Connie Smith - The Fugitive (Official Audio) 

I think Marty in his production was going for a "classic folk song" saga here in this rendition like the old Carter Family songs when Sara sang some numbers written first-person in a male perspective and also in later songs like "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" which is often sung by women like Joan Baez though the lyrics clearly suggest the storyteller is male. The storyteller here is an acknowledged criminal and it would be hard for a lady like Connie to be believable in that mode so she's just singing like a vintage folk song which the song quite resembles even though it wasn't written until 1967. Liz Anderson wrote this for Merle and then for her album version she did use "he" but she changed the melody to almost a perky delivery since it does seem a problematic piece for a lady vocalist to pull off even making the narrator female but both Connie and Liz did a fine job since this, one of the ten or so greatest country songs ever in my opinion.