District attorney calls fallen Saxonburg police chief 'hero' for actions

The former Saxonburg Police Chief is being praised as a “hero” for fighting back against the man accused of killing him into his killing from 1980.

Police and the District Attorney’s Office held a press conference Thursday after developments in the investigation into Donald Eugene Webb, who police said shot and killed former Saxonburg Police Chief Greg Adams during a traffic stop.

Webb was a career criminal living in New Bedford, Massachusetts, at the time. He disappeared after the shooting.

The exact details are still unclear, but police said after Adams stopped Webb, a fight ensued.

"What we didn't realize until this investigation unfolded was the hero that Chief Adams actually was," said Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger. "He fought for his life that day."

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Goldinger said Adams inflicted a permanent injury on Webb by kicking him and breaking his leg -- to the point of a compound fracture. This caused Webb to have a long hospital stay and walk with a cane permanently.

Goldinger also said that Webb lost his lower lip during the fight, though it is not clear how.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Massachusetts positively identified the remains of Webb in Massachusetts last week after being recovered July 13 by the Massachusetts State Police Crime Scene Services Section, with the assistance of the FBI and Pennsylvania State Police.

Webb’s remains were found buried in the back of a property located in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts.

The investigation moved very quickly in the last few weeks, police said. Investigators were able to negotiate a deal with Webb's wife, Lillian Webb, to release information on Webb's whereabouts.

Investigators previously learned that Webb died approximately 17 years ago in 1999, according to an FBI release.

Goldinger said Webb's wife exchanged the information for immunity in Pennsylvania, though he said his office would not have been able to charge her with anything because the crime she committed -- harboring a fugitive -- occurred in Massachusetts.

Investigators said Webb's wife was also granted immunity in Massachusetts.

She told investigators that Webb was living under an alias, and died after suffering a heart attack in 1999. Webb had told his wife to bury him in the back yard.

After discovering the body remains, investigators said the positive ID on Webb was based on dental records they obtained.

Mary Ann Jones, Adams' widow, previously told Channel 11 she didn't realize how emotional it would be to relive all of this.

She still has a lot of questions and now doesn't believe she'll ever get the answers.

“I didn't realize how difficult it would be,” Jones said. “At least now they know he's dead, so they can stop looking for him. But that still doesn't answer questions.”

Her lawyer says the wife of the man wanted for the slaying led authorities to human remains that were believed to be his.

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Thomas King III, Jones' attorney, says he was told by prosecutors that Lillian Webb agreed to lead authorities to her husband in exchange for immunity in the decadeslong criminal investigation.

Webb had been a fugitive since Adams was shot. He was one of the longest-tenured fugitives ever to appear on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. He was added to the list on May 4, 1981, and removed from it on March 31, 2007. He was also the only fugitive in the United States wanted for the murder of a police chief.

“For almost 37 years, the family of Chief Adams and the citizens of Saxonburg have been awaiting news of Donald Eugene Webb’s whereabouts. The FBI is grateful to have been able to play a role in helping to resolve this case.  "Although it’s unfortunate Mr. Webb will never be brought to justice to pay for his crimes, we’re hopeful the family can find some closure in knowing that this alleged murderer has been located,” said Harold H. Shaw, special agent in charge of the FBI Boston Division, in a news release.

Cox Media Group