One of the most changed facts that I have found about Billy is the way that he died. Some articles say that Billy was shot in his sleep by Garrett. Some say that he was shot in a draw. Some accounts say that Garrett shot Billy in the back because he didn’t have the nerve to shoot him face to face. Some people claim that Billy isn’t actually dead and that they are Billy the Kid. In The Left Handed Gun, Billy was shot by Garrett when he pretended to draw, but didn’t have a gun. In Billy the Kid, Billy wasn’t even shot. Garrett pretended that Billy escaped and there was no possibility of him being caught. In Pat Garrett’s account, him shooting Billy seemed more like a self defense measure . http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/billythekid.htm. Garrett shot Billy after Billy raised his pistol to Garrett’s chest. A fact that just recently came up is that murder charges were brought up against Garrett for shooting Billy. http://www.badhombres.com/outlaws/billy-the-kid.htm .
One man, “Brushy Billy” Roberts, a man from Texas, claimed that he is Billy the Kid. http://crisrodrigues.hubpages.com/hub/Is-Billy-The-Kid-Really-Dead. A lawyer named William Morrison was told by one of his clients that Billy wasn’t actually dead. The client said that he fought against Billy in the Lincoln County Wars and Billy the Kid was now living by the name “Brushy Billy”. Morrison was interested in this claim so he talked to some of the other people and found that most of them believed that Billy wasn’t dead. Morrison finally sought out Brushy to figure out if the claim about him being Billy the Kid was true. Brushy told Morrison that it was true and asked him to help get a pardon from New Mexico’s governor that he was promised back in 1879. Brushy showed Morrison scars that were the same as the ones Billy the Kid obtained while he was an outlaw and took him on haunts of Billy’s in Lincoln County to prove that he was actually Billy the Kid. According to Brushy, Billy was shot in the head and shoulder and passed out from the pain. When he came to, Billy’s girlfriend informed him that Billy Barrow, his partner, was killed and would be buried in Billy the Kid’s place. There is some belief that Pat Garrett knew he killed the wrong man, but he went through great measures to keep it covered up. Brushy had a heart attack and died shortly after his pardon was denied.
There are many stories surrounding Billy’s death which brings up the question why does the way Billy died matter and if Brushy really was Billy, than how does that change what we have thought about Billy’s history so far?
