Marshal John Brendel was assaulted and mortally wounded when he attempted to disperse a group of intoxicated men.

Marshal Brendel had broken up a group of men who were drinking in an alley several times in one day. After each time he broke them up the men would regroup. The third time he instructed them to leave the alleyway behind Littlefield's Law Office and Thornbro's Harness Store he was attacked and struck from behind with a 2" x 6" section of lumber. He remained in a coma for five days before succumbing to the wounds. No one in the group ever identified the attacker.

Marshal Brendel had been with the agency for five years. He was survived by his wife, Viola, and five children. Interred: Knob Knoster Cemetery.