After the shooting in Ft. Sumner

[nmjames]

You are correct, we can debate the they said she said. I know you do not agree with me nor
I you but again lets look at Brushy and see how he stacks up.

[nmjames]

I have looked through Miguel Antonio Otero, Jr. The Real Billy the Kid. It has been awhile since
I read it. I can tell you that the first part of the book is way off on facts. The interviews are as you say. I can't answer why because I have been looking over what I have and in just a few
years, it is not the same. In the book Silva does state that they buried Billy in the afternoon
and in the Jack Hull interview, Silva states it was 10:00.

Deluvina states she was there that night and went in with Silva, but in the 1927 interview with Haley, she states different. So what we have is between 1927, 1936 and 1937, the stories change.

The only thing I can say is that they all state each time that Billy was killed by Garrett and the
stories that someone else was killed are wrong. Page 119 of Otero's book. Silva: "I have read reports which say that Billy the Kid is still alive. I know that Pat Garrett killed The Kid on the night of June 14, 1881, in Pete Maxwell's bedroom. I also know with absolute certainty that he was buried in the old graveyard the next day."

The other thing in Otero's book that I remember is a Martin Chavez stating that Poe's account
is correct. I have researched Poe and find many statements about him being honest.

In the 1937 Hull interview, Lobato states he was not in Fort Sumner that night and his mother
told him the facts.

Just a side note: Silva stated in the book that he was cooking for Billy and Billy took the knife and went to get the meat. The knife is in a private collection and the paper work comes from
Celsa Gutirres's son. It is said that Billy was in Celsa's home that night. In the Hull interview,
Silva meets Billy in the orchard and Billy is going to Maxwell's for a cut of fresh beef for his supper, which was being prepared at a nearby house.

[Wayne Land]

Thanks for looking that up. Some say Brett Hall's book is full of erroneous information and so I never was certain whether to believe the quotes from Otero's book. Personally, I don't think Brett Hall intentionally misrepresented the facts in his book, but I do think he made some mistakes.

Anyway, unless either Otero, or Hull, or both were lying, Lobato, Silva, and Deluvina all changed their stories rather dramatically. The unavoidable result being, in my opinion, they each lied at least once about what happened that night and that points to a cover up. Just my opinion.