Guard Peter Yesley was stabbed to death by an inmate at the Indiana State Prison South in Clarksville.

   He had previously reported two prisoners to the warden for bad conduct and as he was standing at the head of a flight of stairs leading to the second story of the east wing, he was met by one of the inmates who struck him across the jaw and neck with a knife.

   The 54-year-old inmate, who was serving a seven-year sentence for larceny from Warrick County, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death.

   On June 17, 1864, he was executed by hanging in the yard of the Clark County Jail in Charlestown, the county seat from 1810 until 1873.

   Guard Yesley, from New Albany, was survived by his wife, son, two daughters, five brothers and sister.

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This officer, discovered in 2021, has not been submitted for consideration as an eligible line of duty death to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund by the Indiana Department of Correction.