Scott Cooley

Whether or not Williamson was guilty of the charge against him, he had friends who bitterly resented the deputy sheriff's refusal to allow the murdered man a chance for his life, and his death caused a great deal of excitement and bitter comment in the county.

A man named Scott Cooley, an ex-ranger of Captain Perry's Company D, was a particular friend of Williamson and his family.

Cooley had quit the ranger service at the time of his friend's murder and was cultivating a farm near Menardville.

He had worked for the dead man and had made two trips up the trail with him.

While working with the murdered cattleman, Cooley contracted a bad case of typhoid fever and had been nursed back to health by Mrs. Williamson's own hands.

When the news of Tim Williamson's murder reached Scott Cooley, he was much incensed and vowed vengeance against the murderers of his friend.

friend.He left his farm at once and, saddling his pony, rode into the town of Mason heavily armed.

He had worked out a careful plan of his own and proceeded to put it into execution immediately on his arrival.

That's when things got weird.

[dramatic music] One of Williamson's friends, a one-time Texas Ranger named Scott Cooley, arrived in town, vowing to avenge his death.

Cooley is one of the Old West's scarier figures.

Raised on the Comanche frontier at its worst, he had grown up devoting as much time and energy to fighting, killing, and scalping Native Americans as my kids did to Nintendo.

As Worley climbed out, according to a newspaper account, Cooley suddenly asked, "Why did you kill Williamson?" Worley replied calmly, "Because I had to." Cooley then said, quote, "For the same reason I am killing you," at which point he shot Worley in the head.

He then proceeded to shoot the corpse six times, stab it four more times, and scalp it.

I'm just spitballing here, but I think it's possible Scott Cooley had issues.

A month later, he followed up, shooting and killing a man named Jim Chaney in his kitchen.