April 14, 1865

Witness Statement
Date: April 14, 1865
Location: Ford’s Theatre, Washington D.C.

I hereby declare the following account to be true to the best of my recollection:

On the evening of the fourteenth of April,
in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and sixty-five,
I was present at Ford’s Theatre for the performance of “Our American Cousin.”
The atmosphere was lively,
and the audience was in high spirits,
for President Lincoln himself graced us with his presence.

As the play progressed,
I noticed a man moving stealthily in the shadows.
He was of average height,
with dark hair and a mustache,
dressed in a manner that suggested he was no ordinary attendee.

Little did I know, this man was John Wilkes Booth,
an actor turned assassin.

The play reached its third act when a sudden commotion broke the joviality.
A loud bang,
akin to the sound of a firecracker,
echoed through the theatre.
Confusion ensued,
and as I turned my gaze towards the President’s box,
I saw the unthinkable.
President Lincoln slumped forward in his chair,
a victim of an atrocious act.

Booth leaped from the box onto the stage,
brandishing a dagger and shouting words
that have since been etched into the annals of history.
Though his leg was broken in the fall,
he managed to escape in the ensuing chaos.

I was frozen in shock,
unable to comprehend the gravity
of what had just transpired before my very eyes.
The President,
our leader,
had been struck down in a moment of celebration and unity.

This statement is given under duress of emotion
but with a clear conscience,
in the hope that justice may be served for this heinous crime.