Joseph Aloysius Sullivan (February 17, 1917 – August 2, 2002) was a Major Case

Inspector Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia In Australian police forces, the rank of inspector is generally the ne ...

for the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

from 1941 to 1977. Born in Montreal, Wisconsin, he grew up in Hurley, Wisconsin and died in Manhattan, New York City. He was involved in a number of highly publicized cases in the sixties and seventies including the

assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr., an African-American clergyman and civil rights leader, was fatally shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, at 6:01 p.m. CST. He was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he died at 7 ...

, the murder of

United Mine Workers The United Mine Workers of America (UMW or UMWA) is a North American labor union best known for representing coal miners. Today, the Union also represents health care workers, truck drivers, manufacturing workers and public employees in the Unit ...

reformer Joseph "Jock" Yablonski, the

Sterling Hall bombing The Sterling Hall bombing occurred on the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus on August 24, 1970, and was committed by four men as an action against the university's research connections with the U.S. military during the Vietnam War. It resu ...

at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and the Kent State shootings. Despite his involvement in such high-profile cases, Sullivan is best known for his relentless search to track down the killers of three civil rights workers, who were brutally slain in Mississippi in 1964. The character played by Willem Dafoe in the movie ''

Mississippi Burning ''Mississippi Burning'' is a 1988 American crime thriller film directed by Alan Parker that is loosely based on the 1964 murder investigation of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner in Mississippi. It stars Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe as two FBI ...

'' is loosely based on Sullivan. According to ''The FBI - A Comprehensive Reference Guide'' (1998), edited by Athan G. Theoharis, Sullivan was also the model for Inspector Lew Erskine, the lead character played by Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., on the TV series '' The FBI''. Upon Sullivan's death in 2002, author Tom Clancy is quoted as referring to him as "the greatest lawman America ever produced."

References

1917 births 2002 deaths Federal Bureau of Investigation agents Kent State shootings People from Hurley, Wisconsin People from Montreal, Wisconsin {{US-crime-bio-stub