Booth's honesty: Lloyd v Mudd

[jonathan]

I find it nearly impossible to believe that Booth would have told Lloyd what he did and then kept it from Mudd. I believe that Mudd knew exactly who Booth was that night and that something had happened. Sometimes I could go either way on whether or not Mudd knew that Booth had shot Lincoln, and occasionally my opinion wavers a bit. On the one hand, it's easy to see how Mudd could have helped Booth, knowing who he was but not what he had done, then learned about it the next day in town and told Booth he had to go. But on the other hand, Mudd's leisurely trip back home that day just doesn't seem to be the reaction of a man who has just learned that he left his family with the President's assassin. If I had to put money on the table, I'd say that Booth showed up at Mudd's and told him what he had done. Then the next day, Mudd went to town to run some regular errands, providing a good cover to see if word had gotten that far yet. When he saw that the manhunt was in full swing, he made his way home, trying to figure out the best way to save his own neck. Of course the best way for an innocent man in that situation to save his own neck would have been to tell the authorities right away that Booth was in his house, which is what Mudd would have done, if he was innocent. He knew if he turned them in right away then a) his family would be in real danger, and b) it would draw attention to Mudd himself, and his acquaintance with Booth might be revealed. I think the best thing for Mudd and his family would be for all of the conspirators to get off scot free or for all of them to die tragically before they could tell what they knew. Of course this applies most of all to Booth, and I'm sure it occurred to Mudd on his way home that afternoon. To me, this general outline just makes the most sense. We know Mudd and Booth knew each other, even if they weren't close friends. We know that Mudd was at the very least a Southern sympathizer. We know that Booth and Herold didn't try all that hard to conceal their identities to most people they met on their escape. The bottom line is that I find it very difficult to believe that Booth would not have told Mudd what he had done.