Billy the Kid – Pardoned? Yes or No…
Posted by Pete | Posted in News | Posted on 29-12-2010
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Governor Richardson is looking into giving a pardon to Billy the Kid. During the term of NM Territorial Governor Lew Wallace he apparently promised a pardon to Billy in return for his testifying in a murder trial against three men. The Kid wrote Wallace three letters in 1879 volunteering to testify in the murder case if Wallace would annul pending charges against him. It is said that Wallace responded that he had the authority to exempt him from prosecution if he would testify to what he knew in the case. It is said the Kid kept his bargain but Wallace did not. Wallace did pardon other people in the Lincoln County War. Of course, he did escape while waiting trial for the murder of a man by the name of Brady. During the escape, The Kid killed two deputies, but the pardon does not cover those killings…..Gov. Bill says, maybe yes, maybe no…he is still trying to decide to pardon The Kid or not….Our new Governor, Susana Martinez, says she will not waste her time on such matters……I, for one, am glad this is keeping Gov. Bill busy, at least he is not spending millions or investing state money on some other schemes or such…..Billy the Kid is still a murderer, right? So what’s the point, Governor Richardson?….. But on the other hand, keep thinking about it and leave the running of New Mexico to the incoming Gov. Susana…..
These are my sentiments exactly. If Governor Bill should pardon Billy the Kid, it will change my entire perception of Billy the Kid, which is the Hollywood perception of him being The Kid with 21 knotches on his gun and having escaped from jail before his hanging date and murdering again, and then being shot and killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett. If Wikipedia is to be believed, Billy the Kid was evidently much like our current President. He really didn’t know who he was. He had so many aliases he lost count of the number of names he actually bore, much less the original one. Like our current President, he likely never knew where he was born or of which nation he was a citizen. I wonder if birth in a territory of the United States automatically makes one a citizen. His citizenship is likely as much in doubt as that of Barack Obama. If the Kid was originally from (born in) New York, it’s no wonder he turned out to be a murderer. No one knows for sure. Let’s let the Hollywood, that is Pat Garrett’s, version stand. As Governor Lew Wallace, who is better known as the author of Ben Hur than as a governor of New Mexico, was wise to stand clear of the Kid, Governor Bill will be wise to do the same if he is concerned about his own place in the history books.