Michael O'Laughlen - Lincoln Conspirator A rare CDV view of O’Laughlinwas an early conspirator in John Wilkes Booth’s plot to kidnap President Lincoln, and later, to assassinate him. A Confederate sympathizer, he was recruited by Booth in 1864 for the initial kidnapping plot and was part of the group that waited for Lincoln in March 1865, though the kidnapping failed. After the assassination, O'Laughlen surrendered to authorities, was found guilty, and sentenced to life in prison. He died from yellow fever in prison at Fort Jefferson in Florida in 1867.