The National Archives announced on Tuesday that the date on a
handwritten pardon issued by President Abraham Lincoln has been
tampered with, significantly changing its importance and
historical significance to American history. Thomas Lowry, 76,
confessed to Special Agent Greg Tremaglio of the Office of the
Inspector General of the National Archives that he altered the
date of a death penalty pardon for Patrick Murphy—a soldier
during the Civil War who was court-martialed for deserting the
Union Army and was sentenced to death by shooting—from April 14,
1864 to April 14, 1865. By altering the date, according to
Discovery News, the document became significantly important as
this appeared to be one of the final official acts Lincoln
carried out as President of the United States before he was
assassinated by John Wilkes Booth at the Ford's Theater. The
said document was brought to the of the Office of the Inspector
General by Trevor Plante, the acting Chief of Reference of the
National Archives. He told the Tele