I'd say John Hardy, but I hasten to add that I'm not talking about Burl Ives' rather trivialized version. I mean the full version that talks about the crap game at the Darksey Bar and his shooting the other player; how he's urged to hurry to get away, but he says "when I leave it'll be at a walk; nobody ever said I ran"; how he hid out but was apprehended when he tried to catch a train; how he was converted and was executed after having been saved. A very satisfying song, and I get the impression it's fairly accurate to the actual events.

Dave Oesterreich