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The Lincoln County War: When Billy the Kid Became a Legend · Inside The Criminal Mind

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Well, we're heading to the Wild West, and how would
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: an FBI profile tackle Billy the Kid? July 14, 1881,
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Sheriff Pat Garrett shot and killed one of the most
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: notorious outlaws in American history. Billy the Kid was 21
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: years old, but his reputation was extraordinary. Newspapers portrayed him
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: as a cold-blooded gunfighter who supposedly killed 21 men, one
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: for every year of his life, but historical evidence suggests
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: that number was greatly exaggerated. How would a modern FBI
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: behavior analyst examine Billy's criminal history? Would the evidence suggest psychopathy?
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: Let's find out what we find. Born Henry McCarty, Billy
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: experienced considerable instability during adolescence. His mother died when he
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: was approximately 14, leaving him without a stable parental figure.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: He subsequently became involved in theft, criminal associates, and increasingly
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  Speaker 1: dangerous situations. Developmental criminology suggests that early instability weakens social
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: division and association with delinquent peers can increase the likelihood
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: of criminal behavior. However, these are risk factors, not causes.
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: Billy's history raises the possibility that criminal groups provided something
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: he lacked elsewhere. Identity, protection, and belonging. And those things matter.
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: In 1878, Billy was employed by John Tunstall, a rancher
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  Speaker 1: and a businessman involved in escalating commercial rivalry In Lincoln County,
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  Speaker 1: New Mexico, Tunstall reportedly treated Billy with kindness and respect.
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: When Tunstall was murdered, Billy joined the regulators, an armed
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: group seeking revenge and justice. From a behavioral perspective, this
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: relationship with Tunstall was significant. Social learning theory proposes that
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: behavior develops through observation, reinforcement, and identification. And one of
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  Speaker 1: the things we learned is that Tunstall could have been
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: a surrogate parent to Billy. In addition, within the regulators,
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: violence can be reinforced through loyalty and group approval and
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: the belief that retaliation was justified. That could be another
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: social learning theory component. Billy's participation in the Lincoln County
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: War suggests that his aggression cannot be understood independently of
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: the social environment surrounding him. An important component of behavior
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: analysis involves examining how offenders select victims. Billy's documented violence
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: was largely associated with armed disputes and rival factions and
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: law enforcement. This pattern differs substantially from predatory serial homicide.
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: There's no reliable evidence that Billy systematically selected vulnerable strangers
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: for psychological gratification. Instead, much of his violence appears instrumental,
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  Speaker 1: meaning it served an immediate objective, such as retaliation, survival,
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  Speaker 1: or escape. Facing execution, Billy killed two deputies escaping a courthouse.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: The killings were deliberate acts of lethal violence, but their
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  Speaker 1: apparent purpose was to secure freedom. This does not minimize
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: the seriousness of his crime, but it helps distinguish possible motivations. So,
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: we asked earlier, was Billy the Kid a psychopath? Well,
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: popular accounts frequently describe Billy as charming, sociable, and capable
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: of forming close relationships. But he was also willing to
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: violate laws and use deadly force. Could these characteristics indicate psychopathy?
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: Not necessarily. Psychopathy involves a broader constellation of interpersonal, emotional,
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: and behavioral characteristics, including callousness, manipulation. Violence alone does not
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: establish psychopathy, nor does charm. Somebody would need substantially more
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: reliable information before drawing conclusions about Billy's personality structure. Interestingly,
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: his reported loyalty toward Tunstall and fellow regulators complicates the
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: simplistic portrayal of an emotionally detached killer. However, loyalty to
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: a particular group does not automatically rule out psychopathy either.
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: An FBI-style behavioral assessment might characterize Billy the Kid as
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: a young offender displaying significant risk-taking, repeated criminal behavior, and
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: strong identification with a violent peer group. His developmental instability
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: and involvement in the Lincoln County War may have contributed
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: to his criminal trajectory, but we cannot determine whether those
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: circumstances caused his violence. The historical evidence is too incomplete
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: to Billy the Kid was dangerous. His actions resulted in
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: real deaths. Yet his profile is considerably more complex than
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: the popular image of a remorseless gunfighter. That's Hollywood for you.
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: And perhaps that is the most revealing part of this investigation.
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: Billy the Kid did not become famous simply because he killed.
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: He became famous because his life embodied a uniquely American
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  Speaker 1: story about loyalty, rebellion, and violence. The question is whether
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: history remembers the man who actually lived or the legend
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: that was created.