Born William Thompson in Knottingley, Yorkshire, England, immigrating with his family and older brother to the United States as a child.
Ben Thompson was more stable than his younger brother, having an even temperament, albeit accompanied by a deadly side if need be.
In that instance, Smith, an 18-year-old stable hand, slapped Billy's horse when it tried to nose in on some feed, which enraged Thompson.
Remus Smith was well liked in the area, and some of the county residents hunted for Billy Thompson for the remainder of his lifetime.
His older brother Ben joined him two months later, and the two set themselves up in the saloon, Joe Brennan’s, as house gamblers.
Hearing of the trouble, Sheriff Whitney responded, unarmed, and confronted the Thompsons, imploring them to accompany him for a drink and talk the situation over, to which they agreed.
Despite the shooting being accidental, Ben Thompson forced Billy on a horse and ordered him to flee town, but instead of riding fast, he simply rode slowly through, yelling for anyone who wanted to fight to come get him.
Morco and Officer Ed Hogue ran Neil Cain, a Texas cowboy and friend to the Thompson brothers, out of town at gun point.
Town Marshal Ed Crawford instigated a dispute, then beat one Texas cowboy, Cad Pierce, to death with his pistol during an arrest, after first shooting him in the side, and groups of vigilantes roamed the streets looking to run out of town any Texans they found causing trouble.
While there, he hit a prostitute across the face, fleeing when two city police officers responded, resulting in a foot pursuit in which he again escaped.
Sparks was leading a small Ranger unit that was actually seeking rancher Neal Cain for cattle rustling.
Ben Thompson also notified Aransas County, in the hopes that they would extradite him to stand trial for that murder, rather than being sent to Kansas.
A number of Ben Thompson's allies boarded a train in Corsicana, Texas, and word of this was passed to Ranger Sparks.
Ben Thompson hired local Kansas attorney Robert Gill to represent Billy.
A rumor that Billy Thompson stated after the shooting, "I'd have shot him if he were Jesus Christ", rather than "I'm sorry", was never mentioned, nor did it ever happen.
Although that case was proven to have been accidental, amazingly, he was not held to be extradited to Aransas County, Texas, for the clear-cut murder of Remus Smith, but instead was released.
He is known to have been arrested by lawman Mart Duggan in Leadville, Colorado, in December 1879, for disturbing the peace, serving only one night in jail.
Billy Thompson was arrested, but allowed to remain under guard at the Ogallala House Hotel to heal.
Unfortunately, Ben Thompson did not have access to the amount Tucker wanted, so Bat Masterson eluded the guards and helped Billy escape, with them taking a train south.
After the escape, a Keith County, Nebraska, grand jury indicted Billy for assault with intent to kill.
On October 23, 1882, Texas Ranger Captain George W. Baylor captured Billy for the Remus Smith murder in El Paso, Texas, and turned him over to the El Paso County Sheriff, where he was remanded to the custody of Deputy Frank Manning to be returned to Rockport.
Court captured Thompson in Arkansas, and finally he was returned to stand trial for the Smith murder.
Witnesses were sparse, and facts distorted due to poor records, with all of the lawmen who were serving at the time having long since moved on.
On March 11, 1884, his older brother Ben Thompson was killed in San Antonio, Texas, in what became referred to as the Vaudeville Theater Ambush.
He roamed for a number of years, making his living as a gambler, and is believed to have never held any other employment, passing through Cripple Creek, Colorado, and often spending long periods in Houston and Galveston, Texas.