Today –April 28th- is the 123rd anniversary of Billy the Kid’s spectacular escape from the Lincoln Courthouse. There are a lot of different opinions/versions on how Billy the Kid pulled it off; did he over power Bell after knocking him senseless with his handcuffs, or did he get a gun hidden for him in the outhouse, or did he snatch Bell's gun while they were playing cards, or did he get ahead of Bell going up the stairs and broke into the armory before Bell could reach him (that one I highly doubt)? Anyways, below is my outlook about it from my Billy the Kid Biography:

About a week after the Kid's arrival, Garrett had left Lincoln to collect taxes, leaving his two guards in charge. On April 28, at noon, with only two lawmen in the whole town, the Kid saw his golden opportunity. He knew it was Olinger’s turn to take the other prisoners, who were also confined at the courthouse, across the street for lunch at the Wortley Hotel (the Kid ate his meals in his room), which meant only Bell would be at the courthouse to guard him. The Kid knew, out of his two guards, it would be best to make his move on Bell who was easy-going and not on a power trip as Olinger was. As soon as Olinger was long gone with the other prisoners and eating his meal, the Kid then made his move. The only time the Kid was allowed to leave the room was for visits to the privy, so he asked Bell to take him outside.

What happened next is a subject for debate; one version, which seems the more popular, is that the Kid retrieved a gun that was hidden in the privy by a friend.  As he entered the courthouse and climbed the stairs and reached the top, he turned around with the gun drawn and told Bell to surrender. Bell panicked and spun around to run down the stairs leaving the Kid with no choice but to shoot him.

The next version, which I find the most logical, comes from the Kid himself. After his escape, the Kid told his friend, John Meadows, whom he visited right after he left town a free man, that he slipped his small hand out of one of the cuffs, whacked Bell over the head and jerked Bell’s revolver out of the holster and told him to throw up his hands. But instead, Bell turned and ran down the stairs and the Kid shot him. This then explains the two gashes found on Bell’s head, the scuffling sound which was heard from the groundskeeper, Gottfried Gauss, who was standing outside by the door and caught the dying Bell as he rushed into his arms, and lastly, it explains why Bell just ran instead of pulling out his own gun and shooting as he fled. After all, Bell was a veteran lawman, and couldn’t have been that timid (or stupid).

At the restaurant, Olinger heard the shots fired and darted outside. As he rounded the gate into the yard of the courthouse, he heard a familiar voice, “Hello Bob.” he looked up and saw the Kid at the window with his own shotgun pointing right at him. At that moment, the startled groundskeeper came running from behind the building, saw Olinger and yelled out, “The Kid killed Bell!” Olinger then replied, “Yes, and he’s killed me too.” The Kid then let Olinger have it with both barrels, and his tormentor and killer of his friend John Jones, fell dead.

Next, he had Gauss toss him up a small pick that was lying on the ground, and told him to saddle a horse. The townspeople made no move to interfere as the Kid took his sweet time in leaving. After using the pick to free only one leg from the shackles, the Kid went out on the balcony and saw that a small crowd had gathered and was watching from from across the street; a witness’s statement of what the Kid said would verify how he killed Bell:

“He stood on the upper porch in front of the building and talked with the people who were in Wortley’s, but he would not let anyone come towards him. He told the people that he did not want to kill Bell, but as he ran, he had to. He said he grabbed Bell’s revolver and told him to hold up his hands and surrender; that Bell decided to run and he had to kill him. He declared he was ‘standing pat’ against the world; and while he did not wish to kill anybody, if anybody interfered with his attempt to escape, he would kill him.”

After arming himself with revolvers and a rifle, he went down the stairs and out the back door. As he passed the body of Bell, Gauss heard him say, “I’m sorry I had to kill you, but couldn’t help it.” As the Kid went around the building to the gate, with Gauss probably following behind leading a saddled horse, the Kid came to the blood-soaked body of Olinger. Showing no remorse as he had showen for Bell, he kicked the corpse and said “You’re not going to round me up again!”

The Kid mounted the horse with some difficulty on account of his leg irons that were dangling from one leg and rode off. The townsmen made no move to stop him, though they could have easily mobbed or shot him to death, but instead they stood back and allowed him to escape. It wasn't because they were “paralyzed with fear” as Garrett claimed, but more likely, it was out of sympathy and understanding of Billy the Kid's predicament.