Since childhood, I have been a fan of old westerns. I enjoyed classics like Bonanza, Gunsmoke and anything with Clint Eastwood, John Wayne or James Stewart. The old westerns were called “Spaghetti Westerns” because they were often filmed in Italy. There are also legendary gunfighters that remain forever in old folklore. 
Whenever historians refer to legendary gunfighters, they will refer to Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and the legendary Jesse James. These were lawless times. In many towns, law and order didn’t exist. People settled their quarrels with hot lead. It wasn’t a surprise for a man to be shot dead at a card table if someone thought he was cheating.
But there is one gunfighter you probably have never heard about. This gunfighter not only shot his victims down in cold blood, he also ate them. This killer became known as the Kentucky cannibal.
Levi Boone Helm was born during the 1820s in Lincoln County, Kentucky, to Joseph and Nancy Wilcox Helm. He came from a large, hardworking family. His family moved to Missouri. From an early age, Helm enjoyed drinking, fighting, and defying authorities. He once rode a horse into a courtroom.
Helm married a woman named Lucinda Browning in 1848. The couple had a daughter. But if anyone thought Helm was cut out for life as a family man, they were wrong. Helm often drank too much, beat his wife and kept his horse in their home. Helm never adapted to being a husband or father to his daughter. Lucinda divorced Helm.
Two years later, Helm and a cousin named Littlebury Shoot planned on traveling to California to find gold. But the plan changed after Shoot changed his mind and didn’t want to go. Helm became enraged and stabbed his cousin to death. He then went alone. Shoot’s brother and some friends pursued Helm. They captured him at an Indian reservation. Although Helm was convicted of murder, he didn’t go to prison. Since he didn’t seem right in his head, a court sentenced him to a mental facility. He eventually escaped and headed to California to find gold. Along the way, he left a trail of bodies. He stayed one step ahead of the law and vigilantes.
Helm joined up with six other men and formed a gang. One night, Helm told his fellow criminals a despicable secret. He told the group that not only had he killed many men, but he also ate them. When asked why he ate people, he said he did so because he refused to starve. And this is when he became known as the Kentucky cannibal.
After engaging in a fight with Indians, the gang retreated into the wilderness. They survived by killing and eating their horses. Although Helm’s six comrades all perished, Helm made it to San Francisco, California. While there, a rancher had befriended Helm, taken him in, and then hid him from authorities. To repay his kindness, Helm killed the rancher and fled to Oregon.
In 1862, after some heavy drinking at a saloon, Helm shot and killed an unarmed man named Dutch Fred. Afterward, he fled and befriended another fugitive, who Helm eventually ate. Authorities captured Helm again. But Helm’s brother “Old Tex” paid off witnesses. And without witnesses, authorities released Helm. He traveled to Texas with his brother. While in Texas, Helm continued killing people.
Helm was apprehended in Montana.
He met his demise after joining up with a gunfighter named Henry Plummer and his gang. The men robbed and murdered people until they were captured. Helm and four gang members were hanged in front of a large crowd. After Helm’s died, he was buried at Boot Hill Cemetery in Virginia City.
Marc is a longtime resident of Clermont County and an avid reader. Contact him through his website at www.themarcabe.com or through Facebook: www.Facebook.com/themarcabe or his Twitter account @themarcabe. Marc also has a podcast called Catch my Killer where he interviews family members seeking justice for their murdered loved ones. You can listen at www.catchmykiller.com.