(CNN) -- Billy the Kid is dead and probably doesn't care, but a pardon for the cold-blooded killer may be in the offing. Gov. Bill Richardson, called a "Billy the Kid buff," is looking at an old promise by another governor, and not the Kid's reputation, in deciding whether to issue a posthumous pardon, a spokeswoman said Thursday. No matter that Billy the Kid has been in the ground since 1881. That hasn't dimmed interest in the cattle-rustling outlaw. Tourists, especially from Europe, are fascinated with Billy the Kid, born Henry McCarty, but also known as William H. Bonney and Henry Antrim. He died at the hands of Sheriff Pat Garrett when he was only 21.
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New Mexico governor considers pardoning Billy the Kid
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Descendants of the sheriff who killed Billy ask him not to do so
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Pat Garrett's family says Billy was a murderer not worthy of pardon
Pat Garrett
Pat Garrett
@placeholder himself was gunned down in 1908 at age 57.
Bill Richardson
@placeholder "agrees with the heart of the petition," but is asking his legal department to look at it, Ray-Garcia said.
Pat Garrett
Pat Garrett
The investigation cited probable cause for allegations that @placeholder killed an innocent victim instead of Bonney and that person is buried in the outlaw's grave, the Garretts said.
Bill Richardson
Ray-Garcia said @placeholder, who leaves office in five months, had nothing to do with the probable cause claims.