Here's an article dated June 11 from the Silver City "Daily Press" concerning the Billy the Kid DNA investigating.

**Courtesy of Loretta --thanks for sending it to me**

JUDGE FINDS NO GROUND FOR HEARING

Lately, Billy the Kid has stirred up controversy politically, but judicially speaking, the situation came to a halt in April in court findings made by 6th Judicial District Court Judge Henry Quintero. Although he left the door open to future petitions, he laid out in clear detail what would be expected from petitioners.

In the findings of fact, he stated: "Tom Sullivan, sheriff of Lincoln County, Steve Sederwall, deputy sheriff of Lincoln County, and Gary Graves, sheriff of De Baca County, filed a petition on Oct. 10, 2003, requesting the court to enter an order directing the New Mexico Office of Medical Investigator to disinter the remains of Catherine Antrim, believed to be the biological mother of William Bonney, aka Billy the Kid, and presumably buried at the Memory Lane Cemetery in Silver City."

The stated purpose was to obtain samples of Antrim's DNA and compare them to DNA samples of Billy the Kid to determine the guilt or innocence of Sheriff Pat Garrett in the death of the Kid.
On Oct. 31, Mayor Terry Fortenberry, on behalf of the town of Silver City, filed a motion to intervene. On Nov. 26, Bill Robins III and David Sandoval "filed an unopposed motion for intervention and request for expedited disposition on behalf of the estate of Billy the Kid."

Quintero, on Dec. 9, entered an order "reserving a ruling as to whether Bill the Kid has standing to intervene, and granting Fortenberry's motion to intervene."

The original petitioners never attempted to secure a permit for disinterment of Antrim from the OMI. However, on Jan. 13, Ross E. Zumwalt, director of the OMI, and Debra Komar, forensic anthropologist at OMI, expressed an opinion that exhumation of Antrim "is scientifically unsound as DNA testing of the putative remains of Amtrim would have no probative value, and that exhumation would likely disrupt other burial sites."

The OMI was of the opinion that the exact location of the grave of the Kid "is not known to a 'reasonable degree of scientific probability.'" Sederwall, Sullivan and Graves, on Feb. 24, requested the court to find the exhumation "ripe for judicial review" and asked for "a conditional order of exhumation, conditioned upon petitioners' ability to obtain an order from another court to exhume remains of Billy the Kid."

Also on Feb. 24, the OMI asked the petition for "exhumation should be either continued or dismissed until Billy the Kid's DNA is recovered." Quintero, on April 2, ruled to dismiss "without prejudice" the order of exhumation because it was based on "what might happen" and ordered the petitioners to attempt to obtain a permit for exhumation from the OMI before petitioning the court again.

Billy the Kid was groaning in his grave at the political goings-on in his name. The Mimbres Region Arts Council invited Sederwall and Sullivan to its Millie and Billy Ball, to be held June 19. Town Councilor Steve May was upset at the invitation. Because others also expressed concern at the possibility of Sederwall and Sullivan attending, MRAC and the ball committee withdrew the invitation.
Janey Katz, a member of the committee, said the members would send a letter of explanation and apology to the pair. "We just want it to be a fun party and we don't want it to be divisive or political," Katz said.

Cissy McAndrew, executive director of the Silver City-Grant County Chamber of Commerce, said: "Silver City can stand on its own as Billy's childhood home. He was well educated here. He was a good student. We need to let it rest and let emotions cool."

"God help us if we need (Sederwall and Sullivan's) help in promoting the Kid," May said.