I. As to Arnold and O'Laughlin, it may be said in one emphatic word, that
there was no evidence at all against them of complicity in the plot to
kill. The letter of Arnold to Booth shows, when fairly construed, that, if
the writer had conspired with the actor, he conspired to abduct; and,
also, for the time being, even that conspiracy he had abandoned. He was at
Fort Monroe for the two weeks prior to the assassination. His confession,
used on the trial against himself not only but also against O'Laughlin
because he was mentioned in it as present at a meeting of the
conspirators, was a confession only of a conspiracy to abduct which had
been given up. The condemnation of these two men was brought about by the
conduct of Judge Bingham, to which we have drawn attention, in
systematically shutting his eyes to the existence of any conspiracy to
capture, and employing the letter and confession as proof that both these
men were guilty of conspiracy to murder.
II. As to Dr. Mudd, the evidence leaves it doubtful whether or not he
recognized Booth under his disguise on the night he set his broken leg,
and therefore whether he may have been an accessory after the fact or not;
but the testimony of the informer Weichman, by which chiefly if not solely
the prosecution sought to implicate the doctor in the conspiracy to
murder, was greatly damaged, if not completely broken down, by the proof
on the part of the defense that Dr. Mudd had not been in Washington from
November or December, 1864, until after the assassination.
III. As to Payne, his guilt of the assault on Seward in complicity with
Booth was clear, and confessed by himself. He was but twenty years of age,
of weak mind, entirely dominated by the superior intellect and will of
Booth. He claimed he acted under the command of his captain. He was so
stolidly indifferent during the trial as to raise suspicion of his sanity,
and he repeatedly expressed his wish for the termination of the trial so
that he might cease to live.
IV. As to the boy Herold, it was manifest that, as the mere tool and
puppet of Booth, he was acquainted beforehand with the design of his
master to kill the President, but there is no evidence that he aided or
abetted Booth in the actual assassination in any way except to participate
in his flight after he had got out of Washington.
V. As to Atzerodt, for whom there appears to have been no pity or sign of
relenting, it is nevertheless a fact, that the testimony to his lying in
wait for Andrew Johnson is so feeble as to be almost farcical. The poor
German was a coward and never went near Johnson. There is no circumstance
in the evidence inconsistent with his own confession, that he was in the
plot to capture, knew nothing of the design to murder until 8 o'clock on
the evening of the 14th, and then refused to enact the part assigned him
by Booth.