The Why Files
Lincoln Conspiracy: a Diary, a Mummy and The Escape of John Wilkes Booth
2025 • E32 Oct 24, 2025 42m
History says John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln and died twelve days later on a Virginia farm. But FBI forensic tests revealed his diary is missing 86 pages filled with names and payments. The body pulled from that burning barn had the wrong injuries and features. Multiple witnesses claimed it wasn't Booth. Then a Texas bartender confessed on his deathbed to being Lincoln's assassin, and his preserved remains toured the country for years. DNA testing could prove the truth, but every request has been blocked. Was Lincoln's assassination part of a larger plot to control America? And did the real killer escape?