Phil Lewis

Phil Lewis was a secondary protagonist in the 1991 television movie In Broad Daylight, which was a dramatization of the events leading up to the murder of in . Lewis was portrayed by the late . 
As one of the chief law enforcement officers in the Darby, Missouri area, Lewis had the unenviable task of keeping the peace in a town terrorized by Len Rowan (who was based on McElroy). Despite a large number of complaints by residents of the area fed up with Len's theivery, intimidation, attempted murders, and preying upon young women neither Lewis or Missouri highway patrolman Jack Wilson were able to make any criminal charges stick due to the skill of Rowan's lawyer. Rowan also was quite aware of what exactly he could get away with, and would skirt right up close to the line without going over, leaving law enforcement with little recourse against Rowan.
After Rowan was convicted of second degree assault for shooting local grocer Wes Westerman, the judge allowed Rowan to bond out of jail while his appeal was being considered. Rowan soon came back to Darby with an old era rifle and began boasting about how he would show it to Westerman, implying that he would use the rifle to kill Westerman. 
Since his possession of the rifle was a violation of a bond condition, Lewis obtained affadavits from people who witnessed Rowan carrying the rifle around, but Rowan's lawyer was still able to delay a bond revocation hearing. Released from custody, Rowan promptly went out to intimidate witnesses into retracting their statements. A meeting was held a short time later at the local American Legion hall, with Lewis suggesting that the people form a neighborhood watch to keep an eye on Rowan and told them that if Rowan drew a firearm they had the right to defend themselves. He said that he would seek permission from the county commissioners to deputize some more people to help patrol Darby. When news arrived that Rowan was having a drink at the local tavern the hall cleared out, with most of the people heading to the tavern. Rowan and his wife decided to leave the tavern and got back in his truck. Before Rowan could put the truck in gear he was shot dead by one or more area residents.
Lewis was infuriated over the killing, feeling that the townspeople did not have to blow Rowan away and that they did not give the legal system a chance to work. When Wilson arrived Lewis remarked that what happened was not in keeping with the law and that summary executions could not be the law. Wilson was not suprised that Rowan had met a violent end. Lewis then began an investigation but he and his officers found most of the townspeople claiming that they did not see who fired the shots as they were too busy diving for cover, with some saying that even if they had seen the killer they would not provide Lewis with the identities of the shooters. A Federal investigation was also carried out, but the Feds had no more luck than Lewis did in finding the murderers.
==Trivia==
* Lewis was based upon the real life Nodaway County Sheriff Danny Estes (October 26, 1947 - January 9, 2017), who had been sheriff at the time of McElroy's murder.
Category:Fictionalized
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