After his brother Virgil was maimed in an ambush and Morgan was assassinated by hidden assailants, the men suspected of involvement were provided alibis by fellow Cowboys and released without trial. Wyatt and his brother Warren set out on a vendetta ride to locate and kill those they felt were responsible. Wyatt has been portrayed in a number of films and books as a fearless Western hero. He is often viewed as the central character and hero of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, at least in part because he was the only one who was not wounded or killed. In fact, his brother, Tombstone Marshal and Deputy U.S. Marshal Virgil Earp had considerably more experience with weapons and combat as a Union soldier in the Civil War, and in law enforcement as a sheriff, constable, and marshal. As city marshal, Virgil made the decision to disarm the Cowboys in Tombstone and requested Wyatt's assistance. But because Wyatt outlived Virgil and due to a creative biography, "Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal" published two years after Wyatt's death, Wyatt became famous and the subject of various movies, television shows, biographies and works of fiction.