Was there an assassin on Grant's train?

[Susan Higginbotham]

(06-23-2015 04:56 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  Pam, I can add Mike Kauffman's opinion on the Father Menu letter. I had written Mike about this back in 2006, and Mike replied:

"If Father Menu wrote to Weichmann just after the so-called kidnap attempt, his letter would have arrived about March 20 or 21. John Surratt was out of town at the time, so that means it was most likely Mary Surratt who intercepted the letter and turned it over to Booth (perhaps indirectly through John, later in the week.) In her defense, it could be said that her motive was to warn her son that he ought not to trust his old friend. Either way, it was not just Weichmann who betrayed Mrs. Surratt; that was a two-way street."

SOURCE: Mike Kauffman email, March 8, 2006.

According to Weichmann's testimony at John Surratt's trial, John was still in town on Monday, March 20, when he picked up a letter from "Wood" at the post office and showed it to Weichmann. Weichmann says that he met John when Weichmann was coming home, so this must have been in the late afternoon when Weichmann was leaving his office. Perhaps John picked up the Menu letter at the post office as well and gave it to Booth.

Did John Surratt actually leave town at all? He was in Washington on March 23 according to Weichmann's testimony.