Sheriff Gene Cyrus is killed
In little more than 10 years in office, Johnson County Sheriff Cecil Eugene Cyrus had become an icon.
His supporters and his detractors alike were fond of referring to Gene as the living embodiment of Tennessee's Buford Pusser. As sheriff, Gene was seen as "Walking Tall".
He was the first sheriff in Johnson County to be permitted to run for re-election as sheriff under the state constitution adopted in 1892. An amendment in 1984 allowed incumbent sheriffs to be re-elected to office for the first time in the 20th Century. In 1985, Johnson County Sheriff Gene Cyrus was elected to his second term in office. In 1989, he was again re-elected to the office of sheriff.
Gene Cyrus was, arguably, the most powerful Democrat official in Johnson County.
Gene graduated from Paintsville High School in 1957. He had been popular and had starred in sports at PHS. He had a warm, endearing personality which stood in direct contrast to his large intimidating frame.
In addition, Gene Cyrus soon discovered that he had a talent for business. In time he purchased a Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise for Paintsville and, later, expanded this into two more franchises in the region. His KFC operations were hugely successful. He also entered other businesses...a cattle farm and a police gun and supply store.
Gene Cyrus worked hard at everything he undertook, including the office of sheriff.
On Wednesday, March 18, 1992, Johnson County Sheriff Gene Cyrus accompanied a 63 year old man, Flem Burchett, to Johnson Circuit Court where he was to be tried on a second degree rape charge. A jury was selected and the judge declared a lunch break.
Later in the afternoon when Judge Stephen N. Frazier called court to order and the jury had been seated, the defendant, Flem Burchett could not be found. No one, including Burchett's attorney or his family, knew his whereabouts.
After court had been dismissed for the day, the Sheriff's office received a call that Burchett was near his home on Caudill Fork threatening to commit suicide or to kill someone.
Sheriff Gene Cyrus responded to the call alone and at about 2:55 P. M., was standing on Flem Burchett's porch. State Police detectives Paul Estep and Les Stapleton along with Trooper Lowell Ward arrived on the scene as Cyrus made an effort to get Burchett's attention.
The state police report, as chronicled by The Paintsville Herald, tells the rest of the story.
"As the state police officers were exiting their vehicles and while the sheriff was standing on the porch of the residence, (Burchett) opened fire on the sheriff with a shotgun." After shooting Cyrus Burchett re-entered the house and "shot himself one time in the head."
Both Cyrus and Burchett were taken to Paul B. Hall Regional Medical Center in Paintsville where Cyrus was pronounced dead and Burchett was treated for his self-inflicted gun shot wounds. Burchett was later transferred to a Huntington, West Virginia, hospital. He would later be brought to trial and convicted.
On Saturday, March 21, Cecil Eugene Cyrus was laid to rest as the sun shown brightly over Johnson County. More than 4,000 people, including Kentucky Governor Brereton Jones, attended his funeral in Johnson Central High School's field house. Law enforcement officers from all over Kentucky and six other states were in attendance as Cyrus was eulogized as "a prince of sheriffs" and a man known for his gentleness.
The second Johnson County Sheriff in 26 years had been killed in the line of duty, the victim of a deranged mind.
