The Death Of Meriwether Lewis And Its Investigation Process - Book Report/Review Example

The Death Of Meriwether Lewis And Its Investigation Process Meriwether Lewis was young legislator who was found dead with two bullet holes in his body and some scratch marks on his body. There is a lot of controversy regarding the cause of his death. Some people claim that he was killed yet others claim that it was suicide. The cause of his death is still unknown and there are a lot of speculations. However, it is more reasonable to say that Meriwether Lewis was killed. Any rationally thinking person can clearly collect the facts and find out that he was murdered and there are people who are willing to hide the truth for their benefit[Dan09]. There was so much at stake for those who were suspected of killing Meriwether and only used some of his weaknesses to validate the fact that he committed suicide. The only reason why the court failed to establish this fact was maybe due to lack of enough evidence or people with power influencing the justice system. The people who would have fought for Meriwether were afraid they would lose more if they could provide evidence that Meriwether was killed. It suited them more to say that he committed suicide. The two bullets on the body indicate that he was killed. The two bullets on his body were on his chest and his head. There is no way that he would have survived any of the bullets for him to aim the second time. Even if he had not died there is no way he would have been stable enough to aim the second time. Evidence shows that he was killed by .69 caliber bullets. There is no way he would have survived even the first bullet and the people who suggest that he killed himself are not aware of the power of that kind of bullet. Due to the bullet that was used and the location of the injuries, it is safe to say that he was murdered as he could not have done it by himself. Furthermore, the scratch marks on his body might have been indicative of a struggle between him and the attacker. If he had killed himself, there would probably have been only one bullet instead of two and there would be no scratch marks[Ton13]. If he had shot himself in the head the first time, he would not have been able to aim for the second time on his chest and even if he had shot himself on the chest the first time, he would not have been able to aim at his chest. The evidence that was given by the person who seemed to be the only witness were rather conflicting. She gave three very different accounts of what was happening at the time of the death on her first account, she said that she heard gunshots and Lewis crying out for help. She claims that he was alone in his house. On the second account, she claims that there were servants in the room with Lewis and that she did not know them. A few years later, she was again interviewed, she claimed that riders had come the night before and challenged Lewis to a fight. This does not seem like a credible story though[Ton13]. Through the various versions that she gave, it is clear that she was manipulated in one way or another to say something different from what happened. The truth does not have so many versions. She either knows what exactly happened on that day or is trying to hide the truth or she was manipulated to say what she said and was not even present on that day. There are some servants who claimed that they never heard any gun shots. This creates a lot of confusion as to what exactly happened at the time that Meriwether died. The conflicting information has not been enough to give a valid verdict that he was killed. However, it clearly shows that there are people who know what happened but are willing to hide the truth so that they can benefit in one way or another. There is a conspiracy theory where it is claimed that he was killed by someone and some of his close friends knew about it. However, the two friends were in the public limelight and claiming to know what happened may have made them lose favor with the people. They quickly agreed to go with the suicide story. They claimed that Lewis had shown some signs of double behavior and double personality. They further stated that his family had been known to suffer from the bipolar diseases and so they would not find it strange that he killed himself. Particularly, it is claimed that Wilkinson may have had enough motive to kill Lewis[Ton13]. It is said that Lewis came to know of the corrupt activities of Wilkinson and was planning to report him to the congress so that his work as the governor would be covered by the state. On discovering that he was about to be un-earthed, Wilkinson is said to eliminate his rival so that he could maintain the seat. On discovering that Wilkinson had more power, Lewis’ friends decided to back up the suicide story. Unfortunately, Wilkinson was acquitted when it was said that the cause of death was not clear. His corrupt practices were never revealed. It is further said that Meriwether was gaining more popularity that Wilkinson and so Wilkinson felt threatened and decided to kill him. The forensic analysis shows that he was killed. His body was exhumed so that they could do a proper analysis of the remains. The verdict was that he was murdered. Forensic evidence barely lies and is very accurate. There is no way that forensic evidence can lie and therefore concludes that Lewis was killed. The knife wounds that were on his body were done by someone else and his skull was blown off when the bullet hit his head[Ton13]. A letter was even forged to show that Lewis committed suicide. This shows that the people who killed him went to great extents to show that he had committed suicide. The forged letter shows that the people or person who killed him would be absolved of all the blame and that people would generally believe that Meriwether killed himself. Over the years, some of his descendants have tried to have his body exhumed so that they can start fresh trials but it has been impossible to do so. In conclusion, it remains clear that he was killed. The bullets on his head and chest and the forensic report clearly show that he was killed. The extent to which his friends went to hide the truth and the witness who gave different versions of what happened. Any rational thinking man would not say that he committed suicide. From the evidence gathered it is clear he was killed. The suicide story has too many loopholes and does not seem credible at all[Ton13]. It rather seems like a cover up for people to clear their names and to avoid the law. Works Cited Dan09: , (Danisi), Ton13: , (Hays), Read More