Hell Paso by Samuel K. Dolan

Author:Samuel K. Dolan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: TwoDot
Published: 2021-02-14T00:00:00+00:00

A familiar figure in and around El Paso, New Mexico lawman Pat Garrett was serving as the Sheriff of Doña Ana County when Geronimo Parra was finally brought to El Paso to face trial for the murder of Charles Fusselman. THE NITA STEWART HALEY MEMORIAL LIBRARY, MIDLAND, TEXAS

Not a man to let the death of a comrade go unanswered, Hughes had been eager to get his hands on Parra ever since. As he had received a five-year sentence in 1894, it was expected that Parra would soon be released from custody and Hughes was anxious to secure the suspected killer before that could occur. On October 13, he sought the assistance of El Paso lawman Will Ten Eyck and District Attorney John M. Dean to help him prepare a requisition application to Miguel A. Otero, Territorial Governor of New Mexico. The next day, he submitted his application for requisition to Adjutant General A.P. Wozencraft. “It is not any use to get the Requisition unless the state will pay my expenses after the man as I can’t afford to pay them,” Hughes explained. “I would like very much to get him as Fusselman was a Ranger and a good officer—I think the expense would not be more than $50.00 and perhaps not that much. Geronimo Parra’s time expires about Nov. 9th.”1

Hughes’s request for reimbursement was approved and he was authorized to receive Parra pending an agreement with prison officials and Governor Otero. “The accused was sentenced February 9, 1894, from Las Cruces, to seven years imprisonment, which would make the date of release February 9, 1901,” the New Mexican Review declared. “But by good behavior the prisoner was expected to get out November 9, 1898. However, Geronimo Parra has been behaving himself so badly that Warden Bergmann will keep him in confinement for some time yet.” Though this may have helped buy additional time for Hughes’s efforts, it was because of the extension of Parra’s term that prison officials and Governor Otero were initially reluctant to turn the fugitive over.2

Otero eventually relented and in March of 1899, Hughes traveled to Santa Fe to take Parra back to El Paso to stand trial. As Hughes made the return trip with his prisoner by rail, he was joined by famed New Mexico lawman Pat Garrett, who while Sheriff of Lincoln County in 1881 had killed outlaw Billy the Kid. Garrett was now serving as the Sheriff of Doña Ana County. Interestingly, two men that Garrett was himself hunting, Oliver M. Lee and William Gilliland, were riding on the same train. Both were wanted in connection with the 1896 disappearance and presumed murder of Albert Jennings Fountain and his eight-year-old son. Hughes, who knew Gilliland and Lee, reportedly did not recognize the two fugitives as both had grown beards and Lee had further disguised himself by wearing goggles. They disembarked at Las Cruces, where they surrendered to Judge Frank W. Parker.3

As Parra settled into his cell, he joined four other men held on charges of murder.

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