Officials unveil handwritten coroner’s report of Sheriff Pat Garrett

Officials with the Doña Ana County Clerk’s office on Friday unveiled the long-lost coroner’s report of Pat Garrett, the infamous former sheriff who shot and killed Billy the Kid in 1881.

“Pat Garrett’s death today is one of the most famous unsolved murder cases in the history of New Mexico,”

The details surrounding Garrett’s death were unclear for 109 years. The former sheriff of Lincoln County and Doña Ana County was murdered in 1908 just south of present-day U.S. Route 70, west of Sonoma Ranch Boulevard.

“I thought, ‘Wow, this is amazing that they found it,'” said Susannah Garrett, granddaughter of the sheriff. The descendant traveled from Santa Fe to get a glimpse of the document that would solve a large chunk of her family’s history.

“I was a little bit overwhelmed,” Garrett said.

The document, dated July 9, 1908, is simple. It reads:

“We the undersigned Justices of the Peace and Coroners Jury have attended the investigation of the body of Pat Garrett who was reported dead within the limits of Precinct No. 20, County of Doña Ana, territory of New Mexico on about five miles northeast of the town of Las Cruces and find that the deceased came to his death by gunshot wounds inflicted by one Wayne Brazel.”

Several important details were missing in the coroner’s report, said ASU Professor Emeritus Dr. Bob Stahl. For example, the report did not include that Garrett was murdered while he was urinating, and that he was unarmed.

“It’s important that you have some kind of a context of what it was like back in 1908,” Stahl said.

Amy Buesing and Nancy Ann Warner attended the event after discovering they were related to Vincent May, a juror who signed the document.

“I was really excited when i read about it in the paper,” Buesing said. “I contacted my aunt and said, ‘Did you see Uncle Vincent’s name in the paper?'”

Angelica Valenzuela, the recording and filing supervisor for the Doña Ana County Clerk’s office, discovered the document. Upon sifting through a box of old coroner’s reports with a colleague, she was shocked.

“As soon as we got to the name, ‘Pat Garrett,’ our mouths dropped,” Valenzuela said. “We just stared at each other, and just (had a) shocked face for a couple seconds.”

Valenzuela was able to share a moment with Garrett, who was very thankful at the discovery.

“I feel very honored that she was here today and that she appreciates our work that we’re doing,” Valenzuela said. “It was emotional; it was very emotional.”