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Flea market photo shows 'Billy the Kid and man who shot him' Flea market photo shows 'Billy the Kid and man who shot him'
(about 2 hours later)
A photo discovered by a US lawyer at a flea market may be a rare image of western outlaw Billy the Kid and could be worth millions, experts have said. A photo discovered by a US lawyer at a flea market may be a rare image of Wild West outlaw Billy the Kid and could be worth millions, experts have said.
The tintype photo was purchased in 2011 by Frank Abrams in North Carolina for $10 (£7) and had been hanging in his bed-and-breakfast guest room. Frank Abrams bought the tintype photo in North Carolina for $10 (£7) and put it up in the guest room of his home.
He sought out experts after watching a television programme about the discovery of another photo of the Kid. He consulted experts after watching a TV programme about the discovery of another photo of Billy the Kid.
Historians told him his photo may show the Kid posing with his future killer. Historians told Mr Abrams his photo may show the outlaw with his future killer.
The tintype photo, or an image produced on a thin sheet of metal, was purchased near Asheville at a flea market, according to Mr Abrams, who works as a criminal defence lawyer in the area. Mr Abrams, a criminal defence lawyer, bought the tintype photo - which is an image produced on a thin sheet of metal - at a flea market near the city of Asheville in 2011.
Mr Abrams decided to have it analysed by experts at the Billy the Kid museum in New Mexico after watching a programme in 2015 about a photo discovery of the gunslinger playing croquet, he told BBC News. Airbnb room photo
That photo was valued around $5m, prompting Mr Abrams to look more closely at his own image. He told BBC News he decided to have it analysed by experts at the Billy the Kid museum in New Mexico after watching a programme in 2015 about a newly found photo of the gunslinger playing croquet.
After years of examining the photo, he came to suspect that one of the five men pictured was Pat Garrett, the Kid's friend who later became the sheriff and who is said to have gunned him down in 1881. The croquet photo had been valued at around $5m.
Garrett and the Kid, also known as William Bonney, were reportedly close friends until Garrett became the sheriff of Lincoln County, New Mexico. Mr Abrams came to suspect that one of the five men pictured in his tintype image was Patrick Floyd Garrett.
The photo - which is dated 2 August 1880 - had been hanging in a rental guest room in his home for several years, he said. Garrett and Billy the Kid were said to have been close friends until Garrett became sheriff of Lincoln County, New Mexico.
"If I had known it was one of the most famous photos in history, I would have charged more for the room!" he laughed. Sheriff Garrett is remembered for gunning down the outlaw in 1881.
He enlisted Robert Stahl, professor emeritus at Arizona State University, as well as several other forensic experts to identify whether the image featured the pair. Mr Abrams said his photo - which is dated 2 August 1880 - hung for several years on the wall of a spare room in his home that he rented out through Airbnb.
William Dunniway, a tintype expert, told the New York Times the photo was probably taken between 1875 and 1880. He worked with forensics expert Kent Gibson to conclude that the two men were pictured. "If I had known it was one of the most famous photos in history, I would have charged more for the room," he laughed.
A Los Angeles forensic video expert said facial recognition software suggested that it was most likely a photo of them while a handwriting expert in Texas compared a signature from Garrett on the photo with 10 documents that included his handwriting. He also found them to match, the Associated Press news agency reported. Forensic expert
Although experts say the photo may be worth millions, Mr Abrams says he is no rush to sell it. Mr Abrams enlisted Robert Stahl, professor emeritus at Arizona State University, as well as several other forensic experts, to identify whether his image did indeed show Sheriff Garrett and Billy the Kid.
"I've never put a price on it," he said in a telephone interview with BBC News on Wednesday. William Dunniway, a tintype expert, told the New York Times the photo was probably taken between 1875-80.
Mr Dunniway worked with Los Angeles forensic video expert Kent Gibson to investigate the picture.
Mr Gibson used facial recognition software to conclude it was most likely a photo of Billy the Kid and Sheriff Garrett.
A handwriting expert in Texas compared a signature from Sheriff Garrett on the photo with 10 documents that included his handwriting.
He found a match, the Associated Press news agency reported.
Although experts say the photo may be worth millions of dollars, Mr Abrams says he is no rush to sell it.
"I've never put a price on it," he said in a telephone interview with BBC News.
"My interest is in the history," he added."My interest is in the history," he added.
The image that experts say shows Billy the Kid playing croquet was bought in 2010 for $2 from a junk shop in Fresno, California.
The only other authenticated portrait of the gunslinger sold for $2.3m in 2011 at an auction in Denver, Colorado.
That tintype depicts the gunfighter in rumpled clothes and a hat, gazing at the camera and holding a Winchester rifle.
The outlaw - who was born Henry McCarty but later took the alias William Bonney - was reputedly born in New York.
He is thought to have moved to Colorado with his mother and brothers when his father died.
The gunslinger fell into a career of thievery and lawlessness and was hunted across the southern US states and northern Mexico.
He is widely thought to have killed 21 people, though some sources put the figure as high as 27.
Billy the Kid was captured and sentenced to hang for the 1878 murder of a county sheriff.
He escaped, only to be hunted down and killed by Sheriff Garrett on 14 July 1881.