BTW Joey Smith was all liquered up...
They had been drinking ...
Joey Smith might have been shooting wildly all over the room...
Easy to shoot your own brother when you have a snoot full...
The Mormon author I cited earlier about the mysterious back wound, George W. Givens, wrote in the same book:
A most persistent story in Mormon history is that the soon-to-be-attacked prisoners in Carthage Jail sent out for a bottle of wine. When John Taylor heard an apologist report that it was taken as a sacrament, he said, 'It was no such thing; our spirits were generally dull and heavy, and it was sent to revive us.' A lesser-known fact is that Joseph had earlier adjudicated the case of some brethren who had been brought before him for drinking whiskey. He concluded by saying 'no evil had been done' and even gave the men some money to 'replenish the bottle to stimulate them in the fatigues of their sleepless journey.' The interpretation of the Word of Wisdom advice seemed to vary over time." (500 More Little-Known Facts in Mormon History, pp. 45-46)
Hmmm...TWO references by Lds "prophets" describing alcohol NOT as the depressant it is, but as a stimulant. (So much for Mormons trying to tout how their "prophets" know all about these "healthful" issues!!!)
And TN, you make a point worth considering: How much of the wine was drunk by their leader? (No doubt, the other three men in the room would have deferred to Joseph having as much as he wanted)
***Joey Smith might have been shooting wildly all over the room...***
There is a possibility that the revolver fired more than one barrel when the gun was fired, something these early revolvers were known to do. It is called “flashover.”
Maybe he was shooting at the men in the door while Hyrum was trying to close the door and the second cylinder shot hit Hyrum.
If the Reorganized church still has the bodies stashed maybe we can get a autopsy on Hyrum.