Was it Booth in the Barn?

[L Verge]

(10-29-2014 06:33 PM)SSlater Wrote:  Before we leave "was it Booth in the Barn?", there is one more item that we should add to the stew - we should read Garrett's statement given to the arresting Officers. I found his statement in a CIS file in the Pentagon (when I was working there). That's a Congressional Information Service, in which they record everything that they do. (I also found Garrett's claim for payment for everything that the Government burned in the barn). Garrett said that he knew several of the Rebs, that showed up that day Jett, including Jett and Ruggles etc., because they were local boys but he didn't know the "red haired" man who died in the barn.
I don't know anyone who accepts this statement, but it does exist.
I gave a copy of the statement to the Research Center - a billion years ago, maybe they still have it. (Laurie???) I hope she can print it here for your entertainment.
I'll look in my files, but I can't think how I would file it. I'll look for the Claim , too. Does anyone have access to the CIS?

I'll see where we have it filed, John, but you know that I place no faith in such a statement. First, I have argued since I was a teenager that someone with as dark hair as Booth's would have red highlights show up after exposure to the sun after so many days. Second, unless Garrett's statement is written in his hand and signed by him, there is no reason not to believe that it was written by someone else. Third, that simple sentence can translate simply to Garrett saying that he did not know the man who came with the local boys - and at the moment of their arrival, the Garretts did not know who he was.