No. 532
Territory vs
William Bonny alias "Kid" alias William Antrim (Murder)
Charge to trial Jury
Filed in my office this 9th day of April A. D. 1881
[S] GEORGE R. BOWMAN
Clerk
4
Page 390 Eleventh Day, April 8th A D 1881—Cont’d
And now there being twelve qualified Petit Jurors present and both parties declaring themselves satisfied with the Jury as it now stands the following Jury is accepted to wit:
Refugio Bernal Jesus Telles Crecencio Bustillos Luis Sedillos
Felipe Lopez Pedro Onopa
Merced Lucero Pedro Serna Jesus Silva
Pedro Martinez Hilario Moreno Benito Montoya
Twelve good and lawful men of the body of the Third Judicial District, duly drawn accepted empanelled and sworn to well and truly try and true deliverance make between the Territory of New Mexico and the prisoner at the bar and a true verdict give according to the evidence. And after hearing a part of the evidence the said Jury are placed in charge of two sworn officers until the opening of Court tomorrow.
Whereupon Court adjourned until tomorrow morning at 10 o’clock
[s] Warren Bristol
Judge
5
Page 391 Twelfth Day, April 9th A.D. 1881
Court met pursuant to adjournment.
Present as of yesterday
Territory of New Mexico
vs
William Bonny alias “Kid” alias William Antrim (Murder)
Now comes the Plaintiff herein by Simon B. Newcomb Esq. District Attorney therefore and the Defendant appearing in his own proper person and accompanied by John D. Bail Esq. and A.J. Fountain Esq. his attorneys and the jury empanelled yesterday in said cause being present and said Jury having heard all the evidence and the arguments of counsel and received the instructions of the Court, retire to deliberate, accompanied by two sworn officers. And after deliberation the said Jury return into Court and upon their oaths do say “We the Jury in the above entitled cause to find the Defendant guilty of murder in the first degree and do assess his punishment at death”
[s] Warren Bristol
Judge
6
Page 406 Fifteenth Day, April 13th A D 1881—Continued
Territory of New Mexico
vs
William Bonny alias "Kid" alias William Antrim (murder)
Now comes the Plaintiff herein by Simon B., Newcomb Esq. District Attorney therefor and the Defendant appearing in his own proper person and accompanied by counsel and the Court being fully advised as to the sentence to be passed upon said Defendant in pursuance of the verdict rendered in said cause at a former day of this Term; and the Defendant being asked if he had anything to say why sentence should not be passed upon him in pursuance of said verdict says nothing.
It is therefore considered by the Court here that the said Defendant, William Bonny, alias Kid alias William Antrim be taken to the County of Lincoln in the Third Judicial District of the Territory of New Mexico by the Sheriff of said county of Lincoln and that he, the said William Bonny, alias Kid, alias William Antrim be confined in prison in said county of Lincoln, by the Sheriff of such county until on Friday the 13th day of May in the year of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and eighty-one. That on the day aforesaid between the hours of nine of the clock in the forenoon and three of the clock in the afternoon he, the said William Bonny alias Kid alias William Antrim, be taken from such prison to some suitable and convenient place of execution within the said County of Lincoln, by the Sheriff of such county and that then and there, on that day and between the aforesaid hours thereof, by the Sheriff of said county of Lincoln, he, the said William Bonny, alias Kid, alias William Antrim be hanged by the neck until his body be dead.
Judgment and sentence herein was pronounced upon the said defendant at five o’clock and fifteen minutes in the afternoon of this 13th day of April A.D. 1881. Ordered by the Court that a certified record of the Judgment of the Court be transmitted to the Governor of the Territory without delay, which is accordingly done. Whereupon Court adjourned until tomorrow morning at 10 o’clock.
[s] Warren Bristol
Judge
7
Death Warrant of Billy the Kid
Ex. Rec. 506
To the sheriff of Lincoln County, New Mexico, Greeting:
At the March term, A.D. 1881, of the District Court for the Third Judicial District of New Mexico, held at La Mesilla in the county of Dona Ana, William Bonney, alias Kid, alias William Antrim, was duly convicted of the crime of murder in the 1st Degree; and on the fifteenth day of said term, the same being the thirteenth day of April, A.D. 1881, the Judgment and Sentence of said Court were pronounced against the said William Bonney, alias Kid, alias William Antrim, upon said conviction according to law. Whereby the said William Bonney, alias Kid, alias William Antrim, was adjudged and sentenced to be hanged by the neck until dead, by the sheriff of the said county of Lincoln, within said county.
Therefore, you, the Sheriff of the said county of Lincoln, are hereby commanded that on Friday, the Thirteenth day of May, A. D. 1881, Pursuant to the said Judgment and sentence of the said Court, you take the said William Bonney, alias Kid, alias William Antrim, from the county jail of the county of Lincoln where he is now confined, to some safe and convenient place within the said County, and there, between the hours of Ten O'Clock, A. M., and three O'Clock, P. M., of said day, you hang the said William Bonney, alias Kid, alias William Antrim by the neck until he is dead. And make due return of your acts hereunder.
[SEAL] Done at Santa Fe in the Territory of New Mexico, this 30th day of April, A. D. 1881.
Witness my hand and the great seal of the Territory.
[signed] LEW WALLACE
Governor New Mexico
By the governor
W. G. RITCH, Secretary, N. M.
8
Death Warrant
Territory
vs
Wm Bonney, alias Kid
Lincoln, Lincoln County, New Mexico May 24th 1881.
I hereby certify that the within Warrant was not served owing to the fact that the within named prisoner escaped before the day set for serving Said Warrant
PAT F. GARRETT, Sheriff
Lincoln County, New Mexico
2 Ex Rec 515
FILED. June 3, 1881
W. G. RITCH, Sec. N.M.
D
THE REPORT OF THE CORONER’S JURY
1 The Report (translation)
2 Letter from the District Attorney for the Fourth Judicial District
3 Letter from the County Clerk of De Baca County
4 Letter from the County Clerk of Guadalupe County
5 Letter from the Deputy District Clerk of the Fourth Judicial District
6 Letter from the Secretary of State of New Mexico
1
Report of the Coroner's Jury (translation of a photostat copy of a purported original which was never filed in San Miguel County)
Territory of New Mexico Precinct No. 27
County of San Miguel
To the attorney of the first Judicial District of the Territory of New Mexico.
GREETING:
This 15th day of July, A. D. 1881, I, the undersigned, Justice of the Peace of the Precinct above named, received information that there had been a death in Fort Sumner in said Precinct and immediately on receiving the information I proceeded to the said place and named Milnor Rudulph, Jose Silva, Antonio Saavedra, Pedro Antonio Lucero, Lorenzo Jaramillo, and Sabal Gutierres a jury to investigate the matter, and, meeting in the house of Lucien B. Maxwell, the said jury proceeded to a room in said house where they found the body of William H. Bonney alias "Kid" with a bullet wound in the chest, and, having examined the body, they examined the evidence of Pedro Maxwell, which evidence is as follows: "As I was lying on my bed in my room about midnight on the 14th day of July,
Patrick F. Garrett
entered my room and sat down on the edge of my bed to talk to me. Soon after Garrett had seated himself William Bonney entered and approached my bed with a pistol in his hand and asked me, 'Who is it? Who is it?' and then Patrick F. Garrett fired two shots at him, the said William Bonney, and the said Bonney fell upon one side of my fireplace, and I left the room. When I returned three or four minutes after the shots, the said Bonney was dead."
The jury has found the following verdict: "We of the jury unanimously find that William Bonney was killed by a shot in the left breast, in the region of the heart, fired from a pistol in the hand of Patrick F. Garrett, and our verdict is that the act of the said Garrett was justifiable homicide, and we are unanimous in the opinion that the gratitude of the whole community is due to the said Garrett for his act and that he deserves to be rewarded."
M. RUDULPH
President
ANTON SABEDRA
PEDRO ANTO LUCERO
JOSE X SILBA
SABAL X GUTIERREZ
LORENZO X JARAMILLO
All of which information I bring to your notice.
ALEJANDRO SEGURA
Justice of the Peace
2
Jose E. Armijo, District Attorney
E. R. Cooper, Assistant
Counties: San Miguel, Mora and Guadalupe
Office of the District Attorney
Fourth Judicial District
State of New Mexico
Las Vegas, New Mexico
August 14, 1951
Mr. Wm. V. Morrison 1312 Arizona
El Paso, Texas
Dear Sir:
I wish to acknowledge receipt of your letter of August 9, 1951 requesting a certified copy of the coroner's verdict on the death of Wm. H. Bonney, alias Billy the Kid.
I am sorry I cannot comply with your request because of the fact that such a record is not now, and never has been, among the records of this office. I am sorry, also that I am at a loss to direct you to the office where you could obtain a copy of such record.
Such a verdict, if it existed, should have been filed in the office of the County Clerk. However, the original San Miguel County (Which at that time comprised what is now De Baca County) has been split up so many times that it is now but a small fraction of its original size. Perhaps such a record can be found in the office of the County Clerk of Guadalupe County, (County seat being Santa Rosa, New Mexico), or in the office of the County Clerk of De Baca County (county seat being Fort Sumner, New Mexico) . Both these counties were formed out of what once was San Miguel County.
I am sorry the Attorney General's office misinformed you as to such record. I have never seen such record and it is my opinion that it would be almost an impossibility to locate such a record at this late date because of the poor condition and method of keeping records at the time Billy the Kid is purported to have been killed by Pat Garrett.
Again, I am sorry I cannot be of service to you in this matter, but I do wish you success in locating such record.
Very truly yours,
[s] Jose E. Armijo
District Attorney
3
County Clerk and Ex-Officio Recorder
De Baca County
Fort Sumner, New Mexico
STATE OF NEW MEXICO –ss.
County of De Baca
I, Cecil W. Williams, County Clerk within and for the County of De Baca, State of New Mexico, Do Hereby Certify that I have searched the records in my office and I fail to find anything pertaining to the Coroner's Jury Verdict in the Case of "Billy the Kid."
Witness my hand and seal of said office this 21 day of August, 1951.
[SEAL]
[S] CECIL W. WILLIAMS
County Clerk
4
Jose M. Maestas, Jr., Clerk of Guadalupe County
Santa Rosa, New Mexico
State of New Mexico –ss.
County of Guadalupe
I, Jose M. Maestas, Jr. County Clerk within and for the County of Guadalupe, State of New Mexico, do hereby certify that I have searched the records i in my office and I fail to find anything pertaining to the Coroner's Jury Verdict in the Case of "Billy the Kid."
Witness my hand and seal of said office this 21st day of August,
1951.
[SEAL]
[S] JOSE M. MAESTAS, JR. County Clerk
5
Office of the
Clerk of the District Court
Las Vegas, New Mexico
October 31, 1949
Mr. William V. Morrison
3120 Wheeling Street
El Paso, Texas.
Dear Mr. Morrison,
I sent your letter requesting the Coroner's Verdict of the purported death of William H. Bonney to the Clerk of the District Court of De Baca County, as there is no record in this office of any Coroner's Verdict, and we do not have the records of De Baca County in this office.
Very truly yours,
[s] CARMEN ARMIJO
Deputy District Court Clerk
6
State of New Mexico
Department of State
Office of the Secretary of State
Santa Fe
November 21, 1949
Mr. William V. Morrison
3120 Wheeling Street
El Paso, Texas
Dear Mr. Morrison:
This will acknowledge receipt of your letter dated November 12th.
Our records failed to disclose the death record or Coroner's report with reference to the purported death of William H. Bonney, alias the Kid, alias William Antrim.
As requested, I am enclosing a certified copy of the Return on Death Warrant which was issued by the Sheriff of Lincoln County on May 24th, 1881.
Also enclosed is your Official Receipt in the amount of $3.00 in full payments of statements dated October 27th, and November 21st.
Yours very truly,
[s] ALICIA ROMERO
(Mrs. M. A. Romero) Secretary of State
E
THE REWARD
Governor Wallace's Official Offer
Governor Ritch's Refusal to Approve Garrett's Application
The Legislative Act
1
REWARD Territory of New Mexico
vs
William Bonney alias "The Kid", A Fugitive
[Indictment in Lincoln County District Court For Murder]
Executive Office
Territory of New Mexico
WHEREAS William Bonney, alias "the Kid" stands charged under indictment issued from the District Court in and for the County of Lincoln, of the crime of murder committed in said county; and
WHEREAS, the said William Bonney alias "The Kid" is a fugitive from justice
Now THEREFORE, I, Lewis Wallace, Governor of the Territory; by virtue of the power and authority vested in me by the law and believing the end of justice will best be served thereby, do hereby offer a reward of five hundred dollars ($500.00) for the apprehension and arrest of said William Bonney alias "The Kid" and for his delivery to the Sheriff of Lincoln County at the County seat of said county.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and have caused the Great Seal of the Territory to be hereto affixed this 13th day of December, 1880.
[S] LEW WALLACE
Governor
[ORIGINAL SEAL]
By the Governor
[s] W. G. Raul
Secretary of New Mexico
(Copy certified by Beatrice B. Roach, Secretary of State, August 23, 1951)
2
July 21
In the matter of the application by Patrick F. Garrett for a reward claimed to have been offered May 1881 for the capture of Wm Bonny alias the Kid
[Action on Petition Suspended]
Executive Department
Territory of New Mexico
July 21, 1881
July 20th 1881 Pat. F. Garrett, Sheriff of Lincoln County, appeared and presented a bill for $500. claiming it as a reward offered on or about the 7th of Ma
y 1881 by the late Governor, Lew Wallace, for the capture of said Bonny.
As evidence of said offer having been made the affidavit of publication thereof made by Chas. W. Green, the editor and manager of the Daily New Mexican, was presented with said bill, as also was presented a statement of the proceedings and verdict of a coroner's jury at Ft. Sumner in San Miguel County upon the body of said Bonny, captured as aforesaid, and a statement of Garrett directed to this office of his doings in the premises.
Upon examination of said papers it was deemed important that the opinion of the Attorney General be taken thereon and they were at once transmitted to that office. On the following day the papers with the opinion of Hon. Wm. Breeden Attorney General were filed.
Billy the Kid: An Autobiography Page 16