Pat Garrett, Lew Wallace, and the Betrayal of Billy the Kid with Criminal Defence Attorney Frank Abrams

In this episode of Arash’s World, I have the pleasure of speaking with author and veteran criminal defence attorney Frank Abrams about his forthcoming book, The Slander of Billy the Kid and the Abrams Tintypes. Frank recounts how a group of five tintype photographs purchased at a flea market led him to believe that one image depicts Billy the Kid alongside Pat Garrett and other figures associated with the Lincoln County War. Drawing on the investigative instincts developed over four decades in law, he describes seeking opinions from historians, museum experts, facial-recognition specialists, handwriting analysts, and forensic examiners.

We then provide a spirited reconsideration of the legend surrounding Billy the Kid. Frank argues that popular history and film have exaggerated Billy’s violence while at the same time casting Garrett as a heroic lawman, despite evidence that the two men had once been friends. He also explores Governor Lew Wallace’s unfulfilled promise of a pardon, the economic and political conflicts of the era, disputed accounts of Billy’s death, and the photographic reversal that helped create the enduring misconception that Billy was left-handed.

Throughout our conversation, Frank frames the story as a clash between evidence and myth, one made newly urgent by modern tools that can test old photographs and documents. The result is part historical mystery, part legal argument, and part personal account of an accidental discovery that became a years-long pursuit. In this podcast, we move through Old West history, betrayal, forensic research, photography, cultural memory, and the challenge of persuading people to reconsider a familiar story as opposed to firmly holding onto longstanding and unfounded myths.