Olds, you should finish reading this highly educational post and then immediately order RIDE THE DEVIL'S HERD. Bossenecker is no slouch when it comes to research, but in this book his skills are combined with the research of the late, great, much missed and deeply mourned Paul Cool's to provide the most in-depth account of the "cowboy scourge" available. Also the most up to date info on the Earps, much of it negative.

Unfortunately, on Ringo's death he has one glaring factual failure in that he says the coroner's inquest ruled it a suicide (they did not). Otherwise, he goes along with Billy Breakenridge's take on the circumstances of that alleged suicide. He labels as fiction the story that Claiborne said Leslie killed Ringo. However, he also quotes Breakenridge's HELLDORADO on the same subject, "Frank Leslie tried to curry favor with the Earp sympathizers by claiming that he met Ringo and had to kill him in self defense, but the evidence proved this to be a lie. We all knew that Leslie would not care to tackle him even when he was drunk". This seems to indicate that Leslie was taking credit for the kill fairly soon after the death.

And, yes, most serious authors (Tefertiller, Roberts, Gatto, Brand, Bossenecker, Young) among others) have concluded or heavily leaned toward suicide. The only serious author I can think of who doesn't rule out suicide but thinks there are just too many unanswered questions to exclude the possibility of homicide is Jeff Morey. Ken Vail, a serious researcher (this could be confirmed if he would reveal his sources) but, unfortunately, not an author, leaned toward Frank Leslie, I believe.