the hanging of tom ketchum and kid curry

Tom Ketchum, who was also known as 'Black Jack' Ketchum, was a member of the  'Hole in the Wall' gang and committed various robberies and crimes until he was apprehended and sentenced to be hanged.  So far, there's nothing unusual at all, as he is, after all, a wild west outlaw.  However (and this is where the tale gets juicy), when he was hanged on April 26th 1901 (at Clayton, New Mexico), the rope was too long, Ketchum had gained weight, and he fell (so it's said) about 9 feet, which resulted in him being decapitated.  That's not even the only gory bit (not by a long chalk), as it gets better (or worse).  Afterwards, his head was sewn back onto his body so that it could go on show before being interned in Clayton.  Now that, brothers and sisters, is what l call a hanging and aftermath.

As an aside, he also hung around a bit (see what l did there) with Kid Curry (Harvey Logan), although they apparently never got on.  Curry was later to become well known due to the TV series 'Alias Smith and Jones' (starring Pete Duel and Ben Murphy!), a favorite show of mine from when l was younger.  Kid Curry was portrayed in the show as likeable, but extremely fast on the draw.  I'm sure the real Kid Curry would have been a pretty nasty guy, and nothing at all like his TV portrayal.  The top picture is Ben Murphy as Kid Curry, whereas the bottom (scruffy and unattractive) one is the real deal.  I think l can spot a tiny bit of a difference between them.

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gadaffi is dead - here are the newspaper covers - here is my view

So, Gadaffi is dead, and although there are conflicting reports about how he died, there has not been much doubt that he was shot in the head, dragged along the floor, and not shown much mercy. The British newspapers have been pretty keen to show the photographs of him dead, going with front page shots and having very little sympathy for him. On radio phone in shows l heard today, there was also little sympathy for the way his life ended, with callers saying he should have been shown no mercy, he didn't deserve justice, this is payback for Lockerbie and WPC Fletcher, a trial would have dragged on and cost too much money, and he should have been tortured and killed in the same way he killed his victims. I agree a trial would have cost a lot, may have caused more fighting and also put people at risk. I also agree he was a dictator who caused the deaths of lots of people and l have no problem with him being dead, in fact l do think his death saves money and the media circus and trouble a trial would cause (and it stops the bastard lawyers making money). My problem is the glee at showing pictures of his death on the front pages of newspapers and the general assumption that he deserved no rights because of what he had done. The reason for fighting dictators like Gadaffi is (supposedly) because of their human rights violations. If we do not then behave better than the dictators and set examples of a just and fair system/democracy, what is the point of going in. We cannot just pick and choose who deserves their rights, it's either everyone or nobody, otherwise, who gets to choose which individual is allowed them? It may be galling to treat murderers, dictators (and for that matter, even burglars and violent criminals) in a humane way, but that is how a decent society works. When there are wars, troops expect to be treated as prisoners of war, even if they have just been captured after killing a lot of opposition troops, possibly including friends and family of the victors. The urge at the time may be to just kill them, but it should be overcome. Even a killer should be entitled to be tried, and if capital punishment is then an option and decided upon (after a fair trial), so be it (although l am against it myself, after all, ever heard of miscarriages of justice or false/beaten confessions?). If Gadaffi had been killed while fighting, that to me, would have been a great outcome, but hysterically abusing and then shooting prisoners is not right. If you think it is, see if you still agree if some British soldiers get captured after a raid/killings/fighting in the future (Iraq/Afghanistan? Who knows where this could happen), after all, "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter" (Gerald Seymour).

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