Was Stanton a murder target?

[John Fazio]

Kees:

You are trying to get too much mileage out of Ford and Hess. Even if Booth did not make the trip to Baltimore on the 13th, that would not vitiate O'Laughlen's trips to the National on Thursday evening and Friday morning, because these trips are attested to by his companions in their trial testimony. But do not exclude the Baltimore trip so easily. The fact is that Ford does not say how early in the morning in was when he saw Booth at the theater. It could have been very early, say 9:00 or something like that. Nor does Hess say how late in the afternoon he saw Booth at Grover's (contrary to one of your entries). It could have been quite late, say 5:00 or something like that. If these outside estimates are in fact true, then Booth could indeed have made the trip to Baltimore and back between the sightings, thus validating "Justice's" sighting and his letter recording the same. I don't have the schedules, obviously, but it is a safe bet that there were quite a number of trains making the round-trip between Washington and Baltimore in those days. Another possibility is that Booth made the trip on the 12th and that Justice erred with respect to the date. His letter is dated May 6, i.e. 23 days after the event it describes. An error of this kind is quite possible. Significantly, perhaps, Kauffman says that Justice's letter has "the ring of truth and makes O'Laughlen's trip to Washington appear less coincidental".

Pending evidence to the contrary, I will continue to believe that Booth was probably in Baltimore on the 12th or 13th, more likely the latter, that he persuaded O'Laughlen to come to Washington to help him in some way, that he came, that he visited Booth at the National on the 13th and 14th, that both visits were related to the assassination, and that the intruder at Stanton's home on the night of the 13th was most likely O'Laughlen or, possibly, a surrogate. Ford's and Hess's testimony does not contradict this scenario, though it does make it something less than certain.

John