** NEW DISCOVERY REGARDING BOOTH AUTOPSY PHOTO

[barryssentials]

Hi. I spent most of the afternoon with Angela and David Smythe investigating Rev. Armstrong history in the newspapers. What a crazy character. He was a reverend who was caught in bars, houses of ill repute, etc and was eventually kicked out of his church. That aside, he sounds like he was a very loved character. In numerous responses from friends who commented in the newspapers at the time of his death, all indicated that although he had a close appearance to that of the actor, never once did Armstrong claim to be John Wilkes Booth and denied it to the day of his death. He even submitted evidence that he was studying in college far away from Washington at the time of the assassination. Reverend Armstrong is a 'movie of the week' if anyone cares to write it!
Barry

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Hey Bill: To help give you an answer to your question, I need to tell you a bit more about what John hasn't included here. Lawrence Gardner stated that he and his father were collected by Major Eckert on the morning of the 27th and driven to the Navy Yard with the intent of taking the photo. It was Eckert who was in charge and he made the decision to abort the photo session. It certainly seems illogical to us today considering they were right there and could have easily snapped the shot, but this is how Gardner related the story, so we have to leave it to how each of us wish to interpret that move. Gardner mentions that they did stay onboard to take Herold's photo and in sporadic conversation with him, Herold indicated that the body was in fact that of Booth.
Barry