The Desperado Who Surrendered
A Big Bend man, accused of a gruesome triple killing three years prior, walked into the sheriff’s office to clear his name.
Manfred Paine, who shot and killed his father, Thomas Paine, and E. J. Hubbard, twenty-two miles this side of Douglas City, three years ago, has surrendered himself to the sheriff of Douglas County. Paine, although a young man, has been regarded as a most desperate character and has terrorized the community throughout the Big Bend country for several years. His voluntary surrender has created a great sensation. He entered the sheriff's office and frankly introduced himself: 'I surrender myself as your prisoner for the purpose of a trial for the crime of which I am charged.' The public is already familiar with the crime, but the prisoner appeared not like the desperado described by sensational reporters, but like a well-raised country boy. It is now believed by many that another character figured in the crime, and it is hoped Manfred Paine will be honorably acquitted, serving as a reminder of the dangers of circumstantial evidence.
“There is nothing about his appearance to suggest the daring desperado which he has been represented by sensational newspaper reporters; on the contrary, he appeared like a well-raised country boy.”
Public fascination with 'desperado' narratives and the high stakes of criminal trials remains a fixture of American local news. This case highlights how rapidly rural communities in the late 19th century were transformed by rapid settlement and the subsequent rise of sensationalized crime reporting.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.