Exhuming the Dead--Did Jesse Fake His Own Death & Live in Texas Until Age 103?

I stumbled across a highway sign for the Jesse James Wax Museum in Sullivan, MO. The  website promises to definitively answer the question on whether Jesse faked his own death or indeed was shot by Bob Ford and buried. The museum screens a film supposedly showing the REAL Jesse James who died in Granbury, Texas in 1951 at the age the age of 104. His grave marker can be seen here.  I thought all of this was a bunch of nonsense, but the folks in Granbury and elsewhere are convinced otherwise.

Jesse James in his coffin--if he's faking it, he is a pro

Dead, Not Sleeping Peacefully

Of course I had to stop at the museum to watch the film and tour the wax museum. No photos are allowed, so I hid out of the surveillance camera's sites to take a few. The admission price is pretty steep--$18 and unless you like looking at guns or really cheesy dioramas, it's not worth the money. However for the purposes of my project, I chalked it upon to a research expense. 

Back to the controversy over whether he faked his own death. I knew that his remains had been excavated in 1995. Even the New York Times covered it. Since DNA testing was not available in 1951, when the Granbury Jesse James died, I assumed that after the 1995 test, the controversy would be settled once and for all. But the dispute continued. I found this op ed from 1998 in the NY Times from the researcher Peter Starrs who conducted the DNA test, saying that it proved 97% accuracy. Which seems definitive. However, the debate continues. Here is a genealogy forum article that debunks Starr's methodology. As of 2012, the brouhaha continues.

If he did fake his own death, it would have been his most daring escape and certainly adds to his legend. As for the DNA debacle/debate, it reminds me of current celebrity paternity tests (Kardashian, Mick Jagger) which are typically financially motivated. But Jesse didn't leave behind a fortune, so the fracas is all about inheriting the outlaw legacy.