Where was John Surratt on April 14, 1865 ?

[RJNorton]

(08-14-2018 06:24 PM)L Verge Wrote:  Thanks for posting this, Steve. My staff and I worked with Mr. Schein over the period of a few years as he was researching and writing his book on John Surratt: The Lincoln Conspirator Who Got Away. He was a very careful and detail-oriented researcher and traveled to Italy from his home in Washington State to trace the escape of Surratt.

In the book Michael Shein writes:

"If Surratt had been in Washington, in all likelihood (Andrew) Johnson would have been dead by morning."

Does anyone have an opinion on this statement? Was John Surratt a potential killer? Or was he involved only in a potential kidnapping plot and (like Atzerodt) wanted no part of killing?