KEARNEY, Mo. (AP) _ An explosion that killed Jesse James’ half-brother and maimed his mother was part of a plot by security men to kill the outlaw, a new film alleges. For a century, the blast had been considered an accident.
The documentary, ″The Life and Death of Jesse James,″ blames the Jan. 26, 1875, bombing on officers of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, whom James’ gang had eluded for years.
Historians say James wasn’t around when the explosion ripped through his family’s log farmhouse. Eight-year-old Archie Samuel was killed and Zerelda Samuel had to have part of her right arm amputated.
