On October 26, 1943, Littlefield was shocked by the murder of physician Roy Hunt and his wife, the former Mae Franks. Hunt, a Lubbock native, graduated from the University of Texas Medical School at Galveston and opened the Littlefield Clinic in 1937. While Dr. Hunt died of a gunshot wound, Mrs. Hunt was bludgeoned to death by a gun. Their bodies, bound together, were found in bed by the couple's five-year-old daughter, who ran screaming to neighbors for help. An estimated 1,500 mourners attended the funerals in the First Methodist Church of Littlefield, which seated only 300. Some 1,200 people stood outside the overflowing church to pay respects. A $15,000 reward was offered, and Governor Coke R. Stevenson took a personal interest in the case.