“Author David G. Thomas has sought to determine – once and for all time – whether former Lincoln County Sheriff Patrick Floyd Garrett was killed as a result of a vast conspiracy of men seeking to avenge Garrett for various acts and to gain possession of his two ranches, or was killed by assassin “Deacon” Jim Miller’s bullets. Or, was he killed due to a spontaneous act of one man, acting alone, who fired in a self-perceived act of self defense….”
“Thomas did extensive research on each of the first two of these widely-accepted accounts that allegedly brought about the cold-blooded murder of Garrett, starting with a close-range gunshot in the back of the head and then shots to the chest while Garrett lay mortally wounded on the ground. Thomas systematically and convincingly discounts all of the alleged conspiracy theories and points out why each is not credible….”
“On the matter of Jim Miller, Thomas provides evidence that Miller never left his Las Vegas hotel the day countless historians have placed Miller miles away with a rifle in hand supposedly ready to assassinate Garrett.”
“He makes the case why Jesse Brazel, who well knew New Mexico’s self-defense law, knew he could kill Garret by claiming Garrett was about to kill him. This was the argument Brazel’s lawyer used in 1909 to get a not guilty jury decision, the trial of which Thomas covers well….”
“His last chapter summarizes and then effectively debunks every major conspiracy theory pertaining to Garrett’s murder. Anyone who clings to any of these theories after reading this chapter does so in spite of Thomas’s credible facts and documentation to the contrary.”
“Many new documents are examined…. Thomas also drew upon 80 never-before cited letters Garrett wrote to his wife.” – Robert J. Stahl, Wild West History Association Journal
