14. The Deadly Psychopath Who Took on the Most Famous Lawman of the Old West
Old West killer Frank Stilwell (1856 – 1882) was a psychopath who made a living as both an outlaw and as a lawman. He was once served tea instead of coffee by a cook in Arizona and shot him dead to express his displeasure. In 1879, he staked a claim and worked a mine in Mojave, Arizona, but got into an argument with another miner over claim-jumping. To end the argument, Stilwell grabbed a rock and smashed in his rival’s face until he was dead. He was arrested for murder, but the charges were eventually dropped for lack of evidence.
In 1881, Stilwell was hired as a Cochise County sheriff’s deputy, but was fired for “accounting irregularities”. Soon thereafter, he robbed a stagecoach near Tombstone, Arizona, and was tracked down and arrested by lawmen Wyatt and Virgil Earp. Stilwell produced alibi witnesses, and the charges were dropped for lack of evidence. The Earps, in their capacity as US Marshalls, then charged Stillwell with the federal crime of interference with a mail carrier. It created a perception that Stillwell was being persecuted, and led to the assassination of Wyatt’s brother, Morgan Earp.
