John Surratt

[BettyO]

I have to agree with you, John. If his mother and George Atzerodt were considered guilty enough to hang, then he certainly should have been executed also. The only thing that might have saved him would have been proving that he had no contact with Booth after the failed kidnapping (which you don't believe in) until after the crime had been committed. That seems to be what saved Dr. Mudd (especially) and others.

I agree with you Laurie as well. Surratt and Booth were the brains behind the conspiracy. Surratt probably knew more about the inner workings and what went on behind the scenes than either Powell and Herold. Atzerodt was just the flotsam which followed in it's wake. His fatal mistake was NOT alerting authorities as to what was going on. Therefore, Surratt was more than guilty enough to swing. By 1867, the "witch hunt" fervor of the initial conspiracy had waned and that also was vital to his pending release after trial and capture. It's said that he burned papers and documents later in his life. It's a shame that he didn't focus his attention on a memoir which could be published after his death, as damning as that more or less would have been.