WEST FORK (KFSM)- Across the nation Wednesday (May 13) people came together to remember law enforcement officers who made the ultimate sacrifice.
Myrrah Mueller's family has experienced the loss of a loved one in uniform. Her husband, West Fork Police Chief Paul Mueller, was killed on March 20, 1981.
“When I think about it, it seems like just yesterday,” Mueller said. “[That night] I had a scanner at the house, so I listened to everything. We listened to the whole thing on the scanner.”
That night Paul Mueller pulled over Billy Gale Henry and Rodney Britton on Highway 71 on suspicion of DWI. Mueller was unaware that Britton had just robbed a Pizza Hut restaurant in Fayetteville.
Britton shot Mueller twice, as Mueller shot and wounded Henry. Britton fled the scene in the car, leaving Mueller and Henry on the side of the road. Britton was shot and killed on March 24, after a four-day manhunt.
A jury convicted Henry of capital murder and sentenced him to death for his role in Mueller's death. The Arkansas Supreme Court later reduced his sentence to life in prison where he died in 1994.
“It is scary to be an officer`s wife, because you just never know,” Mueller said. “You just have to pray, and ask God to protect them."
Mueller said she still misses her husband and thinks about him daily.
“I just wish he was here sometimes when times get rough, just to put his arms around me and tell me everything will be okay,” she said.
But she said she she finds peace knowing that her husband died while serving and protecting others.
“He was doing exactly what he wanted to do,” Mueller said.
Mueller said she has since forgiven Henry and Britton.