Oh yeah, for sure. The spectacle and near-'festival' atmosphere around the capture, trial, and execution of notable criminals of the era absolutely lionized the criminal in many cases.
There was also some amount of ghoulish fascination with particularly macabre crimes and criminals as well, but The State was already very close to being the bad guy for the average bloke in that era, so criminals whose acts were relatable, daring, or 'noble' somehow also were turned into backalley heroes via the spectacle of their trial and execution.