Dead Famous Fans

A little over a year since the Dead Famous - Billy the Kid episode was taped, I returned to Lincoln, NM. This time it was in the daylight and I was able to take my son with me, who was visiting from out of state.

We went into the Old Lincoln County Courthouse and I met with Dee Ann Kessler, the monument manager who was also in the episode. She told us to feel free to wander around. I took my son on a tour of the courthouse and showed him where we taped Dead Famous. It was interesting to see the place in the daylight instead of the limited area illuminated by a flashlight beam.

As we got to the bottom of the famous stairs, we examined the bullet hole in the wall that was a result of Billy's shot at Deputy Bell. We climbed the stairs to the second floor and proceeded to the window from where Billy shot Ollinger. Much more interesting seeing the view that he had in full daylight.

We completed our tour of the courthouse and we were told by Dee Ann to go down the street and visit another house. During this time, Dee received a phone call and I heard her talking to the person on the phone regarding a lost broom.

 We walk the short distance to the house and entered. We were greeted by Beverly, an elderly lady who knew the original owner from her childhood in Lincoln. She filled us in on the history of the home that was built in 1882 and guided us through the rooms on the first floor.

Beverly discussed the owner's housekeeper/maid Mattie and told us that he sold his home to her for one dollar, when  he was too elderly to stay in the house. This was in the early 1930's. Beverly told us that Mattie was very attached to the home and supported herself by cooking and catering. During her years there, Mattie spent most of her time in the kitchen and the adjacent dining room, cooking and preparing food for the residents of Lincoln.

Beverly led us into the kitchen from the front parlor. My son was following me and when he entered the doorway, he was hit in the arm by a broom handle which had slid out from behind the open kitchen door. Immediately, Beverly said, "there's my broom. I've been looking all over for that." The broom had poked out between the door and the wall, between the hinges. Beverly was the one who had called Dee while we were still at the courthouse.

As all of us were standing in the kitchen, Beverly was talking about Mattie and how she loved the her home and kitchen. She mentioned that many times when she opens the house in the morning, some of the drawers are pulled out and jokingly tells Mattie to stop it.

She then directed us into the dining room. Beverly was the last to enter the room and as I turned around to talk to her, I could see into the kitchen and I caught a glimpse of movement over her shoulder and saw the small dish towel that was laying on the sink...move! The closest person to the sink was Beverly and she was five feet away, standing in the doorway of the dining room. All of us went back into the kitchen and I looked at the towel. I could clearly see a little peak in the fabric as if someone had pinched the towel and pulled it up. I have never seen any poltergeist activity first hand and this was very impressive.

This lead my son and I to try to recreate the broom falling from behind the door. We put the broom back into position as he remembered it. We walked back into the kitchen from the parlor in the same order and the broom did not move. In addition, my son mentioned that the broom hit him in the upper left arm. This is to be expected...however...my son is 6'7" and in order for the broom to hit him there, it would have to be raised about a foot. This fact eliminates the possibly of the broom just slid down the wall on its own and come out of the gap caused by the door being open and the hinges exposed. WOW!

We went into Mattie's bedroom on the other side of the parlor and I didn't like the room. That's all I say about it..I just didn't like being in that space. My son immediately felt nauseous and to him, it felt like someone had intense anger about anyone being in this room. When he went into the parlor, he felt fine. He went back into the bedroom to try to understand what he was feeling and again, he felt anxiety and this anger. From the look on his, I can say he was truly being affected by something.

We left the house and went back to the courthouse to tell Dee Ann what we had experienced. She was very excited. I asked if we could come back in the summer and do an investigation. She said...sure, why not?

To be continued...