Sheriff James Barton investigated the murder and, despite being warned against pursuing the band, he began to search for them.
Pancho Daniel was eventually captured in January 1858, and brought to Los Angeles to await trial.
Upon examining the third jury, Thom asserted that no jurors from Los Angeles would be able to be impartial in the case and requested for a trial in Santa Barbara County.
[3] At the inquest, the judge returned a verdict of 'death from strangulation, by a crowd of persons to the jury unknown'.
[2] California Governor John B. Weller labelled this lynching as a 'barbarous and diabolical execution', issuing a reward of $1000 for the arrest of the perpetrators.