#AmericanHeroesChannel - #Gunslingers - Pious #JimMiller

The Gunslingers series on the American Heroes Channel is rather enjoyable and entertaining to watch. This particular episode (Season 2, Episode 6) titled "Deacon Jim Miller - The Pious Assassin" revealed some interesting facts that I hadn't found before and will share here.

Original air date: August 23, 2015

Series Description:
The 19th century territory west of the Mississippi was a rough place, swarming with outcasts, murderers, thieves and bounty hunters. From bank-robbing outlaw Butch Cassidy and hard-nosed enforcer Seth Bullock, to infamous Dodge City sheriff Bat Masterson and lone-ranger Bass Reeves, the unforgivable Wild West kicks into high gear in this season of Gunslingers.

Episode Description:
His neighbors saw a devout family man. The last thing his victims saw was a shotgun aimed at their heads. If there's an outlaw who was born to kill it's DEACON JIM MILLER – the Bible-thumping psycho-killer.

Highlights:

• Jim Miller, also known as "Killer Jim" killed 51 men.
• He acted like a mobster - scared or paid off witnesses (or had them killed).
• Although he was a murderer, he didn't drink or use foul language and he attended regular church services. This clean appearance gave him the nickname "Pious Jim Miller".
• His first crime was murdering his grandparents at 8 years old. He was never charged with the crime.
• July 30, 1884 - he killed his sister Georgia's husband, John Coop, during church service.
• In 1891, Jim Miller became deputy of Pecos; the sheriff Bud Frazer eventually stripped him of his badge after Jim murdered a Mexican prisoner.
• Jim plots to kill Bud Frazer to get him out of the way, but Bud's friend overhears the plot and it is foiled. Eventually, Bud loses it and starts shooting Jim at close range but Jim was protected by a steel plate. Bud was fired.
• Miller was appointed to town marshal (a pretty important position similar to today's police chief).
• Eventually, Miller becomes a killer-for-hire. His payment starts at $50 and eventually grows to $2000 a job.
• Jim's downfall started when he is hired by a group of corrupt cattlemen in Oklahoma to kill a cattleman and former Deputy U.S. Marshal named Gus Bobbitt. Gus's wife spots Jim and he is eventually tracked down and thrown in jail. Now, Jim has a history of getting acquitted from his crimes based on technicalities or lack of witnesses, so this time the angry locals take matters into their own hands and hang Jim and his gang.

You might find this episode on the American Heroes Channel or check your local library or you can view it through Streaming: