John Wilkes Booth
In the summer of 1864, Booth began making plans to kidnap President Lincoln. His plan said that Lincoln would be taken south to Richmond, where he would be held until he could be traded for Confederate prisoners of war. Booth got friends and people who supported the Confederacy to help him. Eight of these people were later tried for killing Lincoln by a military court designed to prosecute enemies of the United States during wartime.  All eight were found guilty; four were executed by hanging. Some people who refused to join Booth, such as actor Samuel Chester, became key government witnesses in the trial.