On December 14, 1868, New Mexico Supreme Court Justice John P. Slough responds to Legislative Council censure from Col. William L. Rynerson, who was a member of the legislative assembly from Doña Ana County. Among the slurring remarks made, he noted that Rynerson was "a thief of the army, a thief out of the army, a coward and a S.O.B." When this was reported to Rynerson on December 15, 1868 he proceeded to The Exchange Hotel in Santa Fe, where he found the Chief Justice and demanded a retraction.
Instead of giving him any satisfaction, Slough drew his derringer. At this same instant, Col. Rynerson drew his own weapon, firing and killing Slough instantly. A coroner's jury exonerated Rynerson and later the district court acquitted him. He went on to become a nominee of a faction of the Republican Party for the delagateship in Congress but was defeated. He received the appointment of the district attorney for his district several times and was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1889. He died at Las Cruces on July 4, 1893.
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15
1868
John P. Slough
When a US Army colonel shoots the New Mexico Supreme Court Justice in a Santa Fe hotel over name-calling, is it murder?