New Mexico Governor Denies Pardon to Billy the Kid; the Kid Comments

Billy the Kid reacts to being denied a pardon!

Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico, after reflection, denies a pardon to famous Western outlaw Billy the Kid.

The governor explains his decision:

"It was a very close call. I've been working on this for eight years. The romanticism appealed to me to issue a pardon, but the facts and the evidence did not support it and I've got to be responsible especially when a governor is issuing pardons," Richardson said.

Richardson said that Billy the Kid's decision to continue to kill after the pardon wasn't granted to him impacted his decision.

"What I think maybe tipped the scales with me is that Billy went ahead after not getting this pardon and killed two deputies, two law enforcement individuals, two innocents," Richardson said.

Read it all here.

Grave of Billy the Kid with protective cage

Who was Billy the Kid you say?  He was an outlaw in New Mexico who was killed in 1881. Billy was considered so dangerous that he was buried in a jail cell to prevent his ghost from continuing to murder people.  See image.

P.S.  Just kidding.  The cage around Billy's grave was to prevent tourists from chipping off souvenir pieces from the tombstone.