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On January 8, 1969, FBI Special Agents Anthony Palmisano and Edwin R. Woodriffe were shot and killed in Washington, D.C. while attempting to apprehend escaped federal prisoner, Billie Austin Bryant. Woodriffe was the first African American FBI agent killed in the line of duty. In 2019, the FBI and the city of New York honored Special Agent Woodriffe with a street renaming ceremony, recognizing his service and sacrifice. Both were added to the FBI Wall of Honor.

Murders and aftermath

Billie Austin Bryant
FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitive
Status
Convictions	Armed Robbery 7x Assault Escape First degree murder 2x
Penalty	Combined: 97 years plus 2 life sentences, all concurrent
Added	January 8, 1969
Caught	January 8, 1969
Number	295
Captured

On August 23, 1968, Bryant had escaped from the District of Columbia Department of Corrections Reformatory in Lorton, Virginia, by using a car he was working on in the automobile shop to drive through a temporary fence at the prison. He was serving up to 54 years for armed robbery and assault. On January 8, 1969, the Citizens Bank and Trust Company of Maryland in Fort Washington, was robbed by a man who escaped in a maroon Cadillac. Two of the tellers were able to identify Bryant as the robber, because he was a customer prior to being prison. Agents knew that Bryant's wife lived in an apartment in the Southeast side of Washington D.C. So they canvassed that area but turned up nothing. Special Agents Palmisano, Woodriffe, and a third agent attempted to contact the wife at the apartment. Upon knocking at the door, an individual told them the woman they were looking for was not there and refused entry to the agents when they asked if they could wait. The individual then opened fire through the door striking Palmisano and Woodriffe while the third agent returned fire. Woodriffe and Palmisano, were rushed by ambulance to a nearby hospital where they were pronounced dead on arrival.

D.C. Metropolitan Police and the FBI surrounded the building, but after a siege of the apartment, it was found that the suspect had fled through a window using a nearby tree. The third agent identified Bryant as the suspect and an all-out manhunt ensued. He was subsequently charged with bank robbery and murder and placed on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List as #295.

At 6:50 p.m., only around 2 hours after the shootings, the D.C. Metropolitan Police received a call from a concerned citizen about noises in his attic on Mississippi Avenue, only four blocks away from Bryant's apartment. A robbery detective arrived and after announcing himself, Bryant called for help from the attic as he had trapped himself.

He was arrested and later wrote a full confession but stated he fired in self defense. He was on the Most Wanted List for only 2 hours, the shortest time in history. On January 28, 1969, the third FBI agent identified Bryant in a police line-up. On April 10, 1969, he was convicted escaping federal prison and sentenced to three years. On April 14, 1969, he was convicted of armed robbery and sentenced to 20 years.

During his trial, the jury could not decide whether he should be sentenced to death or life in prison leaving it up to the judge to decide. Bryant showed no remorse stating " I can't say I'm sorry for what happened to these men (the FBI agents) ... I am really not interested in what the sentence is one way or another." On November 3, 1969, he was convicted of two counts of first degree murder and received two life sentences, one for each agent. Judge Gerhard Gesell told Bryant that he “would die in jail, but at the time God so appoints.”

Special Agent Anthony Palmisano

Palmisano was born in Newark, New Jersey on November 3, 1942. He began working for the FBI as a clerk in on June 17, 1960 at the Newark Field Office. At the same time he was earning a from Seton Hall College where he later received a B.S. Degree in Business Administration. He entered active duty as a special agent in July 10, 1967 and transferred from the Charlotte field office to the Washington, D.C field office in 1968.

On January January 8, 1969, he was shot and killed by Billie Austin Bryant while pursuing him for escaping prison. He served the FBI as a Special Agent for only one year before his death at 28. For his sacrifice, he was added to the FBI Wall of Honor.

Special Agent Edwin R. Woodriffe

Woodriffe was born in Brooklyn, New York on January 22, 1941. He was the third child of immigrants from Trinidad who owned a dry cleaning shop in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. He looked up to his older brother, William Woodriffe, who was a New York City police officer. While earning a degree in Accounting from Fordham University in New York he also worked as a part time police-cadet as a clerk and worked for the United States Department of the Treasury as a criminal investigator. After graduating from Fordham in 1962, He married Ella Louise Moore, whom he had met in a Christian confirmation class as a teenager. They had two children, Lee Ann and Edwin R. Woodriffe Jr. He later accepted an appointment as a special agent with the FBI May 22, 1967 and had been assigned to the Cleveland field office. In February 1968, he transferred to the field office in Washington, D.C. He was a rising star in the bureau.

On January January 8, 1969, he was shot and killed by Billie Austin Bryant while pursuing him for escaping prison at the age of 27. For his sacrifice, he was added to the FBI Wall of Honor.

He was described as professional and courteous towards suspects and had a great sense of humor. As only one of the handful of black agents at the time he was revered with agent Robert Quigley stating about Woodriffe’s talents, “there is no doubt in my mind that would’ve been one of the top FBI executives had he lived,”.

His daughter, Lee Woodriffe, spent two years convincing the New York city council to rename Jefferson Avenue and Claver Place in Bedford-Stuyvesant to FBI Special Agent Edwin R. Woodriffe Way. The intersection was home to the St. Peter Claver Church where he was an altar boy at. She was met with heavy pushback from anti-Catholic activists. On April 26, 2019, it was formally christened. The ceremony was attended by FBI agents, New York City police, city officials, clergy, friends, and the family of Woodriffe.

Lee would go on to write a book about her father, detailing his life and murder in an effort to ensure his legacy called Memorial Star: The story of Edwin R. Woodriffe, the first African-American FBI agent killed in the line of duty.

References

1. ^ Gosier, Chris (2019-08-08). "The Short Life and Long Legacy of Edwin R. Woodriffe". Fordham Now. Archived from the original on Jun 15, 2024. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
2. ^ "295. Billie Austin Bryant". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Archived from the original on Dec 4, 2024. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
3. "Billie Austin Bryant Mug Shots.jpg - 629x448". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
4. "Top Ten Turns 60". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Mar 15, 2010. Archived from the original on Jul 21, 2024. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
5. "663 F.2d 286". law.resource.org. Aug 21, 1981. Archived from the original on Dec 27, 2024. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
6. "Anthony Palmisano". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Archived from the original on Dec 19, 2024. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
7. "Special Agent Anthony Palmisano". The Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP). Archived from the original on Jun 12, 2024. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
8. Gosier, Chris (2019-02-22). "The Short Life and Long Legacy of FBI Agent Edwin R. Woodriffe". Fordham Now. Archived from the original on Jul 9, 2024. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
9. "Edwin R. Woodriffe". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Archived from the original on Dec 19, 2024. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
10. "Billie Austin Bryant". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Archived from the original on Nov 29, 2024. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
11. Woodriffe, Woody (2020-01-14). "Legacy: Edwin Woodriffe, the 1st black FBI agent to die in line of duty, gets lasting tribute". FOX 2 Detroit. Archived from the original on Dec 11, 2023. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
12. "Honoring Special Agent Edwin R. Woodriffe". Federal Bureau of Investigation. May 10, 2019. Archived from the original on Dec 15, 2024. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
13. Hopkins, Adrianna (2020-02-17). "Daughter of first black FBI agent killed on duty writes a book about him". WJLA. Archived from the original on Jun 10, 2020. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
14. Woodriffe, Lee (Jan 14, 2020). Memorial Star: The story of Edwin R. Woodriffe, the first African-American FBI agent killed in the line of duty. Independently published. ISBN 978-1679086441.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)

• FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives
• Federal law enforcement agencies
• Law enforcement
• Fugitives
• Crime