Free Republic

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) -- Billy the Kid, the Old West outlaw who killed at least three lawmen and tried to cut a deal from jail with territorial authorities, won't be pardoned, Gov. Bill Richardson said Friday. The prospect of a pardon for the notorious frontier figure nearly 130 years after his death drew international attention to New Mexico, centering on whether Billy the Kid had been promised a pardon from New Mexico's territorial governor in return for testimony in killings he had witnessed.

Billy the Kid gets a lawyer 122 years after shootout, attorney to gather information for a pardon By Alan Boyle MSNBC Nov. 18 — Amid talk of posthumous DNA tests and a potential pardon, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has given his go-ahead for an attorney to represent the interests of Billy the Kid. The lawyer, Bill Robins, will work for free — but it’s not yet clear how big a role he’ll play in efforts to identify the Old West outlaw’s remains. THE GOVERNOR’S office said Robins’ primary task will be to gather and assess evidence during a renewed...

Billy the Kid's last laughWhereabouts does he lie? Depends on whom, and where, you ask ...06/22/2003By KIMBERLY DURNAN / Dallas Web Staff In Hico, the Texas town whose motto is "Where Everybody is Somebody," folks are bristling at the notion that Brushy Bill is nobody. Earlier this month, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson announced a plan to finally learn the truth about what happened to Billy the Kid by exhuming bodies in Texas and New Mexico for DNA comparisons. It is generally accepted history that Sheriff Pat Garrett tracked down Billy the Kid, a.k.a. William H. Bonney, after the 21-year-old...