The prosecution's strategy was to tie Surratt to the conspiracy. Powell's arrival at her boarding house, three days after the president's murder, was critical evidence against her, the government argued. The prosecution presented nine witnesses, but most of their case rested on the testimony of just two men: John M. Lloyd and Louis J. Weichmann. Lloyd testified on May 13 and 15, 1865 on the hiding of the carbines and other supplies at the tavern in March and the two conversations he had with her in which she told him to get the "shooting irons" ready. Weichmann's testimony was important, as it established an intimate relationship between her and the other conspirators.