Murder on Highway 99

For The Madera Tribune

Officer Clarence Pickett gave his life in the line of duty.

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The young cop kissed his bride goodbye. Little did he know it would be for the last time. He climbed on his motorcycle and headed north on F Street. He had every reason to be optimistic. He and his wife had just returned from their honeymoon. Life was full of promises.

He was also delighted with the turn of events surrounding his job. For a while it looked as though he wasn’t going to get paid. The legal wrangle in Sacramento over the constitutionality of county traffic officers had placed his employment in jeopardy; indeed, for two and a half months he had patrolled the roads of Madera County without pay, providing his own transportation, fuel, and weapon.

All of that, however, was behind him now. The county had promised to pay him from its own coffers if state funding was not forthcoming. To be sure, the future could not have appeared brighter for Clarence Pickett on the afternoon of Nov. 11, 1923.