Bill Longley, cold-blooded killer of many men, had a brutal end. On October 11, 1878 he was hanged for murder in Giddings, TX. But the executioners botched it.
The gallows was shaky to begin with and Longley feared the steps would collapse as he walked to the rope. When the trap door was eventually sprung, the outlaw dropped—until his feet hit the ground. Lawmen then hauled him up and let him slowly strangle to death.
Myths and legends claim that Bill Longley’s hanging was faked and
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