calsfoundation@cals.org
October 17, 1933
An unknown assailant tried unsuccessfully to assassinate Baptist minister Dale Crowley by thrusting a machine gun through the bars of the cell at the Craighead County Jail where Crowley was being held and firing it. Crowley was being held for the murder of J. W. McMurdo. Seven days previous, Crowley, leader of the Jonesboro Baptist Church, shot and killed McMurdo, who had been hired as a watchman by a competing faction within the church community. Crowley had shown up at the church to claim possession of the tabernacle following a court ruling in his favor. This incident was part of a series of violent conflicts between various factions in the Baptist community of Jonesboro (Craighead County) now known as the Jonesboro Church Wars.