 The Lincoln Conspiracy , a book published in 1977 , contended there was a government plot to conceal Booth 's escape , reviving interest in the story and prompting the display of St. Helen 's mummified body in Chicago that year . The book sold more than one million copies and was made into a feature film called The Lincoln Conspiracy , which was theatrically released in 1977 . A 1998 book , The Curse of Cain : The Untold Story of John Wilkes Booth , contended that Booth had escaped , sought refuge in Japan and eventually returned to the United States . In 1994 two historians , together with several descendants , sought a court order for the exhumation of Booth 's body at Green Mount Cemetery , which was , according to their lawyer , " intended to prove or disprove longstanding theories on Booth 's escape " by conducting a photo @-@ superimposition analysis . The application was blocked , however , by Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Joseph H. H. Kaplan , who cited , among other things , " the unreliability of petitioners ' less @-@ than @-@ convincing escape / cover @-@ up theory " as a major factor in his decision . The Maryland Court of Special Appeals upheld the ruling . No gravestone marks the precise location where Booth is buried in the family 's gravesite . 
