Phil Ryan
Phil Ryan, a decorated Texas Ranger who famously hunted serial killers and ushered in professionalism during three terms as Wise County Sheriff, died Wednesday morning.
He was 80.
Ryan had been battling heart disease and other health issues leading up to his death.
He was known on a national scale for his work as a Texas Ranger, where he brought justice to notorious killers, Henry Lee Lucas, Ricky Lee and Sharon Green. The reverence for Ryan in the local law enforcement community was built by how he led the WCSO, and his work to clean up an agency mired in scandals.
In a phone call Wednesday, former Sheriff Lane Akin, said the law enforcement community lost a remarkable role model.
“Phil was the best sheriff Wise County has ever had,” Akin said. “I don’t know how many law enforcement guys I’ve worked with in my career, but he’s the best. He took care of business and did it the way it should be done.”
Ryan was born in Oklahoma on Aug. 10, 1945 and raised in the Houston area. He entered law enforcement in 1966 at age 21 as an officer in Pasadena. He joined the Texas Department of Public Safety in 1968 as a highway patrolman assigned to Houston and Cleveland. Following a stint as a sergeant in Humble, he was promoted to Texas Ranger in 1979 in Wise County.
He stationed in Decatur for nine years, investigating major crimes in Wise, Jack, Montague and Clay counties until his retirement from the agency on Jan. 31, 1989. One of his most notable investigations involved the capture of serial killer Henry Lee Lucas. Akin noted that Lucas had been able to elude police in previous interactions until he met Ryan.
“The whole thing with Henry Lee Lucas, it had turned into a dog and pony show, but Phil was the one with the common sense to question that knucklehead,” Akin said. “He could tell [Lucas] wasn’t telling the truth. A lot of officers were closing their murder cases based on what he was saying, but Phil caught him in his lies.”
In addition to his work on the Lucas case, he was the primary Texas Ranger assigned to the Ricky Lee and Sharon Green case, involving two of the most prolific killers in the county’s history.
Beyond the cases that have been subject of Netflix documentaries and broadcast specials decades later, Ryan was decorated throughout his career. He received two purple hearts, after being shot and stabbed in the line of duty with Texas DPS. He was recognized with the Distinguished Honor from the North Texas Criminal Justice Association and Distinguished Service by the Petroleum Industry Security council for his case work. His specializations and certifications included forensic hypnosis, firearms instruction hostage negotiation, fingerprint identification, scientific interrogation, speed reading and narcotics officer survival.
Phil Ryan was in a group photo after being sworn in as Wise County Sheriff in 1992. He died Wednesday, Feb. 25. MESSENGER ARCHIVE PHOTOS
Phil Ryan with WCSO personnel in 1993. COURTESY | LANE AKIN
After a brief stint in the private sector, Ryan ran for Wise County Sheriff in 1992. He defeated Charles Johnson in the Democratic primary, 4,755 to 1,250.He didn’t face a Republican challenger, and after the former sheriff submitted his resignation to commissioners, Ryan took his oath of office as sheriff on March 20, 1992.
Before taking office, the WCSO and former Sheriff Leroy Burch been making headlines for the wrong reasons. Burch and bondsman David Box, were under investigation by state and federal grand juries in connection with an alleged bond scheme that resulted in hundreds of questionable arrests on sex charges at a roadside park, which came to light after investigative reporting from the Dallas Morning News. Additionally, an investigation revealed the sheriff had a side gig pouring concrete out of state. At the time of his victory, the Wise County Messenger editorialized in its election coverage that “hopefully the sheriff of Wise County will make the news for his arrests and crime-fighting rather than concrete-pouring trips to Tennessee and allegations of wrongdoing.”
Ryan lived up to the those expectations.
“It’s time for a good change in Wise County, but I hope there are a lot of people ready to roll up their sleeves and help me,” he told the Messenger in 1992 after his win.
Akin visited with Ryan yesterday. He said Ryan was sick but he didn’t expect for the man that served as a major influence on he and many others in Wise County law enforcement, to pass so soon. He described Ryan as a man of integrity, with quick wits and a big heart who helped people behind the scenes.
“I sat with him for about an hour, he was in and out of consciousness, but we just talked about the things he’s done in law enforcement,” Akin said. “He was the one who persuaded me to come to Decatur to be a Texas Ranger as he was taking office. At the time, there was nothing but corruption at the WCSO. There was a long way to go to build trust in the Wise County community and in law enforcement across North Texas.”
“But he changed things,” Akin added. “I’m so glad that I was here to see what he was doing to turn things around. He brought in people that cared about the community, and when someone wasn’t working like they should be — if they weren’t willing to do it the right way — he got rid of them… There is always some level of ego, some level of [ulterior motive], but with Phil, there wasn’t. I have not ever seen someone like that. He turned things around and made law enforcement what it should be and that has carried on. Phil set the tone.”
Ryan served three terms as sheriff. He campaigned on building trust and making changes that he couldn’t as a Texas Ranger that he felt would make Wise County a safer place to work and live.
Beyond demanding professionalism, he also modernized the WCSO by launching a crime prevention division, starting up the Wise Eyes program, instituting 24-hour patrol and dispatching, a jail industries program and improvements to extend the life of the jail. He also formed a mounted patrol and a color guard, established a vehicle maintenance shop and brought the first computer network to the WCSO.
Bridgeport Police Chief Steve Stanford, one of many officers who were sworn in by Ryan, said the former sheriff was a unique and influential figure.
“Ryan was a Wise County law enforcement legend,” said Bridgeport Police Chief Steve Stanford. “He turned around a very corrupt sheriff’s office in the 90’s. Phil was a heck of a guy, one of a kind…. He’s someone we all could depend on.”
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