John Denson was one of the Clements family, cousins to John Wesley Hardin and an in-
law of Jim Miller. John built up his own reputation as a tough guy over the years. But
then he tried to do a favor for Miller.
Killin’ Jim wanted Barney Riggs for dead and asked Denson and Bill Earhart to do the
job. They tracked him to a bar in Pecos, TX, where he was handling drinks. Riggs—a
noted gunfighter–was ready for the two—and killed both of them.
The legend: an orphaned “Killin” Jim Miller murdered his grandparents when he was a small…
Gunman Barney Riggs (photo, seated center) was tending bar in Pecos, TX in October 1896…
A walking contradiction, Miller is also known as Deacon Jim Miller because he was …
Mark Boardman is the features editor for True West Magazine as well as the editor of The Tombstone Epitaph. He also serves as pastor for Poplar Grove United Methodist Church in Indiana.