Why does Sherlock think Billy Kincaid is a good man?

In The Sign of Three Sherlock said Billy Kincaid the best man he ever knew. Following was his quote about Billy

Billy Kincaid, the Camden Garrotter, best man I ever knew. Vast contributions to charity, never disclosed. Personally managed to save three hospitals from closure and ran the best and safest children's homes in north England. Yes, every now and again there'd be some garrotings, but stacking up the lives saved against the garrotings, on balance I'd say he...

Now I find out that Billy Kincaid is a villain in comics. Now I know creators of Sherlock do not throw any dialogue without any reference.

So is there any connection with comic villain or it's another character from London History or any of original Sherlock Holmes character?

Best Answer

There is no "Billy Kincaid" on the Baker Street wiki, nor any Kincaids at all. The comic villain you're referring to is from Spawn comics. Not a likely connection. And searching all forms of Garrot on Baker Street only returns:

He is a harmless enough fellow, Parker by name, a garroter by trade, and a remarkable performer upon the Jew's harp.

from The Adventure of the Empty House.

Reading the quote below again:

Billy Kincaid, the Camden Garrotter[sic], best man I ever knew. Vast contributions to charity, never disclosed. Personally managed to save three hospitals from closure and ran the best and safest children's homes in north England. Yes, every now and again there'd be some garrotings, but stacking up the lives saved against the garrotings, on balance I'd say he...

I'd say this sounds like exactly the kind of thing Sherlock would think and say, not realizing that to non-highly-functioning-sociopaths it may (and does) sound completely horrible. It's character-development on-the-fly. Him saying this tells you quite a bit about his personality and his ideas of good / evil in only a couple odd sentences. Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat are clever show-runners and often say more than appears at first glance.