ALBUQUERQUE - No pardon for Billy the Kid, Billy the Kid a legend. It's been 129 years since "the Kid was" killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett, and now the governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson, announced the television channel ABC that he examined the case and decided not to grant pardons posthumously to the legendary bandit.Billy the Kid, born Henry McCarty, but also known by the names of Henry Antrim and William Harrison Bonney, has inspired dozens of books and films dedicated to his life. Symbolic figure of the West, in fact, owes its fame to the man who killed him, Pat Garrett, who some years later shot him in Fort Sumner, 14 July 1881, wrote a biography entitled''The True Story of Billy the Kid''by handing him and his rival to the legend.
As happened to many icons of the Old West, the reputation of Billy overcame reality. Despite being credited with the killing of 21 men, it is known that William H. Bonney was involved in the death of nine men. Five of them died during the shooting in which he took part with his band and the remaining four victims were two shootings in self defense and the other two were the killings of Bell and Ollinger deputies during his escape from prison.
The Kid, just before his death, he hoped the pardon by the then Governor of New Mexico, Lewis Wallace, later became famous for writing the novel''Ben Hur''. He was denied then and today, nearly one hundred and thirty of his death. Richardson made the announcement on television just hours before the expiry of his mandate at midnight on December 31.
The possibility of reopening the case was born from the fact that Wallace was in fact the grace promised to the bandit in exchange for some cooperation in criminal investigations, but the Kid was killed before being released. Pat Garrett's descendants have always been opposed to a posthumous rehabilitation of the bandit, fearing that it could bring up their grandfather as a criminal.
"There is no certainty about the promise of grace to Wallace, there are too many historical ambiguities," said Richardson. The future governor of New Mexico, Susana Martinez, has already announced that it considers the issue as a waste of time. The case of Billy the Kid seems to be closed forever.
- Live On GMA: Bill Richardson Denies Pardon To Billy The Kid (31/12/2010)
- Billy the Kid Pardon Debate: Law vs Popular Opinion (29/12/2010)
- New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson Considers Pardoning Billy The Kid (29/12/2010)
- Could Billy the Kid be pardoned after 130 years? US want to forgive gun-slinger (29/12/2010)
- Bill Richardson Will Consider Pardoning Billy The Kid In Final Days Of Term (17/12/2010)
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