Tom was the murder of a neighbor, John N. "Jap" Powers, in Tom Green County, Texas, on December 12, 1895. However, information at the Sutton Historical Society in Texas, says that Will Carver and Sam Ketchum were the ones actually accused of killing Powers in Knickerbocker, Texas. Fearing the law, they closed their joint saloon and gambling venture in San Angelo, and hit the outlaw trail. Within six months, Mrs. Powers and her lover J. E. Wright were arrested for the murder, but it was too late for Carver and the Ketchums.

By late 1895, outlaw Kid Curry and his brother Lonnie Curry were riding with Black Jack's gang. However, in early 1896, a dispute over their take in a robbery prompted the Currys to leave the gang.

It is alleged that Ketchum was involved in the Feb 1, 1896 disappearances and murders of Albert Jennings Fountain and his son Henry Fountain of Las Cruces, New Mexico. In early June of 1896, after working for the famed Bell Ranch, NM, Tom and Sam Ketchum, and maybe others robbed a store and post office at Liberty, New Mexico, northwest of present-day Tucumcari. According to contemporary histories, the two Ketchums arrived in Liberty on June 12. They purchased a few supplies in town. Later in the evening a thunderstorm came up so the two men returned to the store of Morris and Levi Herzstein where they were invited to take shelter.

Arriving in the morning to open the store on June 13, 1896, Levi Herzstein found that both the store and post office had been robbed. After gathering a posse Herzstein set out on the outlaws' trail. The posse, made up of four men, took the two outlaws by surprise in the Plaza Largo arroyo where a shoot-out occurred. It was only a matter of seconds before Levi Herzstein and Hermenejildo Gallegos lay dead in the arroyo. After seeing his two compadres fall to the ground in a midst of gunfire, Anastacio Borgue shifted his horse and rode out of the arroyo. Placido Gurule, the fourth member of the posse gave his account of the shooting later: In the exchange of

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EarthlyRealm.com has classified Tom Ketchum as a Criminal