Two men fought a duel because one had an affair with the other man's wife. When was this? Perhaps the 1800s, you might think.
Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton fought their famous duel in 1804 in New Jersey. Hamilton was mortally wounded.
This duel, however, wasn't in the 1800s or earlier. It was only 50 years ago. Two men decided to settle their differences by standing back-to-back with pistols in hand, pacing off, turning and shooting at each other.
Is there any way this ends well?
From the Arizona Daily Star, Monday, February 26, 1968:
One Seriously Wounded
Tucsonans Settle Dispute In Duel
By JOHN RAWLINSON
A gun duel between two men north of Thornydale Rd. early yesterday resulted in one man being critically wounded and the arrest of the other on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, Sheriff Walden Burr said.
Burr said Kenneth Lee Darris, 28, of 3232 W. Tres Nogales Hwy., was shot in the abdomen by Hugh L. Moose, 39, of Rt. 1, Box 830, Tucson. The wounded Darris was discovered by Arizona Highway Patrolman Clint Benson, who had stopped Darris’s car at Congress St. and the Freeway.
Darris was lying in the back seat and was accompanied by Moose and Darris’s wife, Burr said. Darris was rushed to St. Mary’s hospital and the car was searched and found to contain two weapons, lying on the rear floorboard.
One was a .38 caliber pistol that contained four expended cartridges and two live shells. The other was a loaded high powered rifle.
The bullet entered the lower right side of Darris’s abdomen and came out through the ribs on his left side. He was in critical condition at St. Mary’s last night.
The duel apparently stemmed from an argument between Moose and Darris over Moose’s wife Edith, Burr said. The two had had heated words in the past and a close friend of both families said “bad blood” had existed between them for some time, Burr said.
The duel apparently took place in a desert area north of Thornydale Rd.
Pima County Attorney William Schafer said, “This is the first case I can recall of a gun duel.”
Arizona Revised Statute 13-381 defines a duel as “a combat with deadly weapons between two or more persons by previous agreement,” and lists it as a misdemeanor.
Moose was being held in Pima County jail last night on $2,000 bond.
So there was a "winner" and a "loser," and the loser was in critical condition.
From the Star, Tuesday, February 27, 1968:
Tucsonan Shot During Gun Duel Over Woman Remains In Critical Condition At Hospital
The victim of a gun duel early Sunday remained in critical condition at St. Mary’s hospital yesterday with bullet wounds in the side and stomach.
Kenneth Lee Darris, 28, of 3232 W. Tres Nogales Hwy., was shot during a gun duel with Hugh L. Moose, 39, of Rt. 1 Box 830, according to sheriff’s deputies.
Officers said the two men went to a northwest desert area to settle an argument over Moose’s wife.
Moose, who was not injured, was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and was released on $2,000 bond until his arraignment this morning.
It looks like the winner may lose as well.
