Billy the Kid denied pardon-infamous Gunslinger

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   kimberlyslyricsposted 14 years ago

   Billy the Kid
   
   Image below
   
   Billy the Kid
   
   SANTA FE, New Mexico, Dec 31, 2010 (AFP) - New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson Friday refused to pardon Wild West outlaw Billy the Kid, saying there was not enough evidence to forgive the infamous gunslinger, killed in 1881.
   
   Advocates for a pardon said the legendary gunman — reputed to have shot dead 21 people, one for each year of his life — had reached a pardon deal with then-governor Lew Wallace in exchange for testimony regarding another shooting.
   
   But Wallace allegedly failed to pardon the outlaw, who was then shot down by Sheriff Pat Garrett on July 14, 1881.
   
   Richardson said he has been investigating Billy the Kid — whose real name was William H. Bonney but was also known as Henry McCarty and Henry Antrim — since he first took office.
   
   But on his last day as governor, Richardson declined to pardon the gunslinger.
   
   "I have decided not to pardon Billy the Kid because of a lack of conclusiveness, and also the historical ambiguity as to why governor Wallace reneged on his pardon," Richardson announced on ABC television.
   
   The legend of Billy the Kid has inspired dozens of books and films, several impostors, and attempts to exhume his grave to test for DNA.
   
   He likely killed at least four people, and possibly more, though the figure of 21 dead may just be part of the legend.
   
   Richardson acknowledged that talking about Billy the Kid was a likely plus for tourism in the US state.
   
   "It’s gotten great publicity for the state. I acknowledge that. And I support that," he explained.
   
   Various fans of the Billy the Kid legend have pushed for the pardon for more than a decade, including Elbert Garcia of Santa Rosa, New Mexico, who claims to be the gunman’s great-grandson.
   
   Garcia, 71, who got up early at his home in the town of Santa Rosa to watch Richardson on television, said he was "disappointed" upon hearing the news.
   
   Richardson "never called me from my end, even though I wrote him all kinds of statements... I’m going to get on Facebook now to tell all my friends," he said.
   
   Sheriff Garrett’s grandchildren opposed the pardon, saying it would amount to painting the sheriff as a cold-blooded killer.
   
   Richardson "took an admirable way of saying no to the pardon which is great," said Jarvis Patrick "JP" Garrett, the sheriff’s grandson.
   
   Garrett said he thought Richardson did not issue a pardon because New Mexico was a federal territory at the time — it did not become a state until 1912 — so any killings were federal crimes and cannot be pardoned by a state governor.
   By Tom Sharpe, AFP
   December 31, 2010
   canada.com
   
   Garrett’s granddaughter Susannah also welcomed Richard’s decision, saying: "I do believe Billy’s ruthless and notoriously violent nature has been camouflaged by the romance of the (wild) west."
   
   But local librarian Paige Pinnell, a student of the history surrounding Billy the Kid, voiced disappointment and said he thinks Richardson is confused about history.
   
   "There’s no proof that Billy shot anybody at that particular time," Pinnell said.
   
   Richardson, a former US energy secretary who traveled to North Korea this month on his latest diplomatic mission, is stepping down after two terms as governor of the southwestern US state.
   
   Susana Martinez, who takes over as governor of New Mexico on Saturday, said she viewed the proposed pardon as a waste of time.
   
   Lew Wallace, a former Union general in the US civil war, was also the author of the novel "Ben-Hur." Wallace was governor of New Mexico Territory 1878-1881, and later served as US ambassador to the Ottoman Empire.
   
   © Copyright (c) AFP
   
   
   Photograph by: PNG, Archive
   
   
   so for me what's just odd is New Years Eve 1981 somehow at a party this dude started calling me billy the kid, hating a boys name, it stuck with me and still does, so here's to btk  RIP

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   goldenpathposted 14 years ago

   Loved Young Guns!

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      Pandoras Boxposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      The first one was an excellent movie.

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