Before the local newspapers reported Pat Garrett shot and killed Billy the Kid in Pete Maxwell's bedroom on July 14, 1881, there were already rumors that Garrett killed the wrong man. A large number of residents in the surrounding country and Fort Sumner viewed the body and confirmed it was Billy. But there were others that came to see the body who weren't as acquainted with Billy. They claimed the man with a beard wasn't Billy, even though he resembled him, he was a Mexican.

The day before Billy was killed, The Santa Fe New Mexican reported that Billy is "lurking about in the neighborhood of Fort Sumner, where he lives with Mexican sheep herders." Two weeks after Billy was killed the Grant County Herald, in Silver City, reported in Billy's obituary, "Since his escape from the Lincoln County jail, [the Kid] has allowed his beard to grow and stained his skin brown to look like a Mexican."

Around midnight, Garrett went to Pete Maxwell's ranch house hoping to find out if Billy was in the area. He left his two deputies Poe and McKinney, who had never seen Billy, outside the entrance to Pete's bedroom. Garrett entered the room and found Pete in bed. The light of the moon exposed some of the bedroom but both men were in the corner shadows. Billy was nearby and had a butcher knife to slice off some of Pete's recently butchered beef. He was surprised when he encountered Garrett's two deputies and spoke to them in Spanish. Billy wasn't wearing a hat, but he was disguised so well, that Garrett stated he didn't recognize the man talking to his deputies. Billy entered Pete's bedroom and soon realized that someone else was with him. Garrett finally recognized Billy by his voice when he asked "Who is it, Pete?" When Billy hesitated to protect himself, Garrett drew his pistol and fired. Whether Billy had a pistol or not is debatable.

Since Billy was so well disguised with brown skin and a beard, even his death photo might support the rumor that Garrett killed the wrong man. We found evidence that there was a death photo taken and Garrett would have been the only one that would not have wanted the photo distributed, even though he killed the right man.

In 1923, Stella Abreu opened her Billy the Kid museum around 12 miles from Fort Sumner. Stella was the daughter of Manuel Abreu and Odila, Pete Maxwell’s sister. When Stella was 13, her mother gave her the furniture and other artifacts that was in Pete Maxwell's bedroom when Billy was killed. After a few decades of displaying the artifacts in different locations, her museum was closed and the items were stored. In 2003, Steve Sederwall with Cold West Investigations was able to track down the stored artifacts. The items included a washstand with two bullet holes from Garrett's second stray shot that went through it, and a workbench in Maxwell's carpenter shop that Billy's body was laid on.

Around 1925, historian Maurice Fulton attended Stella's museum. He took a photograph of some items on display. The photo shows the carpenters workbench, a blanket that covered one of the windows in Pete's bedroom, a chalkboard with written information, and an old rifle musket that wasn't related to Billy's history, but displayed for effect. Also in the room was a small framed picture that hung above the workbench. We enhanced the picture and was able to determine that it was a photo of a persons head. There isn't anyone else that the photo should be of, except Billy. All of Garrett's photos are easily recognizable from a distance and the photo wouldn't just show Garrett's head. The photo shows the lower half of Billy's head is shadowed and the upper half is bright. It looks like Billy's head is shaved. Was a shaved head part of his disguise? Was Billy's photo so unrecognizable that even Fulton didn't know it was him and use the photo in his book, History of the Lincoln County War? Perhaps a photo restoration expert can reveal more of his facial characteristics.

Rumors that Garrett either killed the wrong person or he ambushed Billy instead of taking him alive traveled quickly to Santa Fe. Garrett may have worried that he wouldn't get the $500 reward money. Those concerns likely intensified when he arrived five days later and the acting governor wouldn't pay the reward. Within a few weeks, citizens in several New Mexico cities raised $7,000 in reward money for Garrett. He was finally awarded the $500 bounty when the territorial legislature passed an act to grant him the reward, one year and four days after he killed New Mexico's most wanted man.

Some people were still stating Garrett ambushed Billy. His response to the accusations was to publish his account of the events. Garrett worked with Ash Upson and published his book in April 1882, The Authentic Life Of Billy, The Kid. One of the woodblock plate illustrations in his book depicts Pete Maxwell in his bedroom lunging forward to avoid getting shot in the gunfight between Billy and Garrett.

Charles Siringo claimed that Mrs. Charlie Bowdre helped Billy hide out at her home in Fort Sumner after he had killed his two guards and escaped. El Chavito (The Kid) had many supporters throughout the Mexican farms and communities. He enjoyed their company, culture, friendship, and flirting with their daughters. Billy wouldn't leave the country, he was at home with his new mexican family. They sheltered and fed him, at times feared him, but accepted him as one of their own.

We have very strong additional evidence that Billy's death photo was taken and we will submit the undisputable proof in a future documentary.

We will use a biometrics facial analysis on all of the photos we research whether the photos have provenance or not. The analysis is added support to the research, which is not provenance to their identity. Facial matches are easily found, but without the positive research or provenance to support a photo, the analysis is meaningless.

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