The Overconfident Attorney

Will McLaury thought he had the Earps and Holliday nailed, red-handed.

Attorney Will McLaury did what he could to avenge his two brothers, both gunned down at the OK Corral gunfight. But it backfired. He joined the legal team prosecuting the Earps and Holliday in the fall of 1881, but he pressed too hard for a murder charge that would have hanged the defendants. The evidence wasn’t that strong. Besides, the opposing counsel—Tom Fitch—used McLaury’s overconfidence to the defense advantage. All three men were set free after the preliminary hearing.