The Digital Tradition lyrics for The Arizona Killer are an exact transcription from the Katie Lee book, Ten Thousand Goddam Cattle. The Digital Tradition left out most of Lee's punctuation, so I put it back in above. Lee says she's the author of the lyrics and tune of "Arizona Killer," a rewrite of "Tennessee Killer." Here's what she says, in her inimitable style:

A gen-u-wine rewrite, with very little of the original showing, save structure of the ballad and gist of the story. Place names all changed from the South to the West. Randolph collected it as The Tennessee Killer in MS. from Dr. George E. Hastings, Fayetteville, Ark., Jan. 6, 1942, "who had it from a man named Steel, who credits it to a Negro beggar in Conway, Ark." In 1955 I taped my version for Harry Belafonte. To my knowledge he never used it. No music accompanied the original lyric.

So, that's the scoop. Can anybody find a recording, other versions, or related songs? Can somebody post what Laws has to say about the song?
-Joe-

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So, here's Katie Lee's tune:

Click to play (Arizona Killer)