Mexico by Burroughs, Vollmer, or both. (Although their marriage was a common-law marriage, in Mexico it was considered legal.) However, the application was later withdrawn by their Mexican attorney. The divorce was likely required due to Burroughs' stated desire to take custody of their son upon dissolution. Death On September 6, 1951, shortly after his return from holiday in Ecuador with a boyfriend, Burroughs shot Vollmer in the head, allegedly while trying to shoot a glass he had asked her to balance on her head during a drunken William Tell act the couple were performing at a drinking party held at a friend's apartment in Mexico City. Vollmer died several hours later at the age of 28. Numerous newspapers incorrectly reported her age as 27. Burroughs said he had 8–10 drinks and could not remember much of that night, while witnesses claimed they had two small glasses. The couple's four-year-old son, William Burroughs Jr., was in the room when the incident occurred, as were the party's host John Healey, and American students Edwin John Woods and Lewis Marker, both residents of the apartment building where the shooting occurred. Burroughs gave different accounts of the shooting, denying his original William Tell story after intervention by his attorney, Bernabé Jurado. Vollmer's parents heard news of their daughter's death from friends while on holiday in Montreal. Her father told the Albany Times Union "I have no reason to believe the shooting was otherwise than accidental." Burroughs' brother Mortimer arrived from St. Louis to help his brother, providing thousands of dollars for legal costs to Jurado. Jurado used part of the money to bribe the judge, ballistics experts, and others involved in the case. Burroughs was held on murder charges for thirteen days before being released on bail. Burroughs claimed that he dropped the gun and it misfired, then changed his account again to say that he accidentally misfired the gun while trying to sell the weapon to an acquaintance, an account which was corroborated by two witnesses who had been coached by Jurado. Burroughs testified that he had not known that the gun was loaded because he had not used it in three months, and that while he had been checking the gun, the carriage had slipped and it had misfired at Vollmer. As a result, he was charged with criminal negligence, which carried a maximum sentence of five years. For a year,