Location Description and History

Cochise County was created on February 1, 1881, out of the eastern portion of Pima County. It took its name from the legendary Chiricahua Apache war chief Cochise. The county seat was Tombstone until 1929 when it moved to Bisbee. Notable men who once held the position of County Sheriff were Johnny Behan, who served as the first sheriff of the new county, and who was one of the main characters during the events leading to and following the Gunfight at the OK Corral. Later, in 1886, Texas John Slaughter became sheriff. Lawman Jeff Milton and lawman/outlaw Burt Alvord both served as deputies under Slaughter. Built in 1931 with the designs of Roy Place, this courthouse is by far one of the best Art Deco courthouses in the southwest. COCHISE COUNTY CLERK OF CIRCUIT COURT has Court Records from 1881, Marriage and Divorce Records  from 1881 and Probate Records from 1880. The courthouse was also the county jail until a more modern facility was built and the jail moved there. The old cells are used for storage of records and evidence..

Letty Grijalva, a deputy clerk at the courthouse who has never believed in ghosts, says she had a close encounter of her own. When upstairs in the records room she heard a noise and turned to see the files from the top shelves flipping from one way to the other. "I just got up and I was really scared and I told my boss I will never come up here by myself again," says Grijalva. She hasn't returned unaccompanied. And she's not the only one. There are stories galore at this place. Render Gregory, an Associate Clerk at the courthouse relayed a story from a security guard there who recalls Judge Ross in his robe come up through the hallway and straight through the glass walls into the courtroom. People say they smell his cigar in the now smokeless building, elevators act weird and drawers open by themselves.

Sunny Dawn Johnston believes the people in Bisbee. She is a local spiritual counselor, psychic medium type. She lives and works at a center in Glendale called the Sunlight Healing Center. She says she's seen ghosts since she was a child in her home. In fact, she had one living with her in the house she shared with her family. So, she had many ghost encounters from an early age. When she heard about the judge she explained her theory. When a body leaves this earth sometimes the spirit remains. In this case, she believes Judge Ross wants to watch over the courthouse that meant so much to him, "his spirit is still there. Just because our body dies... energy can not be created. It can not be destroyed. It just changes forms so the energy in our physical body doesn't leave. Often she says these "people" have good intentions. They just want to be noticed. She believes in some cases they can scare people by their "actions," which usually happens before they understand how to handle their new found abilities. Most, according to Johnston, are friendly and once they are no longer wanted will move on with just a simple suggestion. Others, and there are few, have bad intentions and will only leave if forced. Johnston says there are special ways to do that.But for now the people of the Cochise County Courthouse will live with their special guest. In fact, as you watch some of them tell stories, like the Cochise County Clerk Denise Lundin, there's a sparkle of excitement in her eye as she remembers some stories. "We have gal who does cleaning and (her 8 year old) daughter came in one night with her and her daughter indicated a man moved chairs up like the mom had wanted," says Lundin, "and she pointed to the judges photograph and said that's the man who did it."

Source: Shadowlands , 12 News

The focus of this ghost hunt was Judge Ross's courtroom and the third floor of the building. With SGHA were members of Donovan's Ghost Patrol out of Sierra Vista, Arizona.

During the investigation of the jail, we were informed that a inmate had committed suicide by hanging himself in one of the cells. One of the cameramen of Donovan's Ghost patrol was friends with that particular inmate before he was sentenced. In a experiment of communication, he had him "talk" to his friend as if he was present.

During this experiment, eleven photographs taken in sequence show some sort of abnormality.

Photographs

	DSCN0459 to DSCN0469

The sequence of eleven photographs taken in the jail are very interesting from an analysis standpoint. A spectrum analysis reveals that the odd object in the photographs is composed of several frequencies of light which seem to alternate between photographs. the objects size and density also change throughout the sequence.

Photograph taken after the series of oddities. Completely normal