What happened to Charles Guiteau?

WARNING: This article contains spoilers from Death By Lightning. 

Death By Lightning has finally dropped on Netflix but how did assassin Charles Guiteau’s story end? Set in 1881, Death By Lightning tells the true unbelievable story of both the rise and fall of James Garfield (played by Michael Shannon), America’s 20th President. Only six months into Garfield’s presidency, failed lawyer and presidential stalker Charles Guiteau (Matthew Macfadyen) fired two shots at Baltimore and Potomac Railroad station in Washington, DC.

Consequently, President James Garfield died as a result of the wounds two months later, leaving the country in mourning. Guiteau believed that it was a “political necessity”, arguing that it was God who tasked him with assassinating the President for the good of America.

What happened to Charles Guiteau?

Guiteau’s case went to trial where he pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, claiming that God had ordered him to “remove” Garfield.

But it was in January 1882 that he was ultimately found guilty and sentenced to death, which he attempted to appeal on more than one occasion.

Guiteau was executed by hanging on June 30, 1882 but before he died, the assassin sung a poem that he had written that morning entitled I Am Going to the Lordy.

Before singing, he shared: "I am now going to read some verses which are intended to indicate my feelings at the moment of leaving this world.

“If set to music they may be rendered very effective.

“The idea is that of a child babbling to his mamma and his papa. I wrote it this morning about 10am."

He requested that he should be accompanied by a full orchestra which, of course, was denied.

Following his death, an autopsy was performed on Guiteau’s body with morticians taking out his brain to be examined for signs of insanity but the results were inconclusive.

As a result, Guiteau’s brain was “remanded to storage and promptly forgotten”, according to Netflix.

Death By Lightning is available to watch on Netflix.