Sheriff Connors

Sheriff Connors is the head of the Law in Dry River, and the main antagonist of Dust.

History
Sheriff Connors was previously a passionate young beat cop in the Bigg Cityy, and garnered attention from the press with his dogged pursuit of organized crime.

Eventually, his commanding officer took him aside and ordered him to stop looking into crime families. Connors, likely made suspicious by a police officer telling him not to police, looked into it and discovered that his superior was being paid off. Connors then quit before he could be transferred.

Disillusioned by bureaucracy, Connors moved out to the lawless town of Dry River. He claims that, before his arrival, there was constant bloodshed. Connors got to work and, over the course of thirty years, was able to make a huge difference without corrupt officials trying to dissuade him or red tape restricting his actions.

Role as Sheriff
Connors was determined to clear Dylan of any possible guilt in Jeremiah's murder. He agreed to Abigail's plan to bring in the Graysons — although, to be honest, he thought they were coming tomorrow.

Role as Antagonist
At an unknown point (long enough to gather dust by the present), Connors forsook Limdafel, demon of justice and patron of the Law, in favor of his chaotic brother, Amdafel. Connors is shown to have many motivations for stopping the deal — distrust of government, loss of control, forfeiture of taxes — but doesn't act until ordered to by Amdafel. This may be why he took such sudden and drastic action.

After Gandy and Augustus confront him with Amdafel's book, Connors leads them back to the station and confesses to Jeremiah's murder. He claims that his motivations justified the means; incorporation and bureaucracy would lead Dry River to corruption, and cause the town to revert into distrust and violence. Everything he worked towards over the past thirty years would be undone by the very forces he was running from.

Connors's original plan was to use planted evidence to frame Liam for Jeremiah's death. The murder of a Blackwell by a worker would cause the mining families (and, by extension, the Fangs and Furs) not to trust the workers. The murder of a Fang by a Fur would cause the Fangs to no longer trust the Furs. When the town is on the brink of chaos, Connors would step in and diffuse the situation — recreating the early days of his career in which he brokered a peace and was trusted as a savior. With this newly rekindled trust and a blank slate of alliances, Dry River would then build itself back stronger.

The Graysons attempt to convince him of his twisted perception until Errol stops halfway through trying to establish a commonality between them."'. . . if that means living with your justice. If that means locking up innocent folks, if that means killing boys in the street... Why are we having this fucking conversation? You killed a boy in the street. Sheriff Connors, you're under arrest for the murder of Jeremiah Blackwell.'"Errol then draws on Connors and Connors, quite unexpectedly, transforms into a demon-like creature. Smoke curls from his nostrils, and his eyes go yellow as his skin turns purple and chitinous. If it matters, he also grows a whole eight inches.

Death
Errol frees Dylan from his cell, and the boy charges out in full werewolf mode. Connors manages to get in a shot with his silver dagger, but Dylan has him against the wall by his throat. Connors, losing air, calls for mercy; Dylan, staring him dead in the eye, refuses. Dylan pulls the dagger from his own ribs and buries it in the Connors's heart so hard that his body remains pinned to the wall.

Trivia

 * Connors was a passionate public official who had to give up his goals, and became fiercely protective of a much smaller territory that he was able to drastically improve. This closely mirrors Errol's story.
 * This may be intentional on Travis's part to emphasize either Connors's savior complex gone sour, or Errol's clearer heart.