City won't exhume Billy the Kid claimant

HAMILTON, N.M., May 11 (UPI) -- The city of Hamilton, N.M., has decided not to dig up the remains of a Wild West gunfighter who claimed to be Billy the Kid.

Steve Sederwall, a reserve deputy with the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office, had asked the City Council for permission to exhume Ollie "Brushy Bill" Roberts, who claimed to be the real Billy the Kid, for a DNA test to determine whether or not he was the legendary gunfighter.

Billy the Kid is believed to have been shot and killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett in Fort Sumner, N.M., in 1881. However, some historians stand by Roberts' claims he was the real outlaw and escaped Garrett. Roberts died in 1950.

"My concern is that there may be some relatives who might come forward and say they weren't consulted," said City Administrator Bill Funderburk. "The conservative way to do this is in the courts."

Councilman Grant Lengefeld, who voted against the request, said his vote was based on a lack of evidence that Roberts could have been Billy the Kid.

"What we have here is folks who are trying to rewrite history," he said.