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this program is about unsolved mysteries
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whenever possible the actual family
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members and police officials have
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participated in recreating the events
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what you are about to see is not a news
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broadcast tonight in a fascinating new
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mystery for years
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Jim boom garden had the oddest
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encounters with people he had never seen
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before who are positive that he was
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someone else then his friends and family
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began to have odd run-ins with a
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mysterious stranger who appeared to be
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Jim's exact double was someone
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impersonating Jim Boone garden if so who
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and why after he assassinated Abraham
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Lincoln history records at John Wilkes
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Booth was tracked to a farm in Virginia
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and killed by Union troops but history
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may be wrong
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a few eyewitness accounts suggest that
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the man in the bar was not booth and
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some historians now believe that
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Lincoln's assassin was never brought to
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justice but Alex Cooper a devoted father
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and grandfather disappeared his family
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made an unsettling discovery there was
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no such person as Alex Cooper he had
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created a fictitious past and become a
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man
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everyone join me for another edition
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unsolved mystery
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[Music]
00:01:42
[Applause]
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[Music]
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April 1865 the civil war was over
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President Abraham Lincoln was dead
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for nearly two weeks 2000 Union soldiers
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scoured the countryside searching for
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his assassin on April 26th at 4:00 a.m.
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a cavalry detachment surrounded a
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tobacco barn on Garrett farm in Virginia
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they had been told that inside was one
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of the most notorious criminals of the
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century or of any age 26 year old John
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Wilkes Booth was an actor of national
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Fame considered by some the handsomest
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men in America
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he was also deeply committed to the
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Confederate cause on April 14th booth
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had mortally wounded President Lincoln
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at Ford's Theatre in Washington the man
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who had freed the slaves and given hope
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to the disenfranchised was gone
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Abraham Lincoln would preserve the Union
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through sheer force of will now belong
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to the ages on April 26th 12 days after
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the assassination an informant directed
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Union troops to the Garrett farm
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[Applause]
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the man who surrendered was not John
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Wilkes Booth a 21 year old David Herold
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known to be one of Busse co-conspirators
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lieutenant Edward Gowdy grew impatient
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he gave the command to smoke out his
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quarry
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the soldiers are under strict orders to
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take booth alive but an overzealous
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sergeant named Boston Corbett took
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matters into his own hands
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two soldiers dragged the body from the
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raging inferno the nation was avenged or
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was it
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there is tremendous physical evidence
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which proves beyond a doubt John Wilkes
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Booth in reality was not killed by the
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federal government officers as they
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claimed in fact lived until January 13th
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1903 when he died in Enid Oklahoma
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Territory
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according to official history John
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Wilkes Booth died on April 26th 1865
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incredibly this fact has given rise to
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an unlikely controversy in historical
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circles
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the matter of boost life and death has
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always seen an indisputable chapter in
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American history but even the
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Encyclopedia Britannica states that the
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identification of the man shot in the
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barn was equivocal at the time those who
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questioned the official account believed
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it in the confusion following the Civil
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War critical evidence may been
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mistakenly recorded or perhaps covered
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up others dismissed these series is
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revisionist nonsense we'll examine both
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sides of this fascinating controversy
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which has been brewing for 125 years
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in 1866 Senator Charles Sumner argued
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that the government reward from boost
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capture should not be paid out he
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claimed that there was simply not enough
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evidence to verify booths identity that
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same year senator Garrett Davis of
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Kentucky complained that he had never
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seen any satisfactory evidence that both
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had been killed and in the early 1900s
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John Schumacher general counsel to the
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Department of the army wrote the
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evidence put forth by the government to
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support the conclusion that the body was
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that of John Wilkes Booth was so
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insubstantial
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that it would not stand up in a court of
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law Nate Orlick and dr. Arthur Chitty
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have spent years studying the Lincoln
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assassination independently they have
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arrived at the same conclusion the most
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persuasive evidence to me at Garrett's
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barn that that the man in the barn was
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not booth is the fact that his friend
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David E Harold came out of the barn and
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the first thing he said was the man in
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there is not booth and there was a boy
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who was a wanted fugitive at this time
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for killing a captain Watkins in
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Maryland
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of course Harold was not permitted to
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testify in his trial as all was the case
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with all the defendants none of them
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were permitted to testify his statement
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of course was was kept secret as all the
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others were so we don't really know
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because Harold was not permitted to say
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anything and of course he was hanged so
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we don't know exactly who the man was I
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have heard the account that Harold was
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pulled out of Garrett's barn and said
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that's not booth in there I have no
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source for that I don't know where the
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story came from but a historian James
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Howe refutes this incident by citing a
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40 page statement made by David Herold
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to government investigators in 36 hours
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after his arrest
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Herold referred to booth 10 times by
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name when he was discussing what went on
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in the bar
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while it was being surrounded by the
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soldiers to me that's conclusive III
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can't see where they get the idea that
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he'd come running out and say it's not
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booth by the time David E Harold changed
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his testimony he was under such enormous
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pressure he was in fear of his life he
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had been incarcerated with a canvas bag
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over his head and just a little hole to
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be fed through he was under terrible
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emotional strain and was trying to save
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his neck and and so therefore when when
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he thought that he would survive by
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changing his story he changed his story
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according to Nate Orlick other
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eyewitnesses also refuted the
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government's identification of the man
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killed at Garrett's farm
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[Music]
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this man is not booth what's that
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lieutenant this man is not booth
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this man has red hair lieutenant
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lieutenant Williams C Allen worked for
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the United States Secret Service in 1865
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and in August of 1937 his widow mrs.
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Hannah Allen told a journalist that her
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husband had told her that he saw the man
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at Garrett's farm who had been killed
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and that the man had red hair and that
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the government knew that that man was
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not booth but they were determined to
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foist this man on the nation as booth by
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every historical account whose hair was
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jet-black Stephens testimony about the
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red-haired man was corroborated by two
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other Union soldiers private Joseph
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system and quartermaster Wilson D Kenzi
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16 they surrounded Garrett's bar and
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they burned the barn down they shot John
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Wilkes Booth only it's not booth how do
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you know it doesn't look like him no one
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will believe Kensi and his buddy Joseph
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Ziskin were friends of booth in 1862 and
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63 in New Orleans
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Kensi was a quartermaster
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and was free to go wherever he wanted
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basically you know within the military
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lines and so he went with position to
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Garrett's farm because he had an
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interest in what was going to happen to
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booth
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in 1922 when he was 77 years old Kenzi
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detailed what he sought Garrett's farm
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and a sworn affidavit as I rode up Josas
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game called here c'mere sergeant
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this ain't John Wilkes Booth tall the
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face was exposed enough so I could see
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the color of his hair on the side of his
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face and from the fact that this man had
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sandy hair and Booth had very dark hair
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I knew at once it wasn't he
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his body was exposed the lower part of
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it and he had no injured leg that I
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could see you men move away from that
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body due to or under direct orders to
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speak to no one of what you've seen here
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today do you understand me and he said
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that the officers there
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told him everyone has to keep this
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secret you'll be dire consequences for
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anyone who tells the truth the military
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really meant business and they were not
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going to risk their lives just to tell
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the truth
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the government autopsy was performed by
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a physician who was acquainted with
00:11:15
booth dr. John F May was a Washington
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surgeon who removed a tumor from the
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back of booths neck a few months before
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the assassination in 1865 his statement
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he is now in the National Archives like
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all the other government records on the
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case it was held secret for 70 years
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[Music]
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corpse bears no resemblance to the actor
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John Wilkes Booth
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john frederick may wanted to tell the
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truth and he recognized that this was
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not booth but it was made pretty clear
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to him very early on that this better be
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booth strek 'old I do not remember booth
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is being freckle
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and so we have the curious affidavit
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which starts off saying I'm sure this is
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booth and then goes on to say but it
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doesn't look like booth and it goes on
00:12:23
to say I recall booth is having black
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hair and this man has sandy hair I
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recall that booth had rather clear
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complexion in this man is freckled but
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this is certainly booth signed John
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Frederick made
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in 1906 dr. may clarified his findings
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in an article titled the mark of the
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scalpel he said he believed the
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discrepancies he found were due to the
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physical deterioration of booth while he
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was on the run dr. may also said there
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was a scar on the neck which
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corresponded to the scar left by his
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surgery in 1864 now had the government
00:13:05
really believed that that body was
00:13:08
booths they would have taken pictures of
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it they would have had many many
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hundreds of people to identify it but
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the War Department didn't do that the
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government knew that that man was not
00:13:19
booth eventually booths body was
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secretly buried in the basement of the
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old Naval prison in Washington it seems
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incredible that Union authorities would
00:13:35
have misidentified the assassin of
00:13:37
President Lincoln but if John Wilkes
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Booth was not killed at Garrett's barn
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in 1865 when what became of him when we
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returned will present evidence of booths
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escape his later years and startling
00:13:50
facts about the assassination conspiracy
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in 1865 the government moved quickly to
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close the books on the Lincoln
00:14:01
assassination John Wilkes Booth had been
00:14:04
hunted down and killed the trial of
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boost co-conspirators resulted in four
00:14:08
hangings and three life sentences as a
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nation began to rebuild the details of
00:14:14
the conspiracy are classified as secret
00:14:16
and hidden away some believe however
00:14:19
that John Wilkes Booth escaped Union
00:14:22
soldiers that he fled south under
00:14:24
assumed names and lived another 38 years
00:14:29
in 1907 an obscure attorney from Texas
00:14:33
named finest base published this book
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the escape and suicide of John Wilkes
00:14:37
Booth in these pages base claimed that
00:14:40
he learned the true story a booth from
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one of his clients
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a man named John st. Helen of Granbury
00:14:44
Texas in 1877 st. Helens felt grievously
00:14:52
ill and thinking he was about to die
00:14:54
made a startling confession to finest
00:14:56
Bates finest
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finest claim is not Johnson Helen really
00:15:07
John Wilkes Booth assassin President
00:15:12
Lincoln if I die tell my brother Edwin
00:15:18
I'm dead
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well Bates of course thought this guy
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was crazy he had been told as everyone
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else had that booth had been killed in
00:15:27
1865 so he thought he was just
00:15:29
hallucinating to be you ro and Booth
00:15:32
said to him no I really am John Wilkes
00:15:34
Booth and now that I've told you my
00:15:36
secret I want to give you the whole
00:15:37
story so he poured out for Bates a very
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long confession detailing in great
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detail the kidnap conspiracy the murder
00:15:46
conspiracy how he got out of Washington
00:15:48
how he escaped altogether escaped
00:15:51
Washington DC using a password TEB wrote
00:15:57
st. Helen explained that during the
00:16:00
Civil War all bridges out of Washington
00:16:02
were closed after nightfall and heavily
00:16:04
guarded making escape near impossible
00:16:08
oh but I must cross I'm sorry the bridge
00:16:13
is closed I have a password password TB
00:16:18
TB Road
00:16:22
all right you may pass corroborating
00:16:33
booth alias st. Helen telling Bates of
00:16:36
this password is the dramatic letter
00:16:38
written by Frederick a diamond who was
00:16:41
one of the guards at the Navy Yard
00:16:43
bridge the night of the assassination on
00:16:46
May 31st 1916 Demond sent Bates a letter
00:16:50
in that letter Demond says at about 10
00:16:53
p.m. that night a captain rode up to the
00:16:56
bridge and said if anyone comes up using
00:16:59
a certain password let him through
00:17:03
and that password was TB TB Road Demond
00:17:08
says that was very peculiar because
00:17:10
never before had anyone been allowed to
00:17:13
cross the bridge using a password bridge
00:17:15
on Washington was close enough to talk I
00:17:17
don't know what happened there that
00:17:19
night these were just a bunch of old
00:17:20
soldiers later on remembering it but
00:17:24
sergeant Silas Cobb who was in charge of
00:17:27
the squad at the bridge made a statement
00:17:31
which is in the National Archives and he
00:17:33
also testified that the conspiracy trial
00:17:36
and he didn't say anything about
00:17:38
passwords all he said was that I thought
00:17:41
these people were proper people to go
00:17:43
across the bridge and I let them cross I
00:17:45
can't tell you why these
00:17:49
dreamed up this is a password
00:17:54
st. Helens narrative continued he told
00:17:57
Bates that he joined up with
00:17:58
co-conspirator David Herold and together
00:18:01
they visited a doctor who said his
00:18:03
broken leg
00:18:08
booth alias st. Helen told Bates than
00:18:11
when he was going through the open
00:18:12
country in Virginia he hid in the back
00:18:14
of a wagon and at one point he heard
00:18:20
someone shout DARS dem soldiers now
00:18:22
thought they were northern soldiers so
00:18:24
hurry at layin he was yanked out of the
00:18:26
back of the wagon and hustled into the
00:18:28
woods
00:18:34
when that happened his papers and and
00:18:36
other personal effects fell out Saint
00:18:42
Helen claimed that while on his way to
00:18:44
the Garrett plantation he sent a man
00:18:46
back to retrieve his papers before the
00:18:48
man returned and while David Harrell was
00:18:50
out seeking supplies news came of
00:18:53
approaching Union troops mister First
00:18:55
Union soldiers are riding in from
00:18:57
Bowling Green you did you be getting out
00:18:59
of here how far behind you are they
00:19:00
about two hours thank you thank you
00:19:04
according to st. Helen he immediately
00:19:07
fled the man sent to retrieve his papers
00:19:11
was in the Garrett barn the David Herren
00:19:14
when it was surrounded by Union troops
00:19:15
on April 26th Harrell decided to
00:19:19
surrender the other man was shot inside
00:19:24
the barn
00:19:24
[Music]
00:19:27
because a dead man carried boost papers
00:19:30
he was identified as the assassin I
00:19:34
[Music]
00:19:36
believe John wants you to rest
00:19:41
several weeks later st. Helen recovered
00:19:43
from his illness bass tried to dismiss
00:19:46
the confession as hallucinations brought
00:19:48
on by the fever but Saint Helen later
00:19:51
added even more details to his story the
00:19:54
following year
00:19:55
John st. Helen left Texas but finest
00:19:57
Bates was haunted by his confession can
00:20:02
you imagine a young lawyer talking to a
00:20:05
bar owner down in Texas a gullible young
00:20:07
lawyer so he just fills him full of a
00:20:11
great big long story and later on Bates
00:20:15
that was the name of the this young
00:20:16
lawyer embroidered the story nicely and
00:20:20
wrote a book about it but I think he
00:20:23
just took a young lawyer and fed him a
00:20:25
line it's that easy certainly it wasn't
00:20:29
booth is it possible that John st. Helen
00:20:33
was in reality John Wilkes Booth a
00:20:36
comparison of photographs shows a
00:20:38
striking resemblance
00:20:42
On January 13th 1903 while staying at a
00:20:45
boarding house in Enid Oklahoma John st.
00:20:48
Helen committed suicide by drinking a
00:20:50
glass of wine laced with strychnine
00:20:53
Bates had the body preserved he took
00:20:58
many pictures of the body and eventually
00:21:01
he had the body mummified to preserve it
00:21:04
for posterity to prove once and for all
00:21:06
that the government had fooled us all
00:21:09
and he was going to not allow that
00:21:11
cover-up to stand
00:21:13
[Music]
00:21:14
in 1931 six Chicago physicians examine
00:21:18
the mummified body of John st. Helen and
00:21:20
recorded their findings in this
00:21:22
affidavit they specifically noted a
00:21:24
scarred right eyebrow a crushed right
00:21:27
thumb and a broken left leg John Wilkes
00:21:30
Booth is known to have had all three of
00:21:33
these unusual characteristics - John
00:21:37
Wilkes Booth escaped Union troops at
00:21:39
Garrett farm only to kill himself 38
00:21:42
years later in an Oklahoman
00:21:43
boardinghouse the history books say no
00:21:46
John Wilkes Booth died in 1865 four
00:21:51
years later his remains are returned to
00:21:53
Maryland and buried in an unmarked grave
00:21:55
in the family plot perhaps their rest
00:21:58
the definitive answer to this unsolved
00:22:01
mystery
00:22:03
[Music]
00:22:27
imagine that there's someone who looks
00:22:29
exactly like you
00:22:31
blocks the same way you do talks the
00:22:33
same way you do that has been the
00:22:36
bizarre fact of life for Jim Boone
00:22:37
Garden a buyer in Illinois for years Jim
00:22:41
has been haunted by the specter of a
00:22:42
strange double a man who seems to be
00:22:45
everywhere or at least everywhere Jim
00:22:48
isn't the place Rockford Illinois in
00:22:55
1980 for the occasion a company softball
00:22:59
game it is a typical Saturday morning
00:23:01
except for an eerie event about to
00:23:03
unfold
00:23:04
third baseman Rick holder is coming up
00:23:07
to bat suddenly his brother-in-law Jim
00:23:10
Dugan who should be 20 miles away at
00:23:13
home enters the game to pitch for the
00:23:15
opposing team hey Jim Jim
00:23:22
you know I would say hi to him and say
00:23:25
hi Jim hello Jim and I wasn't getting no
00:23:27
response from the guy so I just thought
00:23:29
you know after the game was over I go up
00:23:31
and I talked to the guy hey Jim how's
00:23:36
Cindy and the kids after the game he
00:23:40
said he went up shook his hand and
00:23:43
thinking he was talking to me he said
00:23:45
guy just kind of looked at him weird him
00:23:47
a funny look Turner I walked away from
00:23:49
him five years later and just a few
00:23:53
miles away
00:23:54
Jim bloom Gardens father Ernie was
00:23:56
leaving the doctor's office when he saw
00:23:58
his son Jim my dad came after this guy
00:24:03
was yelling at him
00:24:06
[Music]
00:24:11
this guy Nord him got into a car which
00:24:14
he said was very similar to mine drove
00:24:17
off and didn't even acknowledge him now
00:24:22
we had two people who knew me very well
00:24:26
and they were both fooled especially my
00:24:29
dad who reared me this guy fooled my dad
00:24:34
he has to look almost identical to me
00:24:43
Jim spent his childhood in the suburb of
00:24:46
Rockford Illinois he knew he had been
00:24:48
given up at Birth by his mother but he
00:24:50
had no idea who she was Jim loved his
00:24:54
adopted family and his life was happy
00:24:56
and uneventful except for one strange
00:24:59
incident when Jim was 11 and visiting
00:25:05
his grandparents in Rochelle Illinois he
00:25:07
was approached by a group of
00:25:08
neighborhood boys really
00:25:12
you're talking to me yeah it's you want
00:25:14
to play basketball of us
00:25:15
my name isn't Billy what are you talking
00:25:18
about it's not Billy my name is Jimmy
00:25:21
it's Billy
00:25:23
look if you don't call me by my right
00:25:25
name I won't play basketball with you
00:25:30
I could understand if why they want me
00:25:33
to play basketball so much and they
00:25:36
wouldn't call me my by my name and why
00:25:37
they were making this name up I could
00:25:39
not understand that
00:25:41
Jim filed the incident away at the back
00:25:43
of his mind after high school he joined
00:25:48
the Army and served a tour in Vietnam in
00:25:52
1978 Jim married Cindy holder they
00:25:56
settled near Rockford Illinois and had
00:25:58
two children often in Rockford people
00:26:02
Jim didn't recognize treated him in an
00:26:05
unusually friendly way how's it going
00:26:07
man I've seen a long time what's going
00:26:09
on how much I'll see you around okay and
00:26:14
I've met a lot of people there's no way
00:26:17
that you can remember every face you see
00:26:19
so I kind of brushed off as as nothing
00:26:22
until some people would see me in places
00:26:27
that I I never was or I wasn't at that
00:26:30
time finally on Christmas Day 1991 the
00:26:35
strange encounters culminated at a
00:26:37
mini-mart just five blocks from Jim's
00:26:39
house Shirley her lean was behind the
00:26:42
cash register was working and this
00:26:47
gentleman came in I assumed it was Jim
00:26:51
he looked like me he walked the same
00:26:54
talk the same same mannerisms I assumed
00:26:59
it was Jim within minutes
00:27:02
Jim and Cindy walk in do you forget
00:27:05
something well you were just here a few
00:27:07
minutes ago and I looked over at Cindy I
00:27:11
said he's kidding right
00:27:12
and she said no this first time he'd
00:27:15
been out today
00:27:16
and I said well oh my god there was
00:27:19
somebody that came in looked just like
00:27:20
it if I had been just 15 minutes earlier
00:27:23
just maybe we could have ran into each
00:27:26
other as he was coming out and I was
00:27:28
going in and met face to face how
00:27:31
awesome that would have been to see
00:27:35
yourself a lady who was there said she
00:27:39
saw a man who looked exactly like Jim
00:27:41
and they're not 15 minutes ago she said
00:27:44
he could have been Jim's twin three
00:27:49
weeks later Jim's wife Cindy was
00:27:51
visiting his grandmother's Sophie Sophie
00:27:56
grew strangely quiet when Cindy told her
00:27:59
about the odd case of mistaken identity
00:28:00
at the mini mart what's wrong are you
00:28:08
okay
00:28:10
[Music]
00:28:11
Burnie told me something a long time ago
00:28:15
and I promise to keep it a secret
00:28:19
Jim's father Ernie had died a few months
00:28:22
earlier and Cindy had no ideas she was
00:28:24
about to hear a long-held family secret
00:28:27
Ernie told me that when he contacted his
00:28:31
lawyers about adopting Jimmy he learned
00:28:35
that Jimmy had a brother but twin Jim
00:28:39
had a twin she said that Ernie didn't
00:28:43
like keeping it a secret but yet he
00:28:45
figured that you know gentlemen never
00:28:46
known his brother he would never miss
00:28:49
him I was kind of hurt at Ernie because
00:28:53
he never told us his self you know while
00:28:56
he was alive but I was very relieved
00:28:58
that we had somebody that could confirm
00:29:02
that there was a twin I was excited you
00:29:08
know all the speculations are now true I
00:29:12
am looking for a twin brother Jim
00:29:17
obtained a family history from the
00:29:19
adoption agency to his disappointment no
00:29:22
names were used but the report did give
00:29:24
one clue his birth mother had a nephew
00:29:27
who drowned at the age of 14 desperate
00:29:32
for details Jim spent hours in the
00:29:34
library until he found his story in a
00:29:36
1945 newspaper finally Jim had come up
00:29:40
with a family name hieronymus
00:29:42
[Music]
00:29:45
through the phonebook gym located a
00:29:48
woman by that name living just 20 miles
00:29:50
away may I help you good afternoon my
00:29:55
name is Jim Bowman garden this is my
00:29:57
wife Cindy and I apologize for
00:29:59
disturbing you but I was wondering you
00:30:01
could help me it's your last name
00:30:03
hieronymus sorry yes I think we might be
00:30:07
related you don't have to tell me we're
00:30:10
related you look exactly like my brother
00:30:12
bud
00:30:13
Jim had found his aunt Myrtle his birth
00:30:17
mother's sister the mother of the boy
00:30:19
who had drowned in 1945 that would have
00:30:23
been taken sometime in the mid 40s she'd
00:30:25
about 33 or 34 at that time that's about
00:30:28
the time I was born I tell you for the
00:30:33
first time Jim saw a photograph of his
00:30:35
mother hazel and learned that she had
00:30:37
died three years earlier
00:30:38
Myrtle told Jim that his mother had cut
00:30:41
herself off from the family and that
00:30:43
they had known nothing of his birth or
00:30:45
his twin brothers did you know my father
00:30:48
well there was a man hazel was seeing I
00:30:52
think he might have been married good I
00:30:55
didn't really know him
00:30:57
hazel never told you about me and my
00:31:00
brother no she never said anything about
00:31:03
having had twin boys of course I knew
00:31:07
about the little girl she had
00:31:09
girl when well let's see it was October
00:31:15
November 1945 I was in a hospital myself
00:31:19
Jim's aunt had dropped a bombshell she
00:31:22
not only did Jim have a twin brother he
00:31:25
had an older sister as well now the
00:31:28
mystery is even harder now I got to to
00:31:30
fight instead of one but I'm bombing
00:31:32
German I'm going to find him one way or
00:31:34
the other
00:31:36
finally Jim was able to visit his birth
00:31:38
mother's family plot her maiden name was
00:31:41
hazel georgette edible fur eventually
00:31:45
she married a man named Connor also now
00:31:47
deceased I found out everything except
00:31:51
my brother and my sister and finding my
00:31:54
family it's the only part of the web
00:31:58
that needs to be untangled now is
00:31:59
finding them and and then it will be
00:32:01
complete and I will be satisfied and
00:32:04
relaxed
00:32:08
Jim boom Garten and his brother his
00:32:11
first name might be billy were born in
00:32:13
the Salvation Army Hospital in Cook
00:32:14
County Illinois on March 29th 1947 his
00:32:18
brother was adopted by a family in
00:32:20
Rochelle Illinois their older sister was
00:32:23
also born in Rockford st. Anthony's
00:32:25
Hospital in October or November of 1945
00:32:29
[Music]
00:32:48
next the baffling disappearance of a 65
00:32:51
year old salesman from Canada Alice
00:33:04
Cooper of Cranbrook British Columbia
00:33:06
Canada was an accomplished musician a
00:33:08
folksy down-to-earth family man who
00:33:11
enjoyed nothing more than fishing and
00:33:13
camping with his wife Margaret his five
00:33:15
grown children and his three
00:33:16
grandchildren
00:33:17
[Music]
00:33:18
Alex was a local businessman who worked
00:33:21
in the cleaning industry from 1974 to
00:33:23
1983 then in 1986 he took a job as a
00:33:28
salesman and began to spend some of his
00:33:30
time on the road everyone who knew him
00:33:32
agreed Alex Cooper was the last person
00:33:35
you'd expect to find at the center of a
00:33:37
mystery
00:33:38
then came the morning of April 4th 1987
00:33:41
when Alex's daughter Lila and her
00:33:43
husband Pete left Cranbrook for a
00:33:46
shopping trip we left Cranbrook quite
00:33:50
early that morning about 7:00 7:30 we
00:33:52
really drive to another city which was
00:33:54
about a three-hour drive and it was
00:33:57
actually Pete that said that's your
00:33:59
dad's car you know it was obviously his
00:34:03
car my dad and I were so close Pete
00:34:07
would have known that if if we didn't
00:34:09
stop and say hello I was just gonna sulk
00:34:11
all day anyway so we did we right away
00:34:14
turn around and I just couldn't imagine
00:34:17
driving by without stopping saying haha
00:34:19
it's just the way we were so we just
00:34:23
walked right by the car didn't really
00:34:24
paid any attention we walked by it
00:34:26
walked down the bank to the water yeah
00:34:29
we just assumed that he was fishing
00:34:45
at the water I was curious when I got
00:34:49
back to the car I started to get a
00:34:51
little bit that feeling in your stomach
00:34:54
like this is really unusual past curious
00:34:57
now
00:34:58
[Music]
00:35:01
concerned because their father had a
00:35:02
heart condition Lila called her mother
00:35:05
Margaret Cooper had not seen her husband
00:35:08
for more than 24 hours I found a great
00:35:12
deal of fear a lot of said justice you
00:35:16
check out the hotel which was closed the
00:35:19
hospitals and then if he didn't find
00:35:23
that she would go to the place do you
00:35:26
know where he was headed to he was on a
00:35:28
regular sales trip as far as we know on
00:35:30
his way through the valley to sell some
00:35:32
supplies what kind of spice does he sell
00:35:35
restaurant equipment there was no
00:35:37
footprints or any other physical
00:35:39
evidence that may be around the vehicle
00:35:41
the vehicle was locked he had a set of
00:35:45
clothes that were left in the vehicle
00:35:46
along with some fishing tackle nothing
00:35:49
that we found around the vehicle would
00:35:51
suggest that foul play was involved in
00:35:52
this
00:35:53
[Music]
00:35:55
we're gonna have to take the car to
00:35:57
because he's gonna be joining it away
00:35:59
they have to take the car that has to go
00:36:02
back to our office we gotta check it to
00:36:03
see if there's any evidence at all
00:36:05
I felt very lost seeing the car away I
00:36:08
want to meet some fever
00:36:10
has to go I felt that of the car was
00:36:13
there
00:36:15
and get into it and leave it this one
00:36:17
ain't
00:36:19
but they took the car away and he didn't
00:36:23
come back
00:36:29
the police launched an extensive air and
00:36:31
land search but Alex Cooper had
00:36:33
absolutely vanished perplexed and
00:36:36
heartburn and his family desperately
00:36:37
searched for answers they learned that
00:36:42
all the day Alex disappeared he ate
00:36:44
lunch at a restaurant less than a mile
00:36:46
from where his car was found what Alex
00:36:49
had a very bad habit in that he carried
00:36:52
his money in a roll in his front pocket
00:36:54
and if he was gonna pay for anything out
00:36:57
came the roll he took off what he needed
00:36:59
popped it back in and and that worried
00:37:03
me a great deal afterwards
00:37:10
sure climate Margaret Cooper feared the
00:37:15
worst possible scenario someone may have
00:37:17
robbed her husband killed him dumped his
00:37:20
body in the Canadian wilderness
00:37:22
Lila Cooper imagined them all together
00:37:25
different course of events I was
00:37:29
thinking about all the things that could
00:37:31
have happened to him I focused on the
00:37:34
water number one that was my main
00:37:37
thought was
00:37:39
see him maybe going down to the creek to
00:37:42
the water and being a fisherman seeing
00:37:44
what the possibility was if maybe trying
00:37:47
to catch something or drop a line in
00:37:49
fell in or he had a heart attack and
00:37:51
feeling
00:37:56
[Music]
00:37:59
police divers drag the creek and found
00:38:01
nothing the media picked up the story
00:38:06
newspaper and television coverage
00:38:09
provided yet another theory after the
00:38:13
broadcast we had numerous sightings
00:38:14
people come to our office reporting that
00:38:17
they hadn't seen a fellow matching a
00:38:20
similar description as Alex Cooper for
00:38:22
height weight same type of clothing
00:38:24
they'd seen hitchhiking in the area of
00:38:27
the vehicle the investigators theory was
00:38:30
he just left the area on his own for
00:38:33
what reasons we have no idea
00:38:38
if Alex had indeed left by his own free
00:38:41
will why did he leave his heart
00:38:43
medication on credit cards at home and
00:38:45
why had he taken only the clothes he was
00:38:48
wearing it was suggested that maybe he
00:38:52
had staged the disappearance and just
00:38:56
ran away from us I wasn't able to accept
00:39:02
that at all Alec wasn't the kind of man
00:39:06
who would be capable of creating that
00:39:10
kind of pain for his family he was the
00:39:14
best father anybody could ever want and
00:39:16
he loved us all and he was he was funny
00:39:19
and he was sincere and he was honest and
00:39:22
you know if I'm proven wrong
00:39:24
like I guess I'll have to eat my words
00:39:27
but I believed everything he ever told
00:39:30
me
00:39:32
the Cooper family suffered through an
00:39:34
entire year with no word from Alex
00:39:37
eventually they had to face the painful
00:39:39
reality that he was gone forever
00:39:41
Margaret Cooper petitioned the Supreme
00:39:43
Court of British Columbia to have her
00:39:45
husband declared legally dead her
00:39:48
request was granted Margaret tried to
00:39:57
obtain Alex's birth certificate and made
00:39:58
a chilling discovery no information at
00:40:02
all
00:40:03
did you check she was stunned to learn
00:40:05
that a birth certificate was never
00:40:07
issued in Alex's name in fact prior to
00:40:10
his marriage to Margaret in 1952 there
00:40:13
were no official records of Alex Cooper
00:40:15
no high school transcripts no military
00:40:18
papers no medical history as far as
00:40:22
anyone could tell Alice Cooper simply
00:40:24
did not and had never existed
00:40:28
finding no record of him made me feel
00:40:32
very mixed up unsure of myself and of
00:40:39
him because some I guess like had to
00:40:43
really admit for the first time that he
00:40:46
hadn't been completely honest with me
00:40:48
and things made me really wonder about
00:40:52
his identity it didn't make me wonder
00:40:55
about him as a person though because if
00:40:58
he'd had been Joe Smith I'd still love
00:41:00
him who was Alex Cooper why had he
00:41:05
assumed an alias and in essence lived a
00:41:07
lie for more than 30 years and most
00:41:10
important was he still alive
00:41:11
if so why had he chosen to disappear
00:41:19
for four long years the Cooper family
00:41:21
lived in a constant state of uncertainty
00:41:23
then on May 27th 1991 a mystery of Alice
00:41:27
Cooper finally began to unravel halfway
00:41:31
across the country in Toronto another
00:41:32
man was reported missing he was also a
00:41:35
traveling salesman his name was David
00:41:38
Cooper and he born uncanny resemblance
00:41:40
to Alex Cooper are you like saving money
00:41:45
everybody likes saving money you
00:41:47
certainly sound like a sensible person
00:41:48
the man known as David Cooper had lived
00:41:51
in a boarding house in Toronto for
00:41:52
nearly a year every week he would
00:41:55
venture out to a new community selling
00:41:57
meat products to families via the
00:41:59
telephone we take the show off it though
00:42:04
do we wanna Cooper's business trips a
00:42:07
friend reported him as missing police
00:42:09
searched Cooper's room and found this
00:42:11
photograph David Cooper and Alex Cooper
00:42:15
were one and the same
00:42:17
sitting there holding this Polaroid of
00:42:20
him
00:42:20
I couldn't believe every prayer that I'd
00:42:23
ever made and you know my dreams were
00:42:25
answered because he was alive but I
00:42:28
didn't have him he was there but he
00:42:30
wasn't there I had my 39th wedding
00:42:34
anniversary not too long ago by myself
00:42:39
please need
00:42:43
I'm in limbo on the 29th of May when mr.
00:42:51
Cooper returned home he went up to his
00:42:53
room and when he went in to his room or
00:42:56
his flat he noticed that there was
00:42:59
evidence of police presence to dust
00:43:02
that's used to take fingerprints was on
00:43:05
the wall and it was on a couple of other
00:43:08
places
00:43:14
[Music]
00:43:21
my room mr. Cooper and at that time his
00:43:26
landlady advised him that had been
00:43:28
reported missing by the police and the
00:43:30
police we're trying to find out where he
00:43:32
was well who reported me missing I have
00:43:36
no idea but I know I didn't I did all
00:43:38
right it didn't I
00:43:40
it's not your fault mrs. chase by the
00:43:43
time police returned to the
00:43:44
boardinghouse
00:43:45
Alex Cooper had disappeared once again
00:43:47
for reasons known only to himself we
00:43:50
have a person who has something to hide
00:43:53
to a point where he would walk away and
00:43:57
leave the family that has been where for
00:43:59
the last 35 years so it has to be
00:44:02
something that's very serious or at
00:44:05
least he believes it's very serious I'd
00:44:09
love to get him back I want to give him
00:44:12
a real big hug and then I kind of want
00:44:14
to give him a kick in the butt and then
00:44:17
another big hug but I'd love to have him
00:44:19
back if he's running I don't know why
00:44:24
he's running what a timing quit no no
00:44:28
he's got this family that care about him
00:44:32
and if he's out there living among
00:44:34
strangers he should rethink this thing
00:44:38
we deserve it and so does he
00:44:44
[Music]
00:45:00
shortly after this story aired a viewer
00:45:03
in Hamilton Canada recognized Alex
00:45:05
Cooper and immediately called
00:45:06
authorities during questioning the
00:45:09
mystery surrounding his life began to
00:45:11
unravel
00:45:13
Alex Cooper told police that his true
00:45:16
name was Alban Arsenal in 1948 he was
00:45:20
accused of robbing an office of the
00:45:21
Canadian Pacific Railroad where he was
00:45:24
employed at the time I was young and I
00:45:28
panicked and I said to myself there is
00:45:31
no way I'm going to be take the fall for
00:45:34
this because I didn't do it I took off
00:45:38
at that time and I became Alexander
00:45:42
Hooper at that point four years later
00:45:45
Alex married Margaret he had no idea
00:45:48
that any criminal charges that might
00:45:50
have been filed against him had probably
00:45:52
been dropped for more than 35 years his
00:45:55
true identity remained a secret then as
00:45:58
a 65th birthday neared Alex Cooper's
00:46:01
past began to catch up
00:46:03
[Music]
00:46:05
I was due for pension and you require to
00:46:08
submit a birth certificate I knew I
00:46:12
couldn't produce one several months
00:46:17
prior to this I knew this was coming up
00:46:19
I couldn't bring myself about to tell my
00:46:23
family so I walked away it was a snap
00:46:28
decision and it was wrong two days after
00:46:36
he is questioned by Hamilton authorities
00:46:38
Alex Cooper returned to British Columbia
00:46:40
and was reunited with his family after
00:46:42
more than five years we were very close
00:46:46
family must have been very devastating
00:46:49
for all of us and I'm really hoping that
00:46:55
we can work through this and put it back
00:46:59
together if not the way it is maybe
00:47:00
something better we can't pick up where
00:47:04
we left off because things have changed
00:47:07
but we're gonna start fresh take it a
00:47:10
day at a time the way I feel I don't
00:47:13
deserve for anyway to accept my apology
00:47:18
look what I done abandonment of your
00:47:23
family to me one hell of a crime and the
00:47:30
biggest job for me at this point will be
00:47:32
to make amends and I would say it'll
00:47:36
probably take me the rest of my life
00:47:39
[Music]
00:47:50
but our next unsolved mysteries this is
00:47:54
a legendary Shroud of Turin believers
00:47:57
say it is the actual burial cloth of
00:47:59
Jesus Christ and that His image has been
00:48:01
miraculously imprinted upon it skeptics
00:48:04
claim the images somehow itched on the
00:48:06
cloth in the 14th century by a master
00:48:08
painter what is the truth behind the
00:48:10
mysterious Shroud of Turin in 1989 Ethel
00:48:16
Kidd began building her dream home in
00:48:18
rural Virginia seeking the safety and
00:48:20
security of country living but in the
00:48:22
fatal twist of fate Ethel soon fell prey
00:48:25
to the same kind of senseless crime she
00:48:27
had been trying to escape Joe Maloney
00:48:31
was a master of deception of the master
00:48:33
of manipulation he fashioned a devious
00:48:36
plot against his estranged wife in which
00:48:38
the murder weapon was a party drink
00:48:40
laced with poison join me next time for
00:48:45
another edition of unsolved mysteries
00:48:48
[Music]
00:49:18
[Applause]
00:49:21
[Music]
00:49:32
you
