Sunday, Aug 03, 2014

William Burroughs must have carried around a magic charm. In 1951, he and his wife were living in Mexico. One evening, at a party at their home, Burroughs, a well known zonked-out heroin addict decided to entertain his guests with a modified version of a William Tell routine. He got his wife Joan (a constantly jittering Benzedrine addict) to balance a highball glass on her head while he took aim with his .38 caliber pistol. Not a great shot at the best of times, and of course seriously loaded, he missed -- badly -- and blew her brains out, killing her instantly. He lucked out though -- certainly more than she did. Lengthy Mexican legal proceedings followed, along with some hefty bribes, and he was given a two-year suspended sentence, convicted of homicide in absentia, and was allowed to leave the country. And apparently, none of his party guests sent him so much as a thank-you note.