"In the matter of the cause and circumstances of the death of John H. Tunstall...."
So begins the single most important contemporary document recounting the origins of the Lincoln County War. That document is the "Report of Special Agent Frank Warner Angel on the Death of John Henry Tunstall," known today to historians as the "Angel Report." The 395-page, hand-written Report that Angel submitted on October 3, 1878, on Tunstall's unprovoked, sadistic murder is published for the first time in this book. The Report documents the events leading to Tunstall's murder - the testimony of the men present at the brutal killing - including Billy the Kid's eye-witness account - and the violent consequences that followed. It includes sworn accounts by Robert W. Beckwith, Henry N. Brown, James J. Dolan, Pantaleón Gallegos, Godfrey Gauss, Florencio Gonzales, John Hurley, Jacob B. Mathews, Alexander A. McSween, John Middletonm Lawrence G. Murphy, John Wallace Olinger, Juan B. Patron, and Robert A. Widenmann. Supplementing the Report are an extensive introduction, notes, contemporary documents, associated letters, biographical details, and a timeline. The book also reveals the brazen attempt by two powerful politicians - Thomas Catron and Stephen Elkins - to destroy the Report, depriving history of its priceless contribution. Forty six images, many never published before.