Wikipedia:List of hoaxes on Wikipedia/Colin Kennedy

Colin Kennedy was a notorious 19th century criminal in San Francisco, California. An Ohio native, Kennedy left his family to make his name and fortune in the west. However, Kennedy became a well known criminal and committed one of the most notorious multiple-murders of his time.

Early life
Born in Hamilton, Ohio in 1823, Kennedy was the second of five children in an unstable family. His father, Andrew, was an alcoholic and it fell to Colin and his older brother to run the family farm. Kennedy fled west at age of 16 after his father beat him in a drunken rage. Kennedy brought with him only that which he could easily carry. The only item of value that Kennedy brought was his father's prized possession, one of Samuel Colt's first revolvers. Colin reached San Francisco by working as a paid worker on a western-bound convoy.

San Francisco
With the influx of wealth and gold prospectors in the San Francisco area during the California Gold Rush, crime and corruption were rampant. Kennedy quickly sank into a life of violent crime after a few years working construction in the developing city. A regular and heavy drinker, Kennedy earned a reputation as an ill-tempered man and one who was easily goaded to fight. Kennedy had few companions and was known to be a petty thief and a bully. After his death, James Anderson, a miner, discovered one of Kennedy's hide outs and found some $700 worth of missing mining equipment. Kennedy did not stop at theft and quickly made the jump to higher crimes. He gained widespread notoriety for his robbery and murder of John Sutter's brother (Sutter's Mill had been the location of the initial gold find behind the rush).

Sutter Murder & Later Life
What drove Kennedy to commit the crime is still unknown. Sutter was not an easy target for robbery. Other prospectors and businessmen were wealthier than Sutter and many did not guard that wealth nearly as closely as Sutter. However, it is rumored that Sutter called into question Kennedy's sexual prowess and orientation while at a saloon. Whatever the cause, the result was a shockingly brutal crime. Kennedy was seen near the Sutter property on several occasions during the days leading up to the crime. Finally, on April 9, 1853, Kennedy broke into Sutter's home through a back door. Colin stole an estimated $4,000 dollars from the prospector, brutally murdering him and his companions while allegedly raping Sutter's mistress. A bloody pickaxe was found in the chest of one of the late Sutter's companions. A shovel was left outside, most likely used to break down the door. Kennedy also used a revolver, hatchet, and knife to butcher the six men and one woman present that night.

The press quickly labeled him "That Dirtiest Criminal of the Golden State," and the public outcry was overwhelming. The local sheriff and deputies quickly organized search parties and the US Marshals were brought in. Faced with the choice between death at the hands of vengeful miners or hanging in San Francisco, Colin fled into the Rocky Mountains. After a month of searching, the hunt was eventually abandoned.

Kennedy lived as a mountain man in the Rocky Mountains and is rumored to be responsible for as many as thirty murders. He is rumored to have died falling off a cliff in a drunken stupor in 1867. A body was found at the base of a cliff in late 1867. Due to the gruesome nature of the fall, identification of the body was impossible. However, his pistol and several other incriminating items were found in a camp site at the top of the cliff. The body was buried in an unmarked grave near the base of the cliff. That pistol, which was below average in size, the one used in the Sutter murders in 1853 and Kennedy's prized possession, remains in the Museum of the City of San Francisco to this day.