Thomas Bruce White Sr.

Tom was born on March 6, 1881, in Oak Hill, Texas, the son of the Travis County, Texas sheriff Robert Emmet White and Margaret White. His mother died when Thomas was six.[1][2] He attended Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas.[2]

Leaving school early, Tom traveled the country holding various jobs in Oklahoma and California. He enlisted in the Texas Rangers from 1905 to 1909 with three of his four siblings.[1] He resigned from the Rangers and worked as a special agent for the Santa Fe Railway and the Southern Pacific Railroad until 1917. He then worked as a BOI agent until 1926. During that time, he was in charge of the Houston office and was head of the Osage murder investigation where he and his team solved the difficult case.[3]

After the Osage investigation, Tom left the Bureau, and took charge as Warden of the Leavenworth Prison until 1931, when he was seriously injured after being held hostage by armed prisoners and shot in a prison escape attempt. Afterwards, the Federal Bureau of Prisons decided that Tom should be given a less demanding assignment and transferred him to La Tuna Federal Correctional Institution (1932–1951), near El Paso, Texas. After his retirement from the penitentiary system, Tom served on a three-man board for Texas Pardons and Parole until 1957.[1]

He was in retirement until his death on December 21, 1971.

Tom is portrayed by actor Jesse Plemons in the 2023 film Killers of the Flower Moon.