Today is Friday, August 19th, 2022.

On this day in 1895, John Wesley Hardin, a notorious Wild West outlaw,

was shot and killed by an off-duty cop.

Welcome to Today in True Crime, a Spotify original from Parcast.

Due to the graphic nature of these crimes, listener discretion is advised.

This episode includes discussions of murder.

We advise extreme caution for children under 13.

Today we're covering the murder of John Wesley Hardin and the complicated legacy the outlaw left behind.

Now let's go back to El Paso, Texas on August 19, 1895.

Thank you. John Selman Sr. Entered the Acme Saloon and scanned the room.

All around him, drunk men and women were taking shots, singing and playing cards.

He wasn't interested in any of that.

He was waiting for someone. He sat down at the bar with his cowboy hat, pulled low over his face.

That's when he heard a loud, familiar voice coming from a table opposite the bar.

There, John Wesley Hardin sat shooting dice with a group of men. The infamous outlaw

was rumored to have killed as many as 40 men before settling in El Paso. But that wasn't why

Selman was looking for him. Earlier that day, the 42-year-old gunslinger was said to have threatened

Selman's son. John Selman, Jr., who was also a police

officer, arrested Hardin's girlfriend for carrying a pistol. In response, Hardin went around telling

people he was going to kill the young man. It was a threat his father didn't take lightly.

Selman got up and sauntered toward Hardin. The outlaw was

so immersed in his game that he didn't notice the elder Salman standing behind him. Suddenly there was

...