![]() To get away with killing such a person you were attempting to collect a bounty on the person needed to be resisting in some way, particularly in a way that threatened your own life. He seemingly didn't even know the Ford brothers were there to arrest him that day. You see, James was unarmed at the time of his death, and just as importantly was not in any way resisting arrest or attempting to flee. Unfortunately for Charley and Robert, when they went to collect the reward, they instead found themselves promptly arrested for murder and soon after were sentenced to hang. ![]() When James turned his back on the brothers, reportedly to clean a dusty photo, Robert Ford shot him in the back of the head. After eating, the trio walked into the living room. The subsequent posters noted "Wanted Dead or Alive Jesse or Frank James." Ultimately the Ford brothers arranged with the governor in secret to bring their buddy Jesse in.ĭeal struck, on the morning of April 3, 1882, the brothers had breakfast with James. Missouri governor Thomas Crittenden negotiated with various rail companies to offer a ,000 (1,000 today) reward each for the capture of Jesse James or his brother Frank. For example, consider the infamous murder of Jesse James at the hands of his outlaw buddies Charley and Robert Ford. Just because a poster stated something like "Dead or Alive" it did not grant any individual the right to kill the person without legal consequences. To answer the first question - yes, there are many known instances of such "Dead or Alive" posters being put up by the state and other entities, but that doesn't actually tell the whole story. But did these actually ever exist and could you actually kill someone legally when such a poster was issued by the authorities? ![]() Labyrinth900 asks: Were "Wanted Dead or Alive" bounties a real thing? In other words, if you found someone that is wanted dead, could you legally shoot and kill them and collect a bounty, and not be charged for murder?Ī classic Hollywood trope is the idea of a poster with the photo of a given criminal along with very large print text that would say something like "Wanted - Dead or Alive".
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