From the Department of Surgery at Duke University School of Medicine, Durham NC.
Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 2024 Jun 1;45(2):157-161. doi: 10.1097/PAF.0000000000000915. Epub 2024 Jan 25.
On April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated while watching a play from the Presidential Box at Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC. There is still controversy concerning the findings of Lincoln's autopsy. The physicians that attended the autopsy documented that the bullet entered the left occipital region of the brain, but opinions differ as to the path the bullet took through the brain. The official autopsy report documented that the bullet traveled through the left brain and did not cross the midline. Others who watched the autopsy claimed that the bullet entered on the left side of the president's brain, crossed the midline, and ended up just above the orbit on the right. In this manuscript, we reviewed all of the statements of the witnesses to the assassination in an effort to reconstruct the approach that John Wilkes Booth, the assassin, took through the Presidential Box as he approached the president. In addition, we conducted an on-site analysis of the shape and dimensions of the Presidential Box at Ford's Theatre to support the approach that Booth took. Based on this forensic analysis, we provide supportive evidence that the findings of the official autopsy report are accurate; that is, the bullet that entered the president's left brain stayed on the left and did not cross the midline.
1865 年 4 月 14 日，亚伯拉罕·林肯（Abraham Lincoln）在华盛顿特区的福特剧院（Ford's Theatre）总统包厢观看戏剧时被暗杀。关于林肯尸检的结果仍存在争议。参加尸检的医生记录了子弹进入大脑左枕叶区域，但对于子弹穿过大脑的路径存在不同意见。官方尸检报告记录了子弹穿过左脑，没有穿过中线。其他观看尸检的人则声称，子弹从总统大脑的左侧进入，穿过中线，最终落在右侧眼眶上方。在本文中，我们审查了所有参与刺杀的证人的陈述，试图重建凶手约翰·威尔克斯·布斯（John Wilkes Booth）接近总统时穿过总统包厢的路径。此外，我们还对福特剧院总统包厢的形状和尺寸进行了现场分析，以支持布斯采取的方法。基于这种法医分析，我们提供了有力的证据，证明官方尸检报告的结果是准确的；也就是说，进入总统左脑的子弹留在左侧，没有穿过中线。
