who was abraham lincoln killed by
An actor, a president and the crime of the 19th century 02:39. On April 14, 1865, an actor and Confederate sympathizer named John Wilkes Booth shot President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington. The following morning, less than a week after the end of the Civil War, Lincoln would become the first American president killed in office. It was the crime of the 19th century. Booth fled the building and, along with co-conspirator David Herold, evaded the authorities for nearly two weeks.