Edman (Ned) Spangler: Anyone Still Think He Was Guilty?

[RJNorton]

(11-21-2018 12:33 PM)Warren Wrote:  If I may ask, what evidence was produced in the commission hearing that Spangler was a conspirator, other than briefly holding Booth's horse, that he had met him many times before and had a drink with him the night of the assassination?

Warren, here is some of the testimony against Spangler. It comes from another Ford's employee named Jacob Ritterspaugh: (from Poore)

Q. State to the Court whether you were a carpenter in Ford’s Theatre down to the 14th of April last.
A. Yes, sir; I was.
Q. Were you there on the night of the 14th of April, when the President was shot?
A. I was.
Q. State which box in the theatre the President occupied that night.
A. It was on the left-hand side of the stage: on the right as you come in from the front.
Q. Did the President sit in the upper, or lower box?
A. The upper.
Q. When the shot was fired, did you hear anybody say any thing about stopping a man?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. What was said?
A. Somebody hallooed, “Stop that man!”
Q. State where you were at the time, and what you did when you heard that cry, “Stop that man!”
A. I was standing on the stage behind the scenes. Some one cried that the President was shot. Then I saw a man running that had no hat on.
Q. Which way was he running?
A. Towards the back door. He had a knife in his hand, and I ran to stop him, and ran through the last entrance; and as I came up to him he tore the door open. I made for him, and he struck at me with the knife; and I jumped back then. He then ran out, and slammed the door shut. I then went to get the door open. In a moment afterwards, I opened the door, and the man had just got on his horse, and was running down the alley; and then I came in. I came back on the stage where I had left Edward Spangler, and he hit me on the face with the back of his hand, and he said, “Don’t say which way he went.” I asked him what he meant by slapping me in the mouth; and he said, “For God’s sake shut up!” and that was the last he said.
Q. Is the Edward Spangler to whom you refer the prisoner at the bar?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. When you went out of that door, had anybody else except the man that ran with the knife gone out before you?
A. I did not see any one else.
Q. Did any go out after you?
A. Some one came out, but I do not know who it was.
Q. Did you leave the door open when you went out?
A. Yes, sir: I left it open.
Q. What do you do during the time the play is going on in the theatre, if any thing?
A. My business is to shift wings on the stage, and pull them off, and fetch things out of the cellar if they need any thing.
Q. State what sort of a man, if any, came out after you had gone out of the door.
A. I thought it was a tall man, and pretty stout man.
Q. Do you know him?
A. No: I did not take notice who it was.
Q. When you came back into the theatre was the door open, or shut?
A. It was open.