Welcome to Criminalia, a production of Shondaland Audio in partnership with IHeartRadio.

On March 1st, 1908, local Las Crucese New Mexico newspapers reported, quote,

Pat F. Garrett fulfilled his own prophecy that he would die with his boots on.

Garrett was killed between 10 and 11 o'clock on the road to his Bear Canyon Ranch at a point

five miles from Las Crucese. Best known as a lawman and the slayer of Billy the Kid, let's meet

Pat and talk about the events of his

unexpected death. Was it self-defense or maybe a conspiracy? Pat was a high-profile guy and people

had thoughts about what happened. And they still do. Welcome to Criminalia. I'm Maria Tramarky.

And I'm Holly Fry. In the Chihuahuan desert outside of Las Cruces, New Mexico,

is the site where famous lawman Pat Garrett was killed on February 29, 1908. You'll find a plaque under

a creosote bush noting the scene of the crime. Pat had a big life on the American frontier. He was sheriff of two

different counties in New Mexico and one of the first collectors of customs. He knew President

Theodore Roosevelt well and had been to the White House on multiple occasions. And as we said,

he is best known for being the guy who killed Billy the Kid.

We know his impressive resume, but what we don't know is who precisely killed him on the side of the road that morning in February.

Let's dive into Pat's life before we talk about his death.

Born in Alabama on June 5, 1850, Patrick Floyd Jarvis Garrett was raised on a cotton plantation

his father had purchased in Louisiana.

He left home at about the age of 17 or 18, give or take on that, with his sights on Texas.

Pat wanted to be a cowboy and a buffalo hunter.

Garrett's whereabouts over his first several years away from home are, I mean, honestly,

they're pretty vague, but historians believe he did go to Texas, where he did hunt buffalo

...