They had arrested the beggar boy Dionysos Feldner, a handicapped 12-year-old who was called "Dirty animal", and who was to have had contact with Jackl three weeks earlier.
The boy confessed that Jackl was the leader of gangs of poor beggar-children and teenagers from the slum, whom he taught black magic.
He was portrayed as a murderer and the rumors eventually made him so cruel that the officials preferred to avoid capturing him.
The witch trial, on the other hand developed into a great hunt of beggars, homeless and poor children and teenagers.
139 people were executed as the followers of Jackl in this trial; 39 were children (between 10 and 14 years old), 53 were teenagers and young adults (between 15 and 21), 21 of unknown age; 113 were of male gender; everyone except two were beggars.
Danish Heavy Metal band Mercyful Fate released a single, "The Jackal of Salzburg", in 2022.