The Lincoln Assassination After 160 Years: Conflicts and Controversies

The 14th of April will be the 160th anniversary of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. That event is probably the most analyzed and written about crime in American history. For most of us, the facts have been well laid out and documented, and the conclusions fairly certain. John Wilkes Booth did it. He died in the Garrett barn. The six others involved were tried and hung or imprisoned. Case closed.

Not exactly. Since the moment Lincoln died at 7:22 on the Saturday morning of April 15, 1865, there has been an ongoing reexamination of that record by doubters who want to be convinced that that there is more to the story. And many want to change the story entirely. Mysterious documents and newly discovered “witnesses” have been presented over time to assert that the investigators got it wrong or even managed to hide the truth. John O’Brien has reviewed…