The brothers - Bee, Calvin, Dal, George and Bill Dunn - ran a boarding house near Ingalls and a meat market in Pawnee.
On May 2, 1895, when Newcomb and Charley Pierce rode up to the Dunn house to visit with Rose, the brothers shot and killed both outlaws as they dismounted.
Some have speculated that Dunn murdered Doolin; however, official reports from the time discount this, indicating that Thomas actually killed him.
By late that year, people around Pawnee had started complaining that the Dunn brothers were involved in rustling and robbery.
Sheriff Frank Canton - a gunman with a substantial reputation who had previously arrested Bill Dunn for rustling - began investigating the claims.