Editing Johnny Ringo (section)

=== Suicide ===

Teamster James Yoast was hauling wood when he found Ringo's body on July 14 seated in "a bunch of five large black jack oaks growing up in a semicircle from one root, and in the center of them was a large flat rock which made a comfortable seat." He was "not more than 700 feet from Smith's house" in West Turkey Creek Valley, near [[Chiricahua Peak]] in Arizona Territory. His body had already turned black from the desert heat.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://allthatsinteresting.com/johnny-ringo|title=Johnny Ringo: The Wild West Outlaw Too Fearsome To Ever End Up In Prison|date=2019-01-25|website=All That's Interesting|language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-08|archive-date=2019-10-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191008065056/https://allthatsinteresting.com/johnny-ringo|url-status=live}}</ref>

His feet were wrapped in strips of cloth torn from his undershirt. Ringo had lost his horse with his boots tied to the saddle. The coroner's report noted that "He had evidently traveled but a short distance in this foot gear." There was a bullet hole in his right temple and an exit wound at the back of his head. The fatal wound was upward at a 45-degree angle between the right eye and ear. His revolver was still in his right hand.<ref name="docringo">{{cite journal |last1=Bell |first1=Bob Boze |last2=Roberts |first2=Gary |last3=Morey |first3=Jeff |last4=Tefertiller |first4=Casey |last5=Boessenecker |first5=John |title=Did Doc Kill Ringo? |journal=True West Magazine |date=March 2022 |url=https://truewestmagazine.com/article/did-doc-kill-ringo/ |access-date=2022-01-24 |archive-date=2022-01-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220124220838/https://truewestmagazine.com/article/did-doc-kill-ringo/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to the coroner's report, Ringo's [[Colt Single Action Army]] .45 revolver held five cartridges.  A knife cut was found at the base of his scalp, as if "someone had cut it with a knife." His horse was found eleven days later about {{convert|2|mi}} away with Ringo's boots still tied to the saddle. A coroner's [[inquest]] officially ruled his death a [[suicide]].<ref name="docringo"/><ref name="thewildwest">{{cite web |url=http://www.thewildwest.org/cowboys/wildwestoutlawsandlawmen/186-wildwestoutlawjohnringo|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20150130224744/https://thewildwest.org/cowboys/wildwestoutlawsandlawmen/186-wildwestoutlawjohnringo |title= Wild West Outlaws and Lawmen John Ringo |archive-date=January 30, 2015 |publisher=Wild West |access-date=January 24, 2022}} </ref>

Ringo's body is buried near the base of the tree where it was discovered. The grave is located on private land. A gate on a nearby road permits visitors to view the site.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=28365|title=John Ringo Historical Marker|website=www.hmdb.org|access-date=2022-01-24|archive-date=2022-01-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220124220807/https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=28365|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="thewildwest" /> Despite the coroner's ruling and contemporaneous newspaper reports that Ringo had "frequently threatened to commit suicide, and that the event was expected at any time",<ref>''The Tombstone Epitaph'', July 18, 1882</ref> alternative theories of doubtful plausibility about Ringo's death have been proposed over the years. Some assert that the lack of powder burns on his head suggest he was shot from a distance. The coroner's jury report does not mention the presence or absence of powder burns. Furthermore, Ringo's body was already turning black due to decomposition.<ref name="docringo"/>

Robert Boller, a member of the coroner's jury, wrote in 1934,  "I showed [James Yoast] where the bullet had entered the tree on the left side. Blood and brains [were] oozing from the wound and matted his hair. There was an empty shell in the six-shooter and the hammer was on that. I called it a suicide fifty-two years ago, I am still calling it suicide. I guess I'm the last of the coroner's jury."<ref name="docringo"/>