Locals had seen strangers Halligan and Daley in the same area as Lyon's body the day before, and thirteen-year-old Laertes Fuller testified as such before a jury of inquest.
[citation needed] The trial for Commonwealth v. Dominic Daley and James Halligan was held in Northampton, Massachusetts.
The only argument in defense of Daley and Halligan was the closing statement made by one of their lawyers, Francis Blake.
Blake pointed out that the men were being charged solely because of their Irish nationality, yet the jury returned with a guilty verdict in under one hour.
[1] Jean-Louis Lefebvre de Cheverus, a priest from Boston, came to assist them in their last moments, even through great personal risk.