Deputy Marshal Richard Blew was killed answering a disturbance call an armed intoxicated man.

At about 1:00 am on January 4, 1877, a drunken man, Dr. John A. Webster, who had been drinking heavily at the Elmore House was waiving a pistol around saying he wanted something to shoot at and walking in the street just north of the City Drug Store. Deputy Marshal Blew attempted to disarm Webster and in the struggle for the weapon the gun went off striking Deputy Blew in the abdomen. Another resident physician was summoned and determined the bullet had passed through Deputy Blew's bladder and would be a fatal wound. Deputy Blew died two days later from his wound at 6:00 am. During the time between the shooting and his death Deputy Blew stated several times that the shooting was accidental and that he did not want the doctor arrested.

Deputy Marshal Blew previously served as a marshal in Chillicothe, Missouri. He was a Civil War veteran serving as a private in Company B, discharged due October 10, 1862 to a disability. He was survived by his wife, Frances, and three children, William, Bessie and Marie. Interred: Maple Grove Cemetery, Trenton, Missouri.