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Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, is shot in the Presidential Box at Ford's Theater in Washington D.C. by John Wilkes Booth. Booth escapes without being apprehended, though his leg is badly broken. Major Witnesses: Clara Harris, John Rathbone, and Dr. Hall
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Early in the morning on this date, Secretary of State, William H. Seward is assulted in his home by Lewis Powell (Payne). Powell assults Seward's son, then Seward with a knife, before fleeing into the countryside.
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At 7:22am, President Lincoln dies in a house across from Ford's Theater.
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Lewis Powell, Mary Surratt, and her boarders are arrested.
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Samuel Arnold is arrested after authorities find him in Boothe's hotel room.
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Michael O'Laughlen, a friend of Booth, is arrested
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Lincoln's funeral is held in the East Room of the White House.
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George Atzerodt (who had weapons of Boothe's) is arrested.
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Authorities arrest Dr. Samuel A. Mudd based on his contact with Booth and his unsatisfactory answers when questioned.
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John Wilkes Booth is shot and killed at Garrett's farm in Virginia.
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David E. Herold is arrested on suspicion of involvement in the conspiracy.
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Lewis Powell attempts to commit suicide by banging his head against a cell wall. His canvas hood is replaced with a padded hood to avoid future suicide attempts.
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President Andrew Johnson orders that the Lincoln assassination conspirators be tried by a military commission.
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The Military Commission convenes for the first time.
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The conspirators are arraigned before the Military Commission. The Commission also adopts rules that will govern the trial.
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Testimony begins in the Lincoln assassination conspiracy trial at the Old Arsenal Building in Washington.
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In secret session, the Commission begins its review of the trial evidence.
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The Military Commission determines its verdicts and sentences. Four conspirators (Herold, Mary Surratt, Powell, and Atzerodt) are sentenced to die, three (O' Laughlen, Arnold, and Mudd) to life terms, and one (Spangler) to a prison term of six years.
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President Johnson approves the verdicts and sentences of the Military Commission.
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Around 1:30 in the afternoon in the courtyard of the Old Arsenal Building Atzerodt, Mary Surratt, Herold, and Powell are hanged.
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Mary Suratt petitions for Habeas Corpus, but President Johnson declares that Habeas Corpus is "suspended in cases such as this".
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Louis Weichmann signs an affidavit strongly implicating John Surratt, who fled the country, in the assassination conspiracy.
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John Surratt, after having been captured in Europe, is tried in civil court. The jury is unable to reach a verdict in his case and Surratt is released.
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Convicted conpirator Michael O'Laughlen dies in prison.
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John Surratt begins a public lecture tour in which he provides his account of the assassination conspiracy.
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Edman Spangler dies four years after his release from prison.