Retrial Scheduled 90 Years After Hanging

A man hanged 90 years ago for the murder of a 14-year-old boy--some said he called the crime “the dirtiest trick I ever done”--will be retried posthumously this fall in an effort to clear him.

Joseph W. Moch, a Michigan lawyer fascinated by the case, convinced a state judge in Cheyenne to order the retrial for Tom Horn on several grounds, including a claim that Horn’s confession was coerced.

“I think this is one of those cases in American history that long has needed to be put straight, and it has been waiting a long time,” Moch said from his Grand Rapids office.

Through the years controversy has swirled around the case, in which Horn, hired by cattle barons to halt rustling, was convicted of shooting Willie Nickell on July 18, 1901.

Nickell was killed with a single shot as he rode to open a gate about a mile from his family’s homestead. There was speculation that the boy was mistaken for his father.

The trail led to Horn because a flat rock had been placed under the boy’s head--a symbol Horn used to identify his victims so his employers would pay him for ridding the area of another rustler.

The court overlooked the fact that Horn’s gun was not the same caliber as the one that killed the boy, Moch said.

In 1902, while drinking in Denver, Horn allegedly boasted of killing Nickell. U.S. Deputy Marshal Joe LeFors got Horn to repeat the story over drinks in Cheyenne while a stenographer hid in the next room.

“It was the best shot I ever made and the dirtiest trick I ever done,” Horn was quoted as saying.

Horn was hanged in Cheyenne on Nov. 20, 1903. Several movies, including the 1980 film “Tom Horn,” starring the late Steve McQueen, recounted the tale that made Horn a Western legend.

Moch claims that the jury was intimidated, that it wasn’t properly sequestered, and that the judge conducted the cross-examination.

But Laramie County District Attorney Tom Carroll, who will represent the state, said, “The state’s case in 1902 was a strong one. I anticipate the same results this year.”

Retired state Supreme Court Justice C. Stuart Brown will preside over the trial, set for Sept. 16-17 in Cheyenne.

A retrial after death is not unprecedented.

One was held in May for Henry Plummer of Virginia City, Mont., who was hanged in 1864. A judge declared a mistrial after the jury declared itself split 6-6. The Montana Legislature has been asked to pardon Plummer.