Shannon Bell [? - 1874]

Individual, Bell_Shannon

Lifetime

d. 1874

About

Shannon Wilson Bell along with  six other prospectors including Alfred Packer got lost in the San Juan Mountains on their way to Breckenridge CO (from Provo, UT). In Packer's confession, he claimed "Bell shot "California" with Swan's gun and I killed Bell. Shot him. I covered up the remains and took a large piece along. Then traveled fourteen days into the agency. Bell wanted to kill me with his rifle—struck a tree and broke his gun."
According to David Bailey, "Exhaustive investigation into the pistol's background turned up documents from the time of the trial: "A Civil War veteran that visited the crime scene stated that Shannon Bell had been shot twice and the other victims were killed with a hatchet. Upon careful study of Bell, he noticed a severe bullet wound to the pelvic area and that Bell's wallet had a bullet hole through it." This seems to corroborate Packer's claim that Bell had killed the other victims and that Packer shot Bell in self-defense."

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