In the 70 years of its history, the highway patrol has had to tell families of 21 troopers they had been killed in the line of duty. The most recent message was delivered early yesterday morning to the family of Sergeant Robert Guilliams, who was killed in a traffic crash in the bootheel. Patrol lieutenant Tim Hull says trooper deaths hit the patrol hard because it’s a tight-knit organization. More troopers have been killed in traffic accidents and plane crashes than have died in confrontations with armed criminals.
