- SANTA FE, N.M. (Reuters)
- First, he got a gun, then he earned a name as an outlaw in the Wild West,
and now Billy the Kid, although long dead, has himself a high-powered lawyer
and a chance at a pardon.
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- New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has asked Santa Fe attorney
Bill Robins to represent the Kid in an investigation into the true fate
of the famous Western outlaw, officials from the governor's office said.
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- A spokesman for Richardson said Robins will support a
Lincoln County, New Mexico, sheriff and his deputy as they look into the
mystery of Billy the Kid's death.
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- "It's a volunteer position," said Billy Sparks,
Richardson's director of communications. "Robins will facilitate the
proper handling of evidence as it appears."
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- New Mexico has recently reopened the case of Billy the
Kid, who is supposed to have died after pistol shots rang through the night
in the desert 122 years ago.
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- There are many stories about the death of Billy the Kid,
with the prevailing history saying that Billy was gunned down by one the
state's most famous Wild West lawmen, Sheriff Pat Garrett in 1881.
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- There are others who say the Kid fled to England and
died of old age, while another story has the gunslinger dying in Hico,
Texas at the age of 90.
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- The Kid, whose real name was Henry McCarty but who also
went by William Bonney and Kid Antrim, is supposedly buried near the house
in Fort Sumner, New Mexico, where he was gunned down.
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- One of the first challenges for the Kid's new lawyer
will be to intervene in a case and have a local New Mexico court allow
the exhumation of the Kid's mother, Catherine Antrim.
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- A hearing is set for Dec. 8 at the Grant County Courthouse
and the body of the Kid's mother may be exhumed for DNA testing for a possible
match with a body believed to be the Kid's.
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- "The governor felt somebody needed to represent
Billy's interests," Robins said. "Where it will lead, I'm not
sure. I'm hoping this will shed enough light that the governor can ultimately
pardon Billy the Kid."
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