Lincoln Assassination

S1 E8: April 14, 1865--Actor John Wilkes Booth shot President Lincoln in the back of the head at a Washington theater. Days later, Wilkes died in a standoff, and eventually, eight Southern sympathizers were tried for conspiracy. This much we know to be true. But many conspiracy theories arose--pointing to the Confederacy, the Union, and even the Catholic Church! Once again, new theories have sprung up, based on recently found documents and forensic technology. Historian Edward Steers Jr. connects Booth to the Confederate Secret Service in Montreal, which indirectly links him to Jefferson Davis and the Confederate government; while biographer Charles Higham places Booth in a larger conspiracy. Historians, biographers, and researchers, who take issue with Steers and Higham, counter their arguments here.