Drawing of Booth Body

[mikegriffith1]

(10-30-2018 12:17 PM)Gene C Wrote:  How many people identified Booth's remains, and how many indicated his face was freckled?

Does anyone mention whether Booth's body, especially his face and hair, was cleaned up for identification?

Mike, I politely disagree with you about a person's appearance changing so quickly after death.

When someone undergoes a serious, painful injury (like a broken leg that is not given the chance to heal properly) , lack of sleep, lack of proper medical care, other circumstances which cause stress to the mind and body over a period of several days, their physical appearance can change. Booth's shooting injury was painful and caused nerve damage including paralysis. It is very likely his facial appearance changed because of that injury. Unless someone touched up his appearance, it is not surprising that some had difficulty recognizing him. He had lost his vitality, and it showed.

Sorry, but this is just fiction, both regarding such a rapid and drastic change in a body's appearance and the conditions of Booth's flight. I will just repeat what I've said several times already: Just find me one documented case in the history of forensic science where a body underwent such a marked change in appearance under even halfway similar circumstances.

And while you're hunting for this non-existent case, keep in mind that the day before the confrontation at Garrett's barn, Conger showed Booth's photo to people in Port Conway who had seen Booth in the preceding 24 hours, and those people were able to identify the photograph as Booth. So whatever magical transformation would have had to occur to his body would have had to happen after that point in time.