In the early 1870s, Mississippi lawyer Finis Bates moved with his family to Texas. In 1873, he met a man named John St, Helen, with whom he shared many interests, including the theater, specifically the works of William Shakespeare. The two became friends and saw each other often socially. In 1878, John St. Helens became ill. Believing death was near, he confided in his friend Finis Bates and offered, what he thought was a deathbed confession.

John revealed to Finis that his name was not John St. Helen, but in fact, he was John Wilkes Booth, the man responsible for the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Finis, as expected, was dumbfounded. However, John recovered from his illness and gave Finis further details about his claim. He said the Vice President Andrew Johnson was the lead conspirator of the Lincoln assassination. He also revealed that the man that Union Soldiers shot in the barn at Garrett’s tobacco plantation was an overseer named Ruddy St. Helens. John had switch identification papers with the real St. Helen’s leading authorities to assume it was Booth that was shot. After a full recovery, John St. Helens moved to Colorado. Finis lost touch with his friend after he relocated to Memphis, Tennessee.

Finis did not believe John St. Helens’ story… at first. But, he began to think more about John St. Helen’s character and personality. He contacted the Department of State and the FBI, relating the story he was told.

In 1903, a man named David George committed suicide in his Enid, Oklahoma hotel room. Prior to taking his own life, he confessed to the wife of a local minister that he was John Wilkes Booth. He spun a similar story as the one that was told to Finis Bates. David George’s body was turned over to undertaker William Penniman, along with a handwritten will that detailed some property. Penniman embalmed the body, but did not bury it, pending a claim of the body and the property. Subsequent investigation determined that the property did not actually exist. David George’s embalmed remains sat in Penniman’s front window as a tourist attraction… for eight years. Previously uncovered papers found in David George’s possession mentioned Finis Bates. Bates was summoned and the body was turned over to him. Finis stored the body in his garage until he began to rent it out to circuses and side shows, as well as the 1904 St. Louis Worlds Fair. Showmen’s League of America charter member William Evans paid Finis $1000 every five months to display it at his carnival. Over time, the body was stolen several times, involved in a train wreck. It changed owner ship many times and was put on public display all over the country. It was last documented as part of a carnival in the late 1970s.

In 1931, the now-mummified remains of John St. Helen or David George or whoever he was, were examined by a team of six doctors. X-rays showed a healed fracture in the left fibula. This was consistent with injuries that John Wilkes Booth sustained when he jumped from the balcony at Fords Theater.

In 1907, Finis Bates published a book called The Escape and Suicide of John Wilkes Booth, detailing his friendship and his eventual claim and revelation. The book, of course, stirred controversy. It even set Henry Ford off on his own investigation.

Finis Bates died in 1923, still holding fast to his belief that he had befriend John Wilkes Booth.

Acclaimed Academy Award-winning actress Kathy Bates is Finis Bates’s granddaughter.

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Despite being born with cystic fibrosis, Alice Martineau was determined to succeed. After graduating from college, the pretty blond pursued a career in modeling. She hid her health condition from prospective modeling agencies by arriving very early for interviews so not appear “winded” or tired. She posed for print ads as opposed to runway or catwalk modeling.

Believing that her limited breathing capacity would hinder any chance of a singing career, she discovered that her chronic coughing had actually strengthened her diaphragm. She took extensive singing lessons and gave live performances in her native London on a regular basis. Alice received many offers for recording, but most were withdrawn when it was discovered that she was seriously ill. Nevertheless, she released a single in 2002 to positive reviews and critical praise. A follow-up single was canceled due to her poor health.

Alice passed away on the morning of March 6, 2003, while on a waiting list for a heart, lung and liver transplant. She was 30.

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As a child in Oregon, Daveigh Chase entered local talent shows where her vocal ability was warmly recognized and critically praised. On a trip to Los Angeles, she began attending casting calls, eventually landing a role in a Campbell’s Soup commercial at the age of seven.

In 1998, Daveigh was cast in a small role in the sitcom Sabrina the Teen-Age Witch. This led to more roles in episodic television, including a part in a Michael Landon biopic playing his daughter Shawna. Daveigh’s breakout role came in 2001 when she was part on an ensemble cast in the cult favorite Donnie Darko, portraying the title character’s little sister. The role spawned a universally-panned sequel nine years later. While the film was slammed, Daveigh’s performance was lauded.

Soon, Hollywood couldn’t get enough of the budding young star. She played the malevolent Samara Morgan in the American version of the Japanese horror film The Ring. She lent her voice to Disney’s Lilo and Stitch, giving life to the human part of the cartoon duo. Daveigh was tapped to continue the role when the film was made into a TV series. She contributed to the English dubs of the popular Japanese aminated film Spirited Away. She appeared in several more movies before taking a role in the HBO series Big Love with Bill Paxton. After wrapping up a role in the 2016 independent horror movie Jack Goes Home, Daveigh promptly withdrew from public life.

In late 2015, Daveigh failed to show up for a meeting with director Rob Reiner. She had no contact with friends and family. She began to abuse drugs and she experienced periods of homelessness, including living on the streets of Los Angeles’ notorious Skid Row. In 2017, Daveigh was questioned by police when she was seen leaving an unidentified and unresponsive man at a Los Angeles hospital. Later the same year, she was arrested for being a passenger in a car that been reported stolen. In 2019, she was arrested several times on drug charges, once spending a short time in jail. Her former manager, John Ryan, began researching and filming a documentary called Finding Lilo about his former client’s descent from fame.

In June 2026, 35 year-old Daveigh was admitted to Los Angeles General Medical Center for treatment of severe malnutrition. During her stay, her health quickly declined, exasperated by meningitis, blood infections, multiple substances abuse and AIDS. Doctors concluded that she had very little time left. Daveigh passed away on June 16.

In the wake of her death, her alleged boyfriend started a GoFundMe campaign, asking fans to pay her Daveigh’s accrued medical expenses and cremation fees. John Ryan, along with Daveigh’s estrange father, publicly denounced the campaign, advising fans not to donate. They did not know Daveigh’s boyfriend and feared ulterior motives for the funds. Ryan explained that Daveigh had an untouched trust fund, started by the Screen Actors Guild, and that funeral and cremation expenses were being handled by her family.

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Arthur “T-Boy” Ross grew up in a rough part of Detroit. He hung with a rough group until his sister, singer Diana Ross, brought him into Motown Records as a songwriter. T-Boy began a prolific and successful career as a songwriter. He collaborated with Leon Ware and the duo composed songs Marvin Gaye and Michael Jackson, including the Top 20 hit “I Wanna Be Where You Are.” (The song was later covered by Dusty Springfield, The Fugees, Melissa Manchester, as well as Marvin Gaye.) T-Boy co-produced Marvin Gaye’s 1976 album I Want You. During production T-Boy and Ware had a falling out and the partnership was dissolved.

In 1979, T-Boy released his one and only solo album Changes. Despite a guest performance by jazz pianist Joe Sample, the album sold poorly. T-Boy was frustrated with the music business and he left the spotlight in 1980, disappearing into a very private life and living off of his royalties. He distanced himself from his family.

On June 22, 1996, police discovered the decaying bodies of T-Boy Ross and his wife Patricia in the basement of a house in suburban Detroit. They had been bound and gagged. Suffocation was determined to be the cause of death. Investigations revealed that the couplie had died approximately three weeks prior to their discovery. Since T-Boy had contact with very few people, no one had reported him missing. He was scheduled to appear in court for a hearing for drug possession charges. The court date was four days after his body was found.

T-Boy was 47 years old. His wife was 54.

In 2012, T-Boy’s solo album was re-issued on CD. It included a previously unreleased song called “To The Baby,” a tribute to his sister and her daughters Rhonda and Tracee Ellis.

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