The Reign of Terror

The Judicial Murder of Mary E. Surratt

by David Miller DEWITT (1837 - 1912)

April, 1865 -- The war ended and throughout the Northern States joy and relief reigned. Then, less than a week later, a thunderbolt: the president was dead -- struck down by an assassin's bullet. Could this have been the mad act of a single demented actor? Or was there a wider conspiracy to be rooted out? At this dark moment of national confusion, rage and despair, would the provisions of the Constitution and the procedures of established law be able to deal with the crisis -- or would extralegal methods be needed? Summary by Delmar H. Dolbier

Listen next episodes of The Judicial Murder of Mary E. Surratt:
Andrew Johnson Signs another Death Warrant , Animus of the Judges , Arguments of the Defense , Charge of Judge Bingham , Conclusion , Conduct of the Trial , Reversal on the Merits. Trial of John H. Surratt , Setting Aside the Verdict. Discharge of Jefferson Davis , The Bureau of Military (In)Justice , The Death Warrant and Execution , The Opening of the Court. Was She Ironed? , The Recommendation to Mercy , Trial of Joseph Holt , Verdict, Sentence and Petition , Was it not Murder? The Milligan Case