In the hopes of capturing Booth and putting him on trial, Stanton advertised a monetary reward for anyone who could aid in the capture of Booth and his accomplices. Although Booth had been killed, depriving Stanton of a public trial, those who had contributed to tracking the assassin down still had to be paid. At a time when both the Northern and Southern economies had been decimated by war, it was no surprise that many Americans were eager to cash in. In particular, however, the chief investigator Lafayette Baker inspired antipathy by trying to control the investigation so that he…