BTK's Death

[Sam Fraser]

Does anyone know the source for the version that Garrett, and Poe went into the bedroom of Paulita Maxwell, tied and gagged her, and when Billy came by later that night, Garrett shot him from concealment? Could the real question not be if Garrett killed the Kid, but how? Could the stench of cover-up, rumors, and innuendos surrounding the events of July 14 not stem from the dead man's identity, but from the manner in which he met his death? To read the accepted account (either Garrett's or Poe's), one cannot deny the quirky coincidences abounding, the largest being the wanted man just happening to bumble into Garrett's lap and set himself up for the kill. Could the story McKinney allegedly related to miner Grey have some semblance of truth, in that Garrett and his deputies set some form of a deliberate trap for Billy, something so dastardly as to only constitute as murder and not a lawful killing? Is this the basis for the conspiracy theories, that Garrett's and Poe's versions are indeed rehearsed fabrications, but fabricated for the wrong reasons?

[kerry]

John Poe would not have agreed to such a despicable trap and Pat Garrett who had been a resident of Fort Sumner-would know to treat the Maxwells in such a way would be fatal...Poe was working for the Canadian River Cattlemen and his own information gleaned from White Oaks led him to believe BTK was in the Fort...he spent the day of the 14 July 1881 undercover in Fort Sumner looking for any information about BTK - near midnight they went to see Maxwell (who was ill?) so Garrett could confirm for Poe that Billy was not in Fort Sumner -if they knew their man was there and were going to set a trap -why was Poe searching for info. during the day and raising suspicions? (which he apparently did)

[MissyS]

Kip McKinney was said to have told several versions of that night and that was one version he supposedly told. I wonder if it may be possible that Garrett had intentions at first to ambush Billy by possibly tying up a lady in her room and waiting for Billy to visit her, but when Garrett got to her room he was surprised to find Pete sick and laying in the bed and that could have threw a wrench in the plans? I wonder if it's also possible the lady was in the room taking care of Pete as he was ill, and overheard Garrett talking to Pete about Billy?, she may have left the room to run to warn Billy and since there was more than one way into the building Billy managed to slip past her another way before she was able to warn him? or she did find him and warn him and Billy Barlow walked in to speak to Pete and was mistaken for the Kid instead? Garrett realizing the lady went to tell Billy of his presence in Pete's room assumed Billy would come there and shoot him so he shot the man that entered believing it was Billy? I did read somewhere that Pete was ill that night, but I don't remember where I read it? The general stories that Billy was visiting a possible married woman at midnight, and also having someone cook for him at midnight does seem a little unlikely due to the late hour? So I often wondered if that part of the story of Billy going to cut some hanging meat for someone to cook for him outside the room and saw the deputies and entered the room was made up as a more innocent reason as to why Billy would go to the room at a late hour? The plan of trapping Billy by tying up a lady don't make alot of sense either because Garrett could have planned to trap Billy by other means such as ambushing him in the barn by hiding and waiting until Billy came and saddled up his horse to head out as he would eventually have  had to of saddled up at sometime, it seems there could have been better plans made other than involving tying up a lady and possibly getting her hurt, Garrett could have even staked out the outhouse for that matter. There was so many versions of the shooting that night that I believe there was some cover up for some reason?

[MissyS]

Interestingly this old article mentions Nellie Pickett as the lady Billy went to see that night and was entrapped by Garrett

[kerry]

Garrett found himself trapped in a small bedroom by a man holding a pistol who had slipped past the deputies waiting outsde..Garrett panicked and from sheer fright - shot the man then ran outside.Unfortinately the man was not wanted by the law and self defence would be dubious -the only man Garrett was entitled to shoot without question was BTK -this man had to be him...he was a stranger to Fort Sumner whereas Pat was a former resident..fortunately the man shot was still alive and Fort Sumner had the dead body of a sheep herder to bury in his place as BTK.The shooting was regarded as an unfortunate accident by all concerned and Pat left with appropriate Coroners' verdict(s) to collect the reward - he couldn't take the body with him because the body was the wrong one...taking BTK's body back to Lincoln would have been expected for the bounty and would have been no problem -Goodnight had some years before dug up his pal's body buried at the Fort and went back to their home town - 6oo miles away in Texas -covered with charcoal and gravel on the back of a waggon..For the third time -Pat Garrett was burying his mistakes in Fort Sumner..he was always a gambler and now he was playing monte -with bodies instead of cards! Pat's luck held and he got away with the fraud -much to everybody's surprise..especially John Miller- the man he shot ?

[Sam Fraser]

Feb 14, 2020 21:05:42 GMT -5 kerry said:

Garrett found himself trapped in a small bedroom by a man holding a pistol who had slipped past the deputies waiting outsde..Garrett panicked and from sheer fright - shot the man then ran outside.Unfortinately the man was not wanted by the law and self defence would be dubious -the only man Garrett was entitled to shoot without question was BTK -this man had to be him...he was a stranger to Fort Sumner whereas Pat was a former resident..fortunately the man shot was still alive and Fort Sumner had the dead body of a sheep herder to bury in his place as BTK.The shooting was regarded as an unfortunate accident by all concerned and Pat left with appropriate Coroners' verdict(s) to collect the reward - he couldn't take the body with him because the body was the wrong one...taking BTK's body back to Lincoln would have been expected for the bounty and would have been no problem -Goodnight had some years before dug up his pal's body buried at the Fort and went back to their home town - 6oo miles away in Texas -covered with charcoal and gravel on the back of a waggon..For the third time -Pat Garrett was burying his mistakes in Fort Sumner..he was always a gambler and now he was playing monte -with bodies instead of cards! Pat's luck held and he got away with the fraud -much to everybody's surprise..especially John Miller- the man he shot ?









Mr. Wayne Land suggested this. He joked that perhaps Barlow was John Miller, and that contrary to what Billy/Brushy believed, Barlow also survived Pat Garrett in 1881. So when Barlow allegedly said he was BTK, he sort of was, for one night, because he was killed and buried as Billy the Kid.

[Wayne Land]

Yes, I probably was the first to come up with such a theory and it was so "out there" that I proposed it as an exercise in thinking "outside the box" rather than as something that I believed was true. After all, they say "truth is stranger than fiction". I went there because I have a pretty strong conviction that Brushy Bill was really BTK. And if he was then John Miller could not be, yet Miller's claims have to carry some weight. Because there's no record of his existence prior to when he allegedly showed up a short time after the Fort Sumner event with a bullet wound in his chest. And because he never publicly claimed to be BTK. I understand he only said that when he'd had too much to drink or to family members only. And finally, because Miller's story was that he was actually shot but survived. All this fits my somewhat "out there" proposal.

All that said, I can't claim it as anything more than a very odd possibility because there is absolutely no real evidence that it is a factual concept.

[MissyS]

It's interesting that the name Miller is in fact connected with the Clements family. James Miller or Jim Miller also known as Deacon Miller married the daughter of Mannen Clements a cousin of John Wesley Hardin. I'm wondering if John Miller could be somehow related to the Jim Miller that married Sallie Clements? If the two were related and Billy Barlow was John Miller then Brushy would be telling the truth that he was related to the Clements.

[kerry]

an autopsy 100 years after his death -showed John Miller had a bullet hole through his shoulder blade consistent with a chest wound which he was observed to have at his wedding only a few weeks after July 14 1881..it was also noted that he wore a gun at his wedding..He had been shot by the Law who claimed he was BTK and it suited Garrett and BTK that he remain dead...Maxwell must have provided the waggon supplies and a few head of cattle for him to start a new life as far west as possible.It is said Miller came from Texas and that he had worked for Chisom...and that he had notches on the gun he wore -he seemed to have nothing to hide and would often talk about BTK without claiming to be him...if he was a cattle detective then he must have been working privately for Chisom as John Poe who was working for the Canadian River Cattlemen - didn't know Miller or of him.