Thomas F. Harney

[John Fazio]

(07-27-2015 12:45 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  Thanks, John. I have mentioned this before, but since I cannot figure out a logical answer, I think I'll mention it again. Smoot came to the boardinghouse on Wednesday, April 12th, looking for payment for his boat. Mary Surratt told Smoot to come back on Friday, April 14th, to see son John. According to Smoot, she whispered this information to him. What would motivate Mary to lie to Smoot? If she didn't expect John to be in town on the 14th, why would she say this?

Roger:

I am familiar with the Smoot statement to which you refer and I think you have made an excellent point and one which is probative, if not conclusive, of Surratt's being in Washington on the 14th. If my theory is correct, however, he should already have been there. Perhaps he was elsewhere, but not in Canada and not in New York State, such as, for example, Richmond. The more we learn, the more he appears to have been in Washington on the 14th. Perhaps Ste. Marie was being truthful when he testified that Surratt had told him he was in Washington on the 14th and left that night by train disguised as an Englishman. In that case, how does one explain the testimony of the defense witnesses (four, as I recall) who put him in Elmira. If he was in Elmira, why did he go to Canandaigua, about 60 miles north and west of Elmira and therefore farther away from his alleged destination of Baltimore? As I say, tough nut to crack.

John