courses teaching young potential agents at the Academy. As it delineates the details of the case, it should not overlook the injustice of Durkin’s sentence and the fact that morally he should have seen the electric chair.

How Durkin still survived for twenty-seven years beyond his original stints in the two prisons is enough to condemn him as a worthless human being that got out of the incarceral system way too soon.

He killed Special Agent Shanahan and probably never noticed that he started a grim practice that goes on to this day. Agents like Shanahan are the vanguard against the evildoers like Durkin. Without them, this country would be in a state of more lawlessness. It is because of police and FBI and especially that keep our streets and neighborhoods safe from thieves and attackers like Durkin. Shanahan represented the man whose life would be stolen from him. And this was not some unselfish display. Shanahan egoistically wanted to see the scum of the earth peeled off of the country. He died not in vain but with full glory and quiet strength.

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Skyler Saunders

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