In early 1881, about the time when tensions between the Earps and the Clantons reached the boiling point, King left Tombstone.
The vigilance committee held a mock trial at the Grant Hotel and found both men guilty of rustling and for being a "general nuisance".
Prior to the hanging, King asked for a glass of water, stating "My throat is sore after talking so much to save my life".
The actor Luke Halpin offers a sympathetic portrayal of Sandy King as the youngest member of the Curly Bill Brocius gang in the 1968 episode "A Mule ... Like the Army's Mule" of the syndicated television series Death Valley Days, hosted by Robert Taylor.
Robert Yuro plays Curly Bill, and Sam Melville was cast as Army Lt. Jason Beal, who befriended King.