John Larn

John Larn was a vigilante leader and lawman in Shackleford, Texas in the mid-1870s. But that was a front.  Larn and his buddy John Selman rustled local cattle.  Ranchers began to suspect the two in 1877, forcing Larn to resign as sheriff.

But they continued stealing cattle. Larn was arrested after wounding an area cattleman in 1878.  He was shackled to the floor of the Albany jail to prevent an escape.  Vigilantes came to hang him—but when they found that they couldn’t break his chains, the group shot him to death in the cell.