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DKEast · 04-18-2015, 08:39 AM

(10-15-2013 04:10 PM)calebj123 Wrote:
(10-07-2013 07:41 PM)My Name Is Kate Wrote:
(10-03-2013 01:22 PM)calebj123 Wrote: Henry had been sleeping with a loaded gun under his pillow for the few weeks before the murder. His post traumatic stress and depression was worsening. The night before the murder he actually sat in a family room "staring blankly and picking at a handkerchief". There's no doubt his ruminations and paranoia was at its height. Clara herself mentioned to her sister that "the end was not far off", however she assumed he was going to commit suicide.
By "they" I mean primarily his wife and her sister. And why would Clara not have done so? And why did they allow him to have a loaded gun when they feared he was going to commit suicide?

I think part of the issue was the time period. Rathbone was still the husband and there were many social stigmas, so speaking up and forcing him to do things he didn't want would have been difficult. There's no way he would give up his new gun and knife at that point of his depression. Clara did entertain the idea of divorce, however she still loved him dearly and felt that it was her duty to stay with him. With that said, however she also feared that a divorce would be a social blight on the Harris and Rathbone names.

(10-08-2013 04:49 AM)RJNorton Wrote:
(10-05-2013 06:57 PM)My Name Is Kate Wrote: If he had just come clean right after the assassination, and admitted that he saw Booth enter the theater box (if he did, and from where he was sitting, he probably did),

Hi Kate. I brought this up once before (long ago). It seems like a difficult angle, even if Booth entered through Door 8 and not Door 7. Door 8, I believe, is closer to where Rathbone was sitting. It seems to me that Rathbone's head would have to be turned away from the play (at least to some degree) to have seen Booth enter. If he was sitting watching the play then it's difficult for me to imagine him seeing Booth entering the box.

Roger, I agree with you. The possibility that Rathbone did see Booth enter is plausible. The truth will probably never be known, but there is evidence to argue both sides.

(10-05-2013 06:57 PM)My Name Is Kate Wrote:
(10-05-2013 06:30 PM)Gene C Wrote: I think it is very likely he would have killed them. He didn't show much reluctance in killing Clara, and almost killing himself.
There is no telling what was going through his head. He was certainly battling some some dark and evil thoughts, and he lost.
If he had just come clean right after the assassination, and admitted that he saw Booth enter the theater box (if he did, and from where he was sitting, he probably did), and the assassin would have had his gun drawn, so there would be no doubt of his intentions, maybe Rathbone wouldn't have had to keep piling lies on top of lies to save face and his reputation, until it drove him to criminal insanity.

(That's my take on it, anyway, FWIW.)

I agree, it would have compounded the issue. However, regardless of if he saw Booth enter prior to shooting, he still let Booth escape after having him in his grasp and as a soldier he lost a fight with an actor. There probably wasn't a day that went by, where he didn't play that night's events over in his mind, realizing that he let the assassin get away.

Well, perhaps he couldn't stop the bullet, but in regards to "stopping" Booth, even though he tried to grab him, Booth jumped from the box, however, without harming anyone else after the deed. He was eventually cornered in Port Royal VA and killed. I don't see why Rathbone would chide himself for not stopping Booth (after the bullet was fired) as ultimately Booth was cornered and killed?