The Fatal Favor John Denson mistakenly tried to help a relative…

John Denson was a kinsman to both John Wesley Hardin and Jim Miller. And he apparently helped the latter with some of his illegal activities. But that proved to be Denson’s undoing. Miller wanted Barney Riggs (photo) dead and arranged to have Denson and Bill Earhart carry out the hit. They went to a Pecos, Texas saloon where Riggs was subbing as the bartender. He’d gotten word that the pair were planning on killing him. Riggs killed Earhart with one shot, then chased Denson from the premises and shot him in the back of the head as he ran.