A Wonderful Find ...

[Crowza]

After the shot rang out that wounded Booth, Conger thought Booth had shot himself. Byron Baker disputed this, since he was watching Booth very carefully at the moment he was shot. Boston Corbett then reported to Lt. Dohetry that he was the one who shot Booth. As proof, he showed him the spent percussion cap and the empty chamber in his 1860 Colt.

Source: American Brutus (Michael Kauffman) - Chapter 15 (no exact page number, as I have the Kindle edition)

To offer a theory that Booth committed suicide, I'd say one would need to explain away all of evidence to the contrary. Not just that the shot was physically possible, but to explain the fresh spent percussion cap and the empty revolver chamber (not to mention, Baker's eyewitness account).

Further, it would have been better for the men involved to say that Booth killed himself, as I believe the standing orders from Stanton was to take him alive. Even though Corbett wasn't punished for shooting Booth, they all had no idea at the time that they wouldn't be.

IMHO, there is simply no written or physical evidence that supports the notion of Booth killing himself, just pure speculation.

[Craig Hipkins]

I have always kept an open mind about the possibility of Booth killing himself. However, I do not believe that he did. Dr. Lattimer in his book Kennedy & Lincoln Medical & Ballistic comparisons of their Assassinations sums it up rather well. In order for Booth to have shot himself with his revolver it would have been necessary for him to lower his crutch and carbine. Also, the bullet's trajectory was downward. If Booth had used his revolver (according to Lattimer) it would have been necessary for him to have repositioned the heavy weapon and use his thumb on the trigger instead of his index finger. Lattimer also describes the difference in the appearance of a suicide type wound and one inflicted from a distance. He notes that Dr. Woodward who later examined Booth's body stated that the wound was made by a "conoidal revolver bullet, fired at a distance of a few yards." Although these arguments do not prove that Booth did not shoot himself they sure do make a good case against it.

I believe that the mentally unstable, and eccentric Boston Corbett shot John Wilkes Booth.

Craig

[J. Beckert]

In Woodward's report, he stated Booth was killed by a "carbine" ball - then scratched that out - and wrote "pistol".

I don't buy the spent percussion cap statement and haven't seen it used in too many sources. Booth had a revolver in his hand and I believe both Conger and Baker thought he initially killed himself. The empty chamber was in Booth's pistol. I don't know of a source that states anyone could see him clearly, aside from what Corbett claimed.

It is VERY possible to shoot ones self without having to put a thumb on the trigger. I don't know how familiar Dr. Lattimer was with firearms, but Booth could have easily cocked the weapon with his thumb, inverted it and pulled the trigger with his index finger.

Bill Richter forwarded me the article he and Rick Smith did and I've asked Roger to post it. They show how easy this would have been for Booth.

[RJNorton]

Bill Richter forwarded me the article he and Rick Smith did and I've asked Roger to post it. They show how easy this would have been for Booth.

Hope this works. Click here and here.

[LincolnMan]

Great article- well worth the reading. Thanks for posting it.

[L Verge]

While Joe and I disagree on how Booth was killed, I do agree with him that Richter and Smith disproved much of Dr. Lattimer's work. I was/am good friends with all four gentlemen, and I wish that Dr. Lattimer were still alive (or that I had known the other three) back in the 1970s-1990s so that they could experiment and argue in tandem. In fact, this would make a wonderful presentation at a Surratt conference.

[Rick Smith]

Roger / Joe,

Thanks for posting the article which Bill & I wrote. I suppose that I must try to make plain what I have tried to make plain many times before, but for some reason have little success.

The premise of the Booth Suicide article is not that Booth did commit suicide, we do not know if he did or not, but that it was absolutely mechanically possible to inflict, by his own hand, the wound that Booth sustained.

If you read the article, look on page 8, I believe if you click twice on the blank space a photo of my son will appear which illustrates our point.

Or maybe Roger could extract the photo and post it for us.

I do not know how to do this.

Rick

---

Terry loves the mystery of the Lincoln assassination as much as the rest of us. As for James Swanson, we have converted him. Jim's a friend of mine and of the museum and Society and freely admits that his first impression of us was that we were "weird." He and Joan Chaconas and I have had some good laughs about that -- he's been converted, trust me.

Your last paragraph describes my feelings about my obsession quite accurately. You and I are on the same page. It is a shame that a few others cannot look beyond the crime itself to see the effect it had/has on American history.

Laurie,

What crime? This was a wartime event.

Yr. Obt. Unreconstructed srvt.

Rick

---

That was a great article Bill and whether it angers anyone or not is beside the point. You and Rick did a great job of explaining that no one can prove what happened either way while being sensitive and respectful to other's theories, but that suicide was a distinct possiblity.

I tried to find a link to the Suite101 site, but I can't find it.

I don't buy the suicide by cop theory for a minute. If that were the case, I think Booth would have actually have had to have seen a "cop". In a barn packed with furniture and farm equipment, I don't think he was planning on anyone taking him out. He blatantly refused to come out and he knew what was waiting for him if he did. The rope - and just what he wrote he wanted to avoid - dying like a criminal.

Joe,

As you know, our article does not show that Booth did in fact shoot himself, just that it could have been done, I do agree with all you have pointed out.

Rick

[RJNorton]

Or maybe Roger could extract the photo and post it for us.

Happy to do this, Rick.

[J. Beckert]

A picture says a thousand words. Thanks, Rick.

While this is an unusual way to shoot a gun, it should be noted that Booth had been seen doing fancy shooting in a gallery - upside down and behind his back. He knew firearms and was a crack shot. Given his vanity, I feel this would have been a natural choice for him.

[L Verge]

Don't tell the Park Police, but I actually had Rick demonstrate this to me (alone) in my office at Surratt House. He made a believer out of me that Dr. Lattimer was incorrect in his assessments. We still argued about it for awhile, so strongly that at one point, Rick called a truce and handed me a dozen red roses and his Colt -- Guns & Roses as an apology will sway a lady any day!

Joseph - It's going to take two dozen roses to convince me it was a suicide, however... (lol)

[Cliff Roberts]

Hi Joe! Thanks for your excellent report and the thorough study you made to back it up. Solid work! It hasn't changed my opinion as to whether Booth shot himself, but you showed it could be done and offered plausible evidence to support that. But to me, there's just too much ballistic and eyeball evidence to overcome the most likely conclusion that Corbett shot Booth. Don't get me wrong. I think Booth wanted to die, right there in Garrett's barn. He may once have thought of returning to Washington and defending himself, but in that burning barn, facing almost certain execution as a cowardly assassin, he wanted a more glorious death, in face to face battle like a soldier. Had Corbett not shot him, I think Booth would have come out fighting and been killed. To those who suggest that Booth wouldn't shoot himself in the head to avoid disfiguring his face, it's a valid consideration, but a clean head shot from behind the ear would likely not have affected his facial features. On the other hand, would he risk possibly surviving a neck shot, knowing he could end up crippled from the neck down and be carted to the scaffold on a litter?

[Rick Smith]

Don't tell the Park Police, but I actually had Rick demonstrate this to me (alone) in my office at Surratt House. He made a believer out of me that Dr. Lattimer was incorrect in his assessments. We still argued about it for awhile, so strongly that at one point, Rick called a truce and handed me a dozen red roses and his Colt -- Guns & Roses as an apology will sway a lady any day!

Joseph - It's going to take two dozen roses to convince me it was a suicide, however... (lol)

That was an interesting day. It does say something powerful that I offered up my side arm. I know that you all who are married will understand the concept of wisdom which dictates that when Momma's happy, ever'body's happy.

---

Or maybe Roger could extract the photo and post it for us.

Happy to do this, Rick.

Many thanks Roger.

[Gene C]

Possible, yes
Probable - not to me.

(how hard is the trigger to pull at that angle?)

[Craig Hipkins]

Good work on that article Bill and Rick! Thanks for posting it. If anything it proves that Booth COULD have shot himself. I guess no one will ever know for certain if Booth took his own life, but it makes for an interesting discussion!
There is still the matter of the eyewitness accounts who could clearly see Booth through the wide openings between the boards. None of them saw Booth raise his pistol and shoot himself, most importantly Baker who surely would have reported it.
As far as the "spent percussion cap" Joe, it might still be out there at Garrett's Farm, although probably rusted into oblivion by now!

Craig

[Rick Smith]

Possible, yes
Probable - not to me.

(how hard is the trigger to pull at that angle?)

Gene,

It is very easy to pull the trigger at that angle.

Rick