Talk:Tom Ketchum

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More information about this article... The following comments have been left for this page: the article didnt say anything about him killing clint wingfield and mac rogers in 1899, in camp verde, arizona. i watched a presentation on the history channel, and they left out much more than this article. Mac was a relative of mine, and i have proof of the account. (edit)

Ketchum

[edit] Decapitation

More information about how and why he was decapitated by hanging would be interesting, and probably make it a more informative article.

There's actually an extant picture of his decapitated body lying under the gallows with a bunch of law enforcement people kneeling around it like hunters with a kill. As to how and why, the rope/drop was obviously too long for him. But these things are hard to calculate. You can find out more in the wiki on hanging. SBHarris 02:59, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

Ketchum on the Scaffold Before Hanging, April 26, 1901, Clayton, New Mexico

Sepia-tone photo from a contemporary postcard showing Tom Ketchum's decapitated body. Caption reads "Body of Black Jack after the hanging showing head snapped off."

[edit] Trouser Color?

In the main photograph of the execution, Tom Ketchum has black trousers.

In the Sepia Tone photo they are a pale color.

Looking at the body in the sepia tone there seems to be rather too much 'neck' on the body.

Is it a fake photo perhaps?

My guess is not. Look at the second man holding the body, to photo-right. His left arm-sleeve and hand are very light-color because they are in a patch of sunlight, shining through the gallows. But his other arm-sleeve is dark, showing this is a lighting problem, not a fabric difference. The same printing contrast problem happens to Ketchum's pants, which are mostly in the same patch of sun, along with one gallows pole which also shows up light (so I would guess the dark patches higher on the pants are not blood, but simply shadow-- though you may see dark blood on the ground).

The stump of neck (tissue-look) I actually see is rather small in diameter, and of the right size. I think the rim amound it, is Ketchum's formal dark coat. I don't know what the white things coming out of the front of the neck are-- they may be neck strap muscles or they may simply be the white detachable collar or tie of the white shirt Ketchum was wearing (all formal shirt colars were detachable in those days, and Ketchum is clearly being hanged in formal attire, cravat and all). Not much is visible of the head, which is still in the hood-bag. There is a third photo of Ketchum in one of the links just before the drop, in which he's wearing the hood-bag. Gosh, this is morbid, isn't it? SBHarris 20:23, 31 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] State?

This may be a quibble, but in 1901 New Mexico was not a state, rather a territory. So he was not ever a person hanged in the state for the crime of assault on a train. Wschart 05:45, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

A valid point. Will fix in the text. SBHarris 22:12, 17 April 2007 (UTC)