Death of a Sheriff – Murder and Conspiracy in the Old West

This is a true story, though it may sound like a classic Western tale. I know it’s true because it’s about my great grand-uncle, a man named John Doherty.

John Doherty was born in Donegal in 1851, but he and his brothers James and Joe headed across the Atlantic in the middle of the 19th century, to a town called Mora in what is now the state of New Mexico. They had a relative in the town named Thomas, who owned a large general store. The brothers were industrious workers, and found a good living for themselves out on the frontier – James being described as a “wealthy ranchero” in newspapers from the period.

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