What are the chances of a man killing five men in three different gunfights in as many states, all in self-defense? Virginia born William Kenneth (Kinnie) Wagner gun-downed a deputy sheriff in Mississippi, two policemen in Virginia and two brothers in Arkansas. He swears every one of those killings was self-defense. That is not surprising. Most killers claim self-defense. It is usually their only way to escape prison, or worse. Did Wagner act in self-defense three different times, or was he a coldblooded killer? Opinions of Kinnie Wagner varied in the days when he was crisscrossing the South leaving dead bodies in his wake.
Many considered Wagner to be a murderer who deserved nothing less than having his neck stretched from the tallest long-leaf pine in South Mississippi. Others considered Kinnie to be an innocent victim of an unjust world. And then, there are the hero worshipers. This group puts Kinnie Wagner in the same category as Jesse James and John Dillinger. They believed he was an outlaw, but because of his notoriety and showmanship, they admired him as a folk hero, and gave him a pass.
The six-foot-two-inch Wagner was raised near the small mountain town of Gate City, Virginia during the early part of the twentieth century. Family life was less than ideal for the mountain kid. His mother died at a young age, and his father remarried. His siblings from his father’s first marriage, the children his father’s new wife brought to the household, and the children born to his father and stepmother created a family so large that his father had a difficult time providing for them. Bread was scarce. Meat was even scarcer. Most of the meat on the Wagner dinner table was wild game, thanks to Kinnie’s expert marksman and hunting skills. Ammunition cost money, and money was hard to come by. Kinnie learned very early to make every shot from his single-shot .22 count. Although his expert marksmanship helped put meat on the table, it also proved to be to a detriment later in his life.
The first time Wagner drew a gun on a man he was only fourteen years old at a mining camp in Virginia where he had gone to visit his sister. His attempt to defend himself with his revolver turned out to be not only embarrassing for him, but also painful as well. When he stepped off the train, he encountered a man who was reputed to be the town bully. The man asked him why he was wearing such a big pistol. The cocky young Wagner surprised the man, when he told him that it was none of his business. When Kinnie saw the man reach in his back pocket, he pulled his pistol and fired---more correctly put, he fired and then pulled his pistol. The problem was he pulled the trigger too soon and the bullet struck him in his ankle. But his blunder did not stop the crowd and the bully from scattering when the gunshot resonated in their ears.
At age sixteen, Kinnie left his mountain home to seek his fortune. In his rambling, he found himself in Clinchport, Virginia where a circus was in town. With two dollars in his pocket, the young and curious Wagner did what most sixteen-year-olds might have done. He decided take in the shows. The kid was enamored by the glamor and excitement of the performers and the music. He asked an old man who worked for the circus who he needed to see about a job. The old man pointed out the boss, who hired Kinnie to drive a mule team and care for the animals. The circus boss promised to pay him thirty-five dollars a month plus room and food. Kinnie jumped at the job. Thirty-five dollars a month seemed like a fortune to the mountain boy who had seen very little money in his life. The room and food along with the big money sounded too good to be true; and it was. His bed turned out to be a fold-dup tarpaulin. His room was wherever he could find a place to stretch out, which was usually under a wagon. The food was as bad as it was scarce, and at the end of the month, his pay was usually short of the thirty five dollars the man had promised. But Kinnie stayed with the job until the circus moved into Leakesville, Mississippi.
To be continued in Dec. 17 issue of The Newton County Appeal.
