Joe Leaphorn (born 1947) was a Navajo tribal police officer.
Biography[]
Joe Leaphorn was born on the Navajo reservation in New Mexico, and he completed a master's degree in anthropology from Arizona State University. He was educated in white boarding schools, and he had very little connection to his people. To add to this disconnect, he served as a policeman in urban environments such as Phoenix, Santa Fe, and Albuquerque. In 2002, he was assigned to investigate a series of murders on the Navajo reservation, with Jim Chee being chosen as his partner. He later discovered that Dr. Bahe Yellowhorse was responsible for the murders of Roman George, Roosevelt Bistie, and Wilson Sam, and he shot Yellowhorse at a watershed as Yellowhorse attempted to kill Chee.