Drawing of Booth Body

[L Verge]

Griffith: "Three, why did Seaton Munroe say that Dawson told Holt that the JWB initials were between the thumb and the forefinger, which is also where H. C. Young said the initials were located and where McPhail said there was a tattoo? The space near the thumb and the forefinger is nowhere near the 'wrist.'"

I would beg to differ. Booth had small hands (almost dainty) - even smaller when he marked his left hand with his initials as a child. And, he would have marked them on the solid portion of the hand, not the webbing between the thumb and forefinger. I'm typing this while comparing things with my small left hand, and a similar marking on my hand would come within two inches of my wrist.

Booth was right-handed, which meant that, when signing the hotel register or writing notes or whatever, he would be using his left hand in plain view to hold down the paper or book on which he wrote. There's not a one of us who doesn't do this when writing on a surface that can cause the paper to slip. Charles Dawson would have seen that left hand numerous times when on duty at the desk. Also, the National Hotel was Booth's home when he was in D.C. (and also home to many Southern sympathizers), There should be no doubt that he was able to identify both the tattoo and the body, if he had been asked to do so. I suspect that Dawson may have been invited by Booth to go drinking upon occasion.

We are also ignoring a second person who identified the tattoo on the corpse. Charles Collins was a signal officer and clerk to the captain of the Montauk and had known Booth by sight for several years and personally for about six weeks. He also told Judge Holt that he had seen Booth in the office at the National Hotel just about four hours before the assassination and that the actor had greeted him. Collins's statement is in NARA M599, 4:350-352.