On a hot summer day, June 18,1881, Milt was sitting in the front yard of his friend "Monte Frank"Boyd's house, shooting the breeze. The two men heard the crack of a revolver shot and immediately proceeded to see if they could ascertain who was doing the shooting. They went toward where they had heard it. It seem to have come from an eatery around the corner. Constable Yarberry with Boyd in tow walked up to the area and made inquiries as to who had done the shooting. He questioned a bystander, "who fired the shot?" The bystander pointed to a man who was high stepping away. Boyd and Yarberry took in after him. "Stop there, I want you" called out Yarberry.
What happened next is anyone's guess. The end result was Charles D. Campbell lay on Front Street with three bullet wounds. Yarberry swore that he shot him in the right side after Campbell turned and fired on him. The Coroner claimed that the three wounds were in the back. Yarberry stated that he shot the man in the right side in defense of hius life and that Boyd had pumped two rounds into his back. I suspect Yarberry shot him down but that he was likely armed. However, what ended up hanging him was a single witness who swore Campbell was unarmed, one Thomas W. Parks, an attorney. And indeed, no weapon was found on the body. (Meaningless in those days as the vultures would descend and steal the dead man's gun in the excitement, often.)
Yarberry and Boyd were arrested. I assume they were let out on bond because when they went to re-arrest the two, Boyd had flown the coop. The town was in a frenzy and talk of lynching was nonstop. Boyd was never located. Yarberry was convicted.
Milton's Tombstone, indeed, a final slam on him. Note the last name
wiki:
"Sheriff Armijo arrested both Yarberry and Boyd for the shooting. Yarberry claimed that Campbell, who was not known to Yarberry but who had a reputation as someone who drank too often, had turned toward him with a gun, and thus he fired in self defense. One of his bullet wounds was in the back, but Yarberry claimed that the bullet in the back had to have come from when Campbell's body spun after being hit in the front. Campbell was armed, but no one could testify that his gun was out when he was shot. Again Yarberry, as well as Boyd who fired at least two rounds, was cleared in a preliminary hearing. This led to a loud public outcry, despite evidence at the time indicating that Yarberry had acted in good faith, in self defense.
Boyd left town, heading to Arizona, where he is alleged to have been killed by Navajo Indians the following year. Yarberry was again jailed, with anticipation of another Grand Jury hearing. On May 11, 1882, a Grand Jury indicted Yarberry for the murder of Campbell. The New Mexico Governor Lionel Sheldon, having newly taken office, and doing so in a time when news stories of Billy the Kid and John Kinney were rampant, was intent on making an example out of Yarberry.
The New Mexico Attorney General, William Breedon, handled the case for the prosecution, assisted by Arnet R. Owen. For the defense, Yarberry was represented by Jose Francisco Chavez, I.S. Trimble, and John H. Knaebel. Witness Thomas A. Parks, an attorney from Platt City, Nebraska, brought forth the most damaging testimony, when he stated he saw the entire event, and stated further that he saw no gun in Campbell's hands. Campbell's pistol that he had in his possession had been fired, and Yarberry claimed he'd fired it at least once at him. No one could counter this, aside from Parks, who claimed this was false. Yarberry also claimed he had fired only one time, hitting Campbell in the front. Yarberry stated adamantly that he shot Campbell because Campbell tried to shoot him, and he never varied from that.
The trial lasted three days, after which Yarberry was convicted and sentenced to hang. Yarberry insisted he had been "railroaded", and that he had acted correctly and in self defense. On September 9, 1882, Yarberry and three others escaped from the Santa Fe, New Mexico jail, and he quickly found that a $500 bounty had been placed on him. The other prisoners were captured quickly, and Santa Fe County Sheriff Romulo Martinez organized a posse to hunt down Yarberry.
On September 12, 1882, a posse led by Santa Fe Police Chief Frank Chavez captured Yarberry twenty eight miles outside of town. Five months later his appeal was denied. Attorney John Knaebel filed appeals and sent letters all the way to Washington, D.C., insisting his client was innocent of murder, but to no avail. In his final interview, Yarberry was told by the reporter that he looked pale, to which he replied, "Maybe. But I ain't sick, and I ain't scared either.["Hell, I wouldn't get scared if they walked me out on the scaffold right now." He then snatched his fiddle and cut loose with "Old Zip Coon".]
On February 9, 1883, under a guard provided by order of the governor, made up of the "Governor's Rifles", a New Mexico militia, Yarberry was marched to the gallows. His close friend, Sheriff Perfecto Armijo, was tasked with pulling the lever to hang him. Sheriff Armijo had staunchly supported Yarberry throughout the process, and also insisted he was being hanged unjustly. Yarberry requested that Colfax County Sheriff Mason T. Bowman take Sheriff Armijo's place, to save his friend from the task, but Sheriff Bowman declined. Over 1,500 people were in attendance to watch the hanging. As Sheriff Armijo pulled the lever, Yarberry proclaimed, 'Gentlemen, you are hanging an innocent man.'"
Finis.
One mean hombre, eh?
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