04/29/2026
On the night of April 28, 1881, just two weeks before he was set to be hanged, the infamous outlaw Billy the Kid was sitting in a jail cell on the top floor of the Lincoln, New Mexico courthouse, awaiting his fate. Then he asked the deputy who was watching over him to let him use the outhouse around the back of the building. On the way back to his cell, Billy slipped out of his handcuffs, beat the deputy, grabbed his gun, and shot him in the back.
His legs still shackled, Billy then snatched the shotgun belonging to the other deputy who'd gone to the restaurant across the street earlier in the evening. Billy ran to the window, saw the other deputy coming back to the courthouse in response to the gunshot and yelled to him, "Look up, old boy, and see what you get." When he looked up, Billy shot him dead. Then, he used an axe to break his shackles, stole a horse, and fled. Legend has it he was singing as he rode out of town.
