Colorado's history of dealing severely with young murderers dates back to 1893.

That's when a jury found a soft-cheeked boy guilty of shooting a man three times in the back because "I wanted his pretty watch and gun."

Antone Wood, the son of a dairy farmer, was said to be 11 when he killed Joe Smith, 22, who had stopped to ask the boy directions outside Brighton, where both were hunting rabbits.

It was later established that Antone was 12.

Antone was the youngest person in the nation to be tried for murder with robbery as a motive, according to news accounts at the time and records from the Colorado Territorial Prison Museum in Cañon City.

It took two trials to convict him of second-degree murder. He was sentenced to 25 years.

In 1900, he and three other men escaped from the Colorado State Penitentiary, killing a guard as they fled.

Antone and another prisoner were captured and returned to prison, hidden in a hay wagon to avoid being lynched by a mob of more than 100 people — which is what happened to one of the other captured prisoners.

The case attracted so much attention that Antone's life improved during his years in prison.

A former college professor tutored Antone and found his mathematical abilities to be near-genius. The young inmate also studied the violin.

Two wealthy people — Madge Reynolds, an oilman's wife, and philanthropist Elbert Hubbard — campaigned for Antone's release.

Even his guards argued for his parole, according to the Cañon City Public Library's History Center.

Twelve years after he went to prison, Antone was paroled at the age of 24. Little is known about his life after that.