Well, there were more than a few murderesses too, but I think most everyone had a story that went like this:

He had it comin'
He had it comin'
He only had himself to blame
If you'd've been there
If you'd've seen it
I think that you would have done the same


I suspect that these days it's just that people are less likely to accept this as an excuse. Look at all of those John Wayne movies, for example. And what eras does 'old timey' include anyway?