# No mustache, no broken leg, all silence, could John Wilkes Booth have gotten away with it? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 9, 2026, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-mustache-no-broken-leg-all-silence-could-john-wilkes-booth-have-gotten-away-with-it/1032913 "2026-09-09T03:03:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2026, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-mustache-no-broken-leg-all-silence-could-john-wilkes-booth-have-gotten-away-with-it/1032913/21 "2026-09-10T12:48:35Z")
Besides law enforcement, every bounty hunter in the land would have been hunting for him. His “Dead or Alive” wanted poster would have had a huge number on it, and the penalty for harboring or aiding him in any way would have been very severe. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2026, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-mustache-no-broken-leg-all-silence-could-john-wilkes-booth-have-gotten-away-with-it/1032913/22 "2026-09-11T05:49:16Z")
The person who received a severe sentence for aiding Booth was Samuel Mudd. He escaped the death penalty by just one vote. His descendants have argued that he was just a country doctor helping an injured stranger; they and others have pushed for his conviction to be expunged. However, evidence shows that he had met Booth at least twice, possibly to discuss a plot to kidnap Lincoln. > **[\[Blood on the Moon\]](https://www.c-span.org/program/book-tv/blood-on-the-moon/137598)** > > Edward Steers, Jr., talked about his book, \[Blood on the Moon: The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln\], published by the University Press of Kentucky. He discussed the events that led up to the assassination of Abrham Lincoln on April 14, 1865. He also... ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2026, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-mustache-no-broken-leg-all-silence-could-john-wilkes-booth-have-gotten-away-with-it/1032913/23 "2026-09-11T11:21:32Z")
The obvious solution here is to shave beforehand, then don a fake moustache. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2026, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-mustache-no-broken-leg-all-silence-could-john-wilkes-booth-have-gotten-away-with-it/1032913/24 "2026-09-11T17:42:31Z")
I’ve read some of the documentation recently, that certainly disputes the general idea that Dr. Mudd had no idea who he was treating. As I recall, Roger Mudd, longtime American television newsreader was a distant relative. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2026, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-mustache-no-broken-leg-all-silence-could-john-wilkes-booth-have-gotten-away-with-it/1032913/25 "2026-09-13T07:28:47Z")
Yes, Roger Mudd was a distant cousin of Samuel Mudd. I just read through _Blood on the Moon,_ Edward Steers’ account of Lincoln’s assassination, and Samuel Mudd had met Booth on three previous documented occasions, including a visit to Washington DC when Mudd introduced Booth to Confederate Secret Service agent John Surratt, and a time when Booth stayed at the Mudd home overnight. Two of Samuel Mudd’s grandchildren dedicated their lives to rehabilitating his reputation, and it looks like they succeeded in promoting the view of Mudd as innocent bystander and good Samaritan. But from the evidence, he doesn’t look innocent to me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-mustache-no-broken-leg-all-silence-could-john-wilkes-booth-have-gotten-away-with-it/1032913.md?page=1)