– (Felipe Martini/)
CRIMINAL RECORD
Name William Henry Bonney McCarty Jr. (1859-1881)
place of business New Mexico, USA
deaths 9 confirmed and 12 unproven
1) Poor and fatherless, William, who since childhood referred to himself as Billy, was born in New York. At age 14, however, he moved with his family to Silver City, a small town famous for silver exploration, in New Mexico. There, his mother ended up dying, and Billycontrary to his stepfather’s orders, decided to leave the house.
two) The boy’s story moved the owner of the pension Sarah Brown, who offered him shelter and food in exchange for service. But instead of working, Billy he was caught stealing from the pantry and ended up returning to the streets. Ten days later, determined to make a living out of crime, he broke in and stole clothes and pistols from a Chinese laundry.
3) Billy fled into the desert and became an outlaw. In Arizona, a neighboring state, he turned cattle and horse thief. At age 17, he killed his first victim: Frank P. Cahill, a bully blacksmith. Witnesses reported that after making out in a bar, Cahill threw himself on Billywho, from the ground, hit him in the abdomen with a single bullet.
4) In order not to be arrested, Billy fled to Lincoln County, New Mexico, and became a henchman for a rancher important in 1877. A year later, he set up an ambush with other gunmen to kill the sheriff and the county sheriff, because he thought that both had killed his boss at the behest of rival ranchers.
5) After the conflict, Billy went to the governor of New Mexico to make a deal. He would reveal the names of several authorities involved in crimes. In return, his would be forgiven. The governor pretended to accept the offer, but sent him to prison. Prison would not last long: a few weeks later, he was rescued with the help of his gang.
6) Free again, the young bandit committed a few more robberies. In 1880, alcoholic Joe Grant fell out with one of his cronies. Billyand the boy called him to a duel. sneakily, Billy swiped the gun from the drunk, took out all the bullets, and handed the gun back without Grant noticing. Thus, he easily won the dispute, with a shot in the forehead of the rival.
7) Through informants, Sheriff Pat Garrett discovered that the criminal would seek shelter in Fort Summer and decided to position his troops at the entrance to the city. The authorities caught the group of Billy by surprise, at night, with a hail of bullets. The boy managed to escape, but was captured in the following days and sentenced to death. strength.
8) Two weeks before the execution, during a transfer to another cell, Billy managed to escape (again!). According to reports in newspapers at the time, he hit one of the jailers with the handcuffs that broke, and killed him with a shot. Outside, he shot the other jailer and stole a horse.
9) In 1881, Garrett organized another plan to catch him. After tracking it down to the Ranch from an old acquaintance of his, in Fort Summer, the sheriff hid in one of the rooms on the property. When Billy he opened the door and saw a shadow near the window, he just had time to ask who it was, before being hit by two shots and falling backwards.
WHAT END DID IT TAKE?
The fatal bullet hit his heart. But in the 1950s, a rumor emerged that his death was a hoax and that he lived in Texas until he was 91.
SOURCES Books in the shadow of Billy the kidby Kathleen P. Chamberlain, and The Saga of Billy the Kid, by Walter Noble Burns; documentary Billy the Kid Kills His First Man (History Channel)