Booth autopsy

[J. Beckert]

I noticed this a few months ago, and if I'm not getting lost in the medical jargon, Dr. Barnes had the ball exiting on the right side of the neck and Dr. Woodward had it exiting on the left. Dr. Barnes made his report the same day. I don't know when Dr. Woodward made his.

Another question I have is this. What are we looking at here? A frontal view or a view from the rear?

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I should have included this.

http://rogerjnorton.com/Lincoln83.html

[wsanto]

(08-18-2013 07:10 PM)J. Beckert Wrote:  I noticed this a few months ago, and if I'm not getting lost in the medical jargon, Dr. Barnes had the ball exiting on the right side of the neck and Dr. Woodward had it exiting on the left. Dr. Barnes made his report the same day. I don't know when Dr. Woodward made his.

Another question I have is this. What are we looking at here? A frontal view or a view from the rear?

---

I should have included this.

http://rogerjnorton.com/Lincoln83.html

I believe this is a posterior view. The bottom protuberance appears to be the fifth spinous process coming toward the viewer.

IMO Woodward is correct again in this autopsy. We sort of know by most account that Corbett was firing from Booth's right as Booth was facing the doors to the barn. The bullet path would have had to travel from right to left with the exit being the left.

Once a bullet enters the body it doesn't neccessarily follow a straight path as it can be deflected by bone and/or it ususually takes a path of least resistance. That may explain the slight downward trajectory of the bullet. Also Booth may not have been standing up straight due to his fractured left fibula, his crutch, his gun, etc and his head and neck may have been slightly tilted toward Corbett.

[J. Beckert]

Thank you, Bill. So, if this is a posterior view, it's safe to say the bullet entered from the front right quadrant of Booth's neck and traveled, as Woodward said, with a slight inclination downward and backward. I think from your response that you favor the theory that Corbett shot Booth, but being it entered from the front, I think it also makes it more feasible that Booth shot himself. No?

[wsanto]

(08-18-2013 07:52 PM)J. Beckert Wrote:  Thank you, Bill. So, if this is a posterior view, it's safe to say the bullet entered from the front right quadrant of Booth's neck and traveled, as Woodward said, with a slight inclination downward and backward. I think from your response that you favor the theory that Corbett shot Booth, but being it entered from the front, I think it also makes it more feasible that Booth shot himself. No?

I guess it is feasable, based solely on the autopsy, that Booth may have shot himself. But why would he shoot himself in the neck? The neck shot makes the suicide theory very unlikely in my opinion. Almost invariably people try to shoot themselves through the brain (mouth, temporal) or through the heart.

[J. Beckert]

(08-18-2013 08:09 PM)wsanto Wrote:  I guess it is feasable, based solely on the autopsy, that Booth may have shot himself. But why would he shoot himself in the neck? The neck shot makes the suicide theory very unlikely in my opinion. Almost invariably people try to shoot themselves through the brain (mouth, temporal) or through the heart.

I agree about the methods of suicide, but what makes me think he opted for this end is that Booth supposedly had an unnatural obsession with having his face scarred. To me that says, coupled with his own words that if they don't kill me, I'll kill myself, he knew a contact wound to the neck would be fatal. While either scenario is feasible and I don't doubt your medical opinion, I think you've just put to rest the opinion that Booth would have to had placed the gun in an awkward position that was physically impossible to achieve. Thank you.

[Gene C]

I am sure Booth had to have given some thought as to what he would do if he were cornered. Does he allow himself to be captured or does he die as a martyr. Does he take the chance that he could be wounded but survive and most likely hang, or does he take his own life?

If he shoots himself through the brain or mouth, that's very messy, and he is a vain person. The neck is still pretty bad, but it doesn't disfigure him, but then again, it might not kill him. What a morbid conversation to have with yourself.

Desperate people take desperate actions.

[J. Beckert]

(08-18-2013 08:47 PM)Gene C Wrote:  Desperate people take desperate actions.

That's true Gene and he was indeed desperate. There was no way he was coming out of that barn to take a Yankee hay wagon ride to Washington and be paraded through the streets like a captured animal. I think the suicide theory has more weight than the "suicide by cop" (I hope they have a good shot in a barn full of furniture and farm equipment) theory. Suicide is always a permanent solution to a temporary problem, but some folks are so disconnected they'll do whatever is necessary to finish the job. I've seen some suicides where folks appeared to have changed their minds midstream and some where they could have avoided it, but went to horrific lengths to see it through. I think that's the case with Booth.

[L Verge]

Joseph knows that I am not going to agree with him, but I will make one point that might tip in his favor a tad (only a tad, Joe): On the Surratt bus tours, Mike Kauffman used to say that Boston Corbett aimed for Booth's shoulder in order to get him to drop the weapon. However, when Booth limped to one side, the bullet hit his neck instead.

Is it possible that the same scenario could have occurred when Booth held his revolver to his temple, his leg gave way, and the position of the gun shifted downward at the moment he pulled the trigger?

I will continue to harbor my ages-old thought that Booth had every intention of being taken alive, thought that the orders would be to bring him back alive, was grandstanding until the doors would open and he would be captured, and then would be taken to Washington where he "thought he could clear his name." Okay, y'all, draw your mental revolvers and start firing shots at my opinion...

[Houmes]

(08-18-2013 07:52 PM)J. Beckert Wrote:  Thank you, Bill. So, if this is a posterior view, it's safe to say the bullet entered from the front right quadrant of Booth's neck and traveled, as Woodward said, with a slight inclination downward and backward. I think from your response that you favor the theory that Corbett shot Booth, but being it entered from the front, I think it also makes it more feasible that Booth shot himself. No?

Booth's possible death by suicide has often been a favorite talking point, and was even suggested that night while they were dragging him out of the barn. It still remains unlikely for several reasons. When men commit suicide by shooting, historically and today--as a rule--it involves a fatal wound to the head, mouth, or chest. It can involve the neck, but this is really quite rare and even more rare to succeed. I once saw a victim who shot himself multiple times in the face and head before he was successful, but those wounds (except for one) were nonlethal, and a hefty dose of alcohol in his system had been a factor in his inept aim.

Booth had two revolvers with him: a Colt Navy 1851 and a Colt Army 1861. Each weighs about 2.5 pounds. A current automatic Glock 19, by comparison, weighs about 1.8 pounds. Both of Booth's guns were percussion type, producing smoke and frequently a small flame when fired--some Ford's Theatre eyewitnesses recalled seeing a brief flash when he pulled the Deringer trigger. At autopsy, neither Dr Barnes nor Dr Woodward observed any contact wound (skin or clothing burns from smoke and fire) or nearby stippling (from unburned powder exiting the gun barrel, tattooing the skin). If present, they surely would have included this in any report for two reasons: it would have confirmed the entrance site for a through-and-through wound (both Drs. Barnes and Woodward described the entrance wound as from the left, which didn't correlate with Corbett's position outside the barn), and it would have confirmed suicide, which would have been a disgrace to Booth, proving his cowardice to a nation hell-bent on revenge for Lincoln's death. And even if they hadn't notice any burns, don't you think after being challenged by the officers on the Montauk that Dr. May would have seen evidence when he looked more closely at Booth's head and neck during identification? To be fair, Booth's body was decomposing, but it wouldn't have effected clothing that was singed or burned.

Photographs in Dr. Lattimer's book clearly show how awkward it would have been to successfully hold a long-barreled gun (that's one of Lattimer's sons playing the impending victim) angled to reproduce Booth's wound. Now add the factor of a heavy gun, then add balance problems from a broken ankle and using a crutch.

If Booth had been truly worried about disfiguring his pretty face, why would he have chosen to shoot his neck? Other than innate talent, an actor needs his face (for emoting), his extremities for movement and gesture, along with his voice. About the only way to efficiently use a gunshot to the neck for suicide is placing the barrel right up under the angle of the jaw, near the ear. That's where you can take out the carotid artery and jugular vein. Coincidentally, it's also where you place a hangman's noose for legal execution.

Mr. Booth's hand could have easily slipped from the desired neck site if he chose this method of shooting, but usually when that happens you take off your face (some medical examiners call it the Ernest Hemingway effect) or your larynx (and voicebox) or you end up paralyzed. It would have been far easier (and less messy) to take a gunshot wound to the chest, directly to the heart. That's probably why he whispered "useless, useless." He knew all that false bravado in the swamp, when he was sweating, swatting bugs, and scribbling in his diary that he could easily return to Washington and defend himself was wasted, and that if he survived he could have used that voice for speech and those arms for dramatic gesture--staging one last grand performance, either at the trial or while standing at the gallows.

[Gene C]

That was very interesting.

I'm still holding out for the wacko theory that Booth escaped from the barn during the night, or was never at the Garrett's, and the wrong guy got killed.
After the soldiers threatened to kill Mr Garrett, you think they are going to tell the Yanks they shot the wrong guy?
Kudos for Davey for playing the fool. He may have been a better actor than Booth.

[SSlater]

This post will not contribute much, but we should read what L. C. Baker had to say about the autopsy. "We proceeded to the Navy Yard, and at the dead hour of the night disembarked our prisoner, (Herold) put him in double irons, and confined him in the hold of the ship.... The body of Booth was placed on the deck, in charge of a marine guard. ... On the following morning a post-mortem examination was held, in order to the proper identification of the body. Dr. May, a physician of Washington, who had some two years before removed a tumor from Booth's neck.... The scar of this tumor was readily found by Dr. May, and his testimony, with that of six or seven others, (WHO WAS DAT?), ... placed the question of identity beyond all cavil. Afterward, Dr. Barnes ... cut the from Booth's neck a section of the spine through which the ball passed. ... This is the only mutilation of J. Wilkes Booth that ever occurred. On Thursday, the 27th, I was sent for by the Secretary of War, and wad directed to make a disposition of the body of Booth." This is from Chapter XXXVI of his "Hist. of the U.S. Secr. Serv" The Corpse- Identification.

[J. Beckert]

(08-20-2013 04:35 PM)Houmes Wrote:  Booth's possible death by suicide has often been a favorite talking point

Thank you for that Blaine, but what do you make of the difference in the autopsy reports? It seems Dr. Barnes had the ball exiting on the right side of the neck and Dr. Woodward had it exiting on the left. Or am I missing something in the medical terms that's distorting that for me?

[Houmes]

(08-20-2013 07:16 PM)J. Beckert Wrote:  

(08-20-2013 04:35 PM)Houmes Wrote:  Booth's possible death by suicide has often been a favorite talking point

Thank you for that Blaine, but what do you make of the difference in the autopsy reports? It seems Dr. Barnes had the ball exiting on the right side of the neck and Dr. Woodward had it exiting on the left. Or am I missing something in the medical terms that's distorting that for me?

If you look at my previous entry, I noted that Drs Barnes and Woodward both reported the bullet wound entry was on Booth's left side. This is incorrect, and you are correct in that their official reports disagree. Barnes actually wrote left and Woodward wrote right. But the reports are actually different in format, in addition. Dr. Barnes reported in a letter to Secretary Stanton dated April 27, 1865, and there is no notation of when Dr Woodward detailed his findings. His findings were in a medical case report (today they're just like this one, nice and succinct) appearing in The Medical and Surgical History of the Great Rebellion, published in 1870. I suspect their differences resulted from when the two reports were written and the conditions at the time of autopsy. This was a limited examination, just the leg and the neck, undoubtedly because it was a hot day, they were on board a ship with lots of people crowding around (including assigned sailors and soldiers), with everyone wanting to get a look at the assassin, plus the body was decomposing right in front of them. A decomposing body is unsightly, smelly, and starts leaking various fluids. Police officers I worked with used to light up a cigar to mask the odor. The body starts to bloat and turn quite dark, making it difficult at times to not only ID, but also initially detect injuries like a bullet wound. No wonder Dr May didn't recognize him at first.

[J. Beckert]

(08-21-2013 11:32 AM)Houmes Wrote:  The body starts to bloat and turn quite dark, making it difficult at times to not only ID, but also initially detect injuries like a bullet wound. No wonder Dr May didn't recognize him at first.

Thank you again Blaine for your opinion. I think it's safe to say then that with only a cursory inspection of a quickly decaying corspe and the conflicting reports, the only thing that is left of any evidentiary value are the removed sections of vertebrae themselves.

One more question and I promise I'll go away. Do you concur that the photo of the vertebrae is a posterior view?

[Gene C]

Then Booth's body when it was released to the family in 1869 must have been in a high state of decomposition with not much left other than skeleton to identify him?