One Zachariah Achilles Johnson Sheriff 1885-1890 The trap door swung open and the two men and one boy dropped like a fifty-pound sack of Idaho potatoes. Presumably, the fall would snap the criminals’ necks but Sheriff Zach Johnson had not taken into consideration the ropes stretching as much as they did. As the men dropped to their deaths, the rope around Billy Walker’s neck, came untied, leaving the young man face-down on the ground squirming and gasping for air. His father Dave (Bull Creek) Walker, simultaneously dropped, but landed with his knees almost touching the dirt. He took the longest to die. Almost fifteen minutes. On the end, next to William Walker, stood John Matthews. His toes touching the ground underneath of the gallows. …show more content…
His death took nearly thirteen minutes. The men eventually succumbed to death, but not before young Billy Walker had to be re-hung. The boy was carried back up the gallows and the rope placed around his neck a second time. From under the dark mask, the boy begged sheriff Johnson to let him go but the sheriff replied: “I can’t do that Billy”. Sheriff Johnson paused, pulled the trap door lever and the boy fell to his death and died instantly. The year was 1889 and the hanging had taken place on the town square of Ozark, Missouri in front of hundreds of onlookers. Some said it took courage for the sheriff to hang the men, because of his association with them. Sheriff Johnson was acquainted with Walkers long before he arrested and hung them. The Walker’s was a well-known name and many of them still live in Christian County today. The Sheriff’s His kids went to school with relatives of the Walkers and his wife Maggie, passed them while shopping for dry goods. In return, the Walker family respected the tough and proficient sheriff. The three men had been Bald Knobbers.
A vigilante confederacy group who began in Taney County and swept into Christian, Douglas, Greene and Webster Counties. Dave Walker was the Christian County chapter leader. The night riders wore scary masks and met in a cave at Chadwick. During raids, they struck terror into the hearts of Countians who opposed their morale beliefs. Even if that meant tying a man to a tree and whipping him in front of his family. Those who opposed the Bald Knobbers were ordered to leave Christian County or have their fields and barns burned. The Bald Knobbers numbered in the hundreds. When young Billy Walker took it upon himself to take a gang of Bald Knobbers to the Eden’s-Green Cabin late one night, all hell broke loose. When the smoke cleared, Billy had been shot in the leg and William Edens and Charles Green lay dead. In his haste to run from the scene of the murder’s, Billy had left his shotgun. The next morning, Christian County Sheriff Zach Johnson rounded up a posse and drug the Bald Knobbers into court one by one. Once the snitching began, it wasn’t long before the leaders of the Bald Knobber’s were tried and sentenced to …show more content…
hang. Inside the crowd of onlookers was a 4-year-old boy.
A boy who would someday become the Sheriff of Christian County. His name was Elijah Lige Reed. He and his parents had recently moved to Ozark from Kentucky. Lige didn’t understand what he was witnessing that day, but it'd be clear to him as he got older. Sheriff Johnson was more than just a backwoods sheriff who gained fame by tracking down and arresting more than 30 armed vigilantes in the murders of two families. He also investigated and help convict three murders and personally hung them on the town square. Zach Johnson was a man-hunter, a father, husband and later became a Captain among the Game Wardens in southwest Missouri. He aided future sheriff’s in helping capture criminals and was relied upon important matters involving Christian County, years after he was Sheriff. Zachariah Achilles Johnson passed away on April 14th, 1913 at the age of
62.
Dick Hickock stood motionless, watching as his companion, Perry Smith fired his shotgun into the heads of each member of the Clutter family, sending blood and brains splashing against the wall. What would drive a man to do this? With a cold-blooded fire in his eyes, Perry moved from one person to the next, splattering the country house with brain matter. This terrible
There have been numerous stories, tunes, movies, and craft depicting the exemplary story of man vs. the fallen angel. The old German legend of "Faust," which is accepted to be the primary impact in Washington Irving's "The Devil and Tom Walker", was utilized as a lesson to alarm individuals from wrongdoing. On the other hand, Washington utilized the general subject of bartering with the villain for a lavishly typical and captivating story with inconceivable detail and style of prominent gothic fiction in Europe, where he inhabited the time it was composed. Irving's dull unmistakable style and three naughty characters passed on the ethical message of Faust all around by utilizing typical talk and dark parody.
All this hysteria in the town started causing many problems. The crazed girls began pointing fingers at many residents, including several of the most respected people of the community. Within months, the jail in Salem was over its capacity with townspeople that were accused of performing witchcraft. Seeing how the townspeople believed everything the girls were saying shows how gullible the community is. Ten months later, nineteen people had been hanged, stubborn Giles Corey who refused to plea Guilty or not Guilty was pressed to death by heavy stones, and more than 100 others jailed.
of Death. When a young boy is asked what happened to a man who had just
A question that arises in almost any medium of art, be it music, film or literature, is whether or not the depiction of violence is merely gratuitous or whether it is a legitimate artistic expression. There can be no doubt that Michael Ondaatje's long poem The Collected Works of Billy the Kid is a violent work, but certain factors should be kept in mind before passing it off as an attempt to shock and titillate; certainly, the poem does both of these, but they are not the primary purpose of the work. For one thing, social context needs to be considered; Billy lived in the "Wild West", a time associated with range wars, shoot-outs and great train robberies. The entire legend of Billy the Kid has been built around his criminal activities and notorious reputation; indeed, the more popular this myth becomes, the more people he is accused of having murdered. If anything, it was a cultural fascination with violence that "created" the legend, perhaps even more so than anything the "real" Billy ever did. Michael Ondaatje comments on this phenomenon and actually offers an alternative vision of who Billy the Kid was; perhaps he was not just a blood-thirsty killer but a man who, due to circumstance and human nature, was continually being pushed over the edge. Ondaatje is more concerned with the motivations behind the acts of violence than the acts of violence themselves: "A motive? some reasoning we can give to explain all this violence. Was there a source for all this? yup -" (54). If they shock, it is to shock the readers out of complicity and encourage them to think about the nature of violence and their own capacity for it.
With hundreds of unsolved murders, many of them could be put to rest with the death of Ted Bundy. He will always be regarded as one of the most gruesome murders in history. Some of these murders including the Chi Omega and Leech murders could have been prevented had Ted not been such a witty criminal.
His decisions have to be precise as it could possible result in death. The narrator was hopeless until he notices a group of rats, as he states, " With painful effort I outstretched my left arm as far as my bonds permitted, and took possession of the small remnant which had been spared me by the rats. As I put a portion of it within my lips, there rushed to my mind a half formed thought of joy -- of hope.” - this made the narrator want to continue living. Each swing got closer and closer, but the rodents were also making the straps disappear, as the narrator states in disgust, " they swarmed upon me in ever accumulating heaps. They writhed upon my throat; their cold lips sought my own". The narrators brilliant idea of getting the group of rats to eat through the leather that tied him down, help he get out of that torture method and release is anxiety of
The men are then taken to the police station and booked for investigation. The next day the men were
...n unchanging and blissful instant. His death felt peaceful. In reality he is alive for another two hours of twitching and groaning.
The following essay is about the assassination of Federal Judge John Wood. Judge John Howland Wood, Jr. was born on March 31, 1916. In 1970, Judge Wood became a United States Federal District Judge for the Western District of Texas. Judge Wood was tough on crimes including the making, selling, and distribution of illegal drugs, and he had a reputation for giving long prison sentences to drug dealers. This reputation gained him the nickname, “Maximum John.” In 1979, mobster Jamiel (“Jimmy”) Chagra was awaiting his trial for drug trafficking, and it was inevitable that he would be found guilty, and he was prepared to take any measure to prevent this fate. Consequently, Judge Wood was killed in front of his
In group #1 a classmate by the name of Andrew makes an interesting statement which is “In the story “The Devil and Tom Walker” the theme is: civilization is corrupt because of a certain symbol that describes that the trees in the forest are withered to the core.” This is accurate because it shows how people can be rotten to the core and can be miserable and mean. Society can also make mistakes and start corruption by making decisions for their own greedy purposes. Another reason why this statement is true is because it displays that the trees mean age and wisdom over many years but since the trees are withered and rotten, it shows how mankind is corrupted because of the horrible mistakes it creates. For example, mankind has always resulted
Aiming to get away, the guys choose to take on a remote river that will soon be covered by a dam. They take everything needed for the trip: tents, canoes, and bows and arrows. The four men, Ed, Lewis, Bobby, and Drew, are all prepared to go out into the solitudes of the South, but nothing could prepare the men for what was to come as their weekend progressed. They travel through the choppy river rapids and rest along the banks. As Bobby and Ed get ahead of the other two guy on the river, they decide to rest along the bank. What was supposed to be a weekend trip quickly turned into a fight for survival after meeting two mountain men. The narrator, Ed, is tied to a tree with a gun to his head, while Bobby is experiencing a horrific tragedy. In the raw, exhilarating novel, arrows and shotguns are used for more than just deer
He is escorted down to a room with handcuffs on both arms and feet. The tension in the room causes nervousness and a stirring in his stomach, which entombs his dinner from the night before. He is told to take a seat. Still in doubt of his fate he notices the witnesses and their various expressions. His family is grief-stricken, a sharp contrast to the family of the brutally murdered, for which he was found guilty of. If only they knew what he knew; for they would not be strapping him into the chair, soaking a sponge, and placing it on top of his head along with the metal skullcap. If they knew the truth there would be someone in his place today. But alas, the truth dies along with the innocent.
The Outlaw of the Wild West, Billy the Kid started his life of crime at the young age of 15, this creates his legacy and the reason why he is one of many historical figures Bill and Ted meet. Billy the Kid’s legacy is very different compared to the other figures in the movie and in history. In Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Billy the Kid is viewed friendly and is loyal to Bill and Ted, which is not true to the legend of Billy the Kid.
The Life of Billy- Original Writing I intend to describe Billy’s school and explain to what extent the school has helped him achieve his full potential whilst attending the school. The author’s intentions when writing ‘A Kestrel for a Knave’ were to highlight how defective the school was at helping Billy to be a successful person in life. Billy’s school was an all boy’s school situated in Barnsley. The school was run by corporal punishment, and the head teacher believed that is how it should be.