Frederick Demond

[Pamela]

Laurie, I agree, but a similar caution should be applied to eyewitnesses, people in authority, etc.

On his site (which is an incredible resource!), Dave stated that a supporting circumstance for the John Surratt leap story is the statement he made to Naples police before any publication of his escape story. Dave said that Surratt's "confession" paralleled the unpublished reports of his escape. But this is from the police report, "...he had been put in prison for insubordination, from which he escaped, jumping from a window or high wall."

That's a major difference from the precipice jump story since no window or high wall was involved. But, there was a window and high wall described by Lipman, "...while the entry to the dungeon staircase is on the crest of the hill, the dungeon window is almost at it's base, thirty feet below....".

Dave also cites the fact that Surratt was in a hospital where he was treated for back and arm injuries, as proof of his leap from the cliff. But in the NY Times interview, in which John minimalized his leap, he emphasized the other part of his escape as being more dangerous, including the necessity of sliding on his back down "a steep and rocky declivity, full a hundred feet in height." That would generate back and arm injuries. There is no mention of his being treated for a head injury, although in the Hanson Hiss interview he said he was knocked unconscious when he landed on the ledge.

I checked the HH interview in which Surratt increased his leap to 35 ft. He also said he jumped over a 4 ft wall rather than the ballustrade mentioned by the Zouave officers. Surratt said so many strange things in that interview. It's like he meshed the story he told to the Naples police with the official reports. The "high wall" shrunk to 4ft in an attempt to get closer to the ballustrade mentioned in the reports.