One more post, on one broken leg.

[wsanto]

(09-12-2013 08:46 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  

(09-11-2013 08:41 PM)wsanto Wrote:  Was Booth lying in his diary? Not really--he was confessing to the murder and making his case. He embellished some small facts but was mostly telling the truth. Why would he lie about breaking his leg in the leap rather than just say he broke his leg later in the escape?

Bill, as you know from previous discussions, I agree with you wholeheartedly. I feel the diary is the best evidence, and I feel the horse fall story is essentially hearsay.

However, that said, I am certainly willing to look at other evidence. Is there evidence we have not yet discussed? I consider Mike Kauffman a punctilious researcher - one of the very best. He writes, "During his escape Booth told about a dozen people he had broken his leg when his horse stumbled and fell on him." I do not think Mike Kauffman would write that unless he could back it up. Personally I can think of only a handful of folks Booth told. Does anyone know of additional statements that we have not yet looked at on the forum? I am curious how Mike gets "about a dozen." Apparently there must be additional accounts I have never seen, and I would like to read exactly what the people had to say.

Roger,

I agree with your view of Mr. Kauffman. I too have great respect for him and his work. I wish I had the time and access to all the documents he reviewed in his diligent research. I would like to not only see more documentation on who Booth told about the horse fall but also another statement from Thomas Davis that confirms Mr. Kauffman's contention that the horse had a "badly swollen left shoulder".

Mr. Kauffman goes into some legnth about how Booth embellished his diary account so I am quite sure he would not embellish his evidence of the horse fall. There must be some documents or statement that back-up his evidence. I just wish I could see them.

Thanks--Bill Carnevali