Arm of the Bandit: The Trial of Frank James

Outlaws Frank and Jesse James eluded capture for sixteen years and became folk heroes. In 1882, after Jesse was back shot and killed by Bob Ford, Frank surrendered and faced trial for murder. But how could Missouri convict a man so popular that the governor almost needed an appointment to visit him in jail? William Wallace had already imprisoned one member of the untouchable James Gang. But now his case rested on the word of a scoundrel-and defied those who would kill to protect Frank James. The defense would paint the Shakespeare-quoting robber as an honorable family man and victim of mistaken identity, endlessly persecuted by the hated railroads. Inside an opera house, the circuslike trial would decide if James senselessly murdered a young stonemason during the 1881 Winston train robbery. But perhaps the larger question was if Missouri was ruled by the arm of the law-or the arm of the bandit....