NM governor considers pardon for Billy the Kid

NM governor considers pardon for Billy the Kid

By BARRY MASSEY, Associated Press Writer Barry Massey, Associated Press Writer – Fri Jul 30, 7:43 am ET

SANTA FE, N.M.– The showdown between Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid has fascinated the American public for nearly 130 years with its classic, Old West storyline of the frontier lawman hunting down the notorious gunslinger.
As it turns out, the feud isn't completely over.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson is considering granting a posthumous pardon to Billy the Kid, angering descendants of Garrett who call it an insult to recognize such a violent outlaw.

Three of the late lawman's grandchildren sent a letter to Richardson this week that asked him not to pardon the outlaw, saying such an act would represent an "inexcusable defamation" of Garrett.

"If Billy the Kid was living amongst us now, would you issue a pardon for someone who made his living as a thief and, more egregiously, who killed four law enforcement officers and numerous others?" the Garrett family wrote.

The issue has resurfaced because Richardson asked a New Mexico columnist earlier this year to check with historians to measure their support for issuing a pardon. The governor plans to meet with Garrett family members next week to discuss the issue.

Garrett shot Billy the Kid down on July 14, 1881. Garrett tracked him after the outlaw escaped from the Lincoln County jail in a famous gunbattle that left two deputies dead.

The Kid's status as an Old West folk hero grew as countless books, films and songs were written about the gunslinger and his exploits. According to legend, he killed 21 people, one for each year of his life, but the New Mexico Tourism Department puts the total closer to nine.

The pardon dispute is the latest in a long-running fight over whether Garrett shot the real Kid or someone else and then lied about it. Some history buffs claim Billy the Kid didn't die in the shootout with Garrett and landed in Texas, where he went by "Brushy Bill" Roberts and died of a heart attack at age 90 in 1950.

Richardson joined the tussle in 2003 by supporting a plan by then-Lincoln County Sheriff Tom Sullivan to reinvestigate the century-old case.

The governor said he was willing to consider a pardon for the Kid — something the outlaw hoped for but never received from New Mexico territorial Gov. Lew Wallace.

"Governor Richardson has always said that he would consider making good on Governor Wallace's promise to Billy the Kid for a pardon," Richardson spokeswoman Alarie Ray-Garcia said Thursday. "He is aware of the Garrett family's concerns and will be meeting with them next week."

Susan Floyd Garrett of Santa Fe is one of the grandchildren who signed the letter to Richardson. She said the family decided to speak out because a pardon represents a "defamation of character" to their grandfather. She described the Kid as a "gangster."

"Everybody wants to mythologize Billy the Kid," she said.

Garrett and her brother, Jarvis Patrick Garrett, met Thursday with descendants of another key figure in the Kid's story — John Henry Tunstall, a rancher whose murder in 1878 triggered a bloody feud known as the Lincoln County War. Billy the Kid, also known as William Bonney, worked as a ranch hand for Tunstall.

Hilary Tunstall-Behrens of London, a great-nephew of Tunstall, said he's not backing a modern-day pardon for the Kid.

"I wouldn't join the cause," said Tunstall-Behrens, 83. "There is so much strong feelings."

Gale Cooper, an amateur historian who lives near Albuquerque, said a pardon by Richardson would be the "culmination of the hoax that contended Pat Garrett was a nefarious killer and Billy was not buried in his grave."

Cooper has written a book, "MegaHoax," to debunk claims that Garrett killed someone other than the Kid.

YEAH!!! Our GOV REALLY HAS OUR BACKS AND IS WORKING HARD FOR US TAX PAYING CITIZENS OF NEW MEXICO LOL !!!!!!

Fat Bill is now certifiably "BONKERS"

Is there anyone or anything that he doesn't pander to other than the taxpayers of this state.

Lol, even descendants of BtK and Pat Garrett are telling hog body Bill to leave it alone.

Guess he thinks he has to leave us with one last ritual to remember him by. Another monument to Richardson!!! With soooo many other pressing situations that need attention, like the big hole he put NM in, he comes up with this drivil. Oh well, he won't have to deal with the outcome when he's gone, doesn't matter. Actually, he has just slapped every law enforcement officer in the face.

What a waste of time

Oh, how nice. I'll be sure to tell William H. Bonney that his crimes in the late 1800's were pardoned when I make a trip to Fort Sumner. HAHAHA

And LOL @ Pat Garrett's family still living in New Mexico after all these years. How annoyed do you think they are at Garrett being portrayed as a villain while Billy was portrayed as a hero?

orpheusz wrote:

Oh, how nice. I'll be sure to tell William H. Bonney that his crimes in the late 1800's were pardoned when I make a trip to Fort Sumner. HAHAHA
And LOL @ Pat Garrett's family still living in New Mexico after all these years. How annoyed do you think they are at Garrett being portrayed as a villain while Billy was portrayed as a hero?

Those relatives have already expressed their outrage to Porky but as he says in his typical pompous arrogant style "I've not made a decision yet."

I guess this is what you do when you're a lame duck huh?

Maybe those families who claim that Billy The Kid was an outlaw was really on the right side of the law fighting corruption even way back then.

These families need to get an update to the true corruption of those days in the late 1880s.

Billy The Kid needs to be pardoned and is New Mexico's hero for trying to uncover the corruption that ran rampant in those days past.

mr1776va wrote:

Maybe those families who claim that Billy The Kid was an outlaw was really on the right side of the law fighting corruption even way back then.
These families need to get an update to the true corruption of those days in the late 1880s.
Billy The Kid needs to be pardoned and is New Mexico's hero for trying to uncover the corruption that ran rampant in those days past.

Whatever, perhaps yes, perhaps no. It is really very trivial compared to the more pressing issues we have here at hand like not having any money in our state treasury (thanks three-chins).

If he is gona pardon anyone, maybe it will be his hit-n-run lawyer that was with him that unfortunate night they hit a pedestrian.

NM Governorn Richardson isn't the topic rather that Billy The Kid gets his pardon so that he can get some eternal sleep for he has been waiting on that pardon for over 100 years now.

Screw the f**k families who were a part of the corruption in NM past. They have no innocence that they share with their long gone relatives.

Their relatives were so much a part of the New Mexico's ancient past in political corruption.

So wake up and smell the Pig Roast!