TINMOUTH [Vermont] — The jury was hung Saturday in a Tinmouth murder trial 232 years in the making, leaving a cloud of mystery hanging over the 1777 death of resident John Irish.
Twelve members of the public crowd of about 80 who attended Saturday’s trial inside the town’s firehouse were deadlocked, as they openly debated the more than centuries-old question lingering in town — Was the killer justified under the articles of war or was he undeniable guilty?
The jury’s decision was split, 9 to 3, and they could not convict Lt. Isaac Clark, who shot Irish as witnessed by his fellow Vermont Rangers who took the stand Saturday, ironically, in his defense.
The jury wasn’t asked to decide if Clark did it – that fact was known — but whether he was justified in rooting out Irish or not, believed by the militia to be a Tory who pledged allegiance to the invading British.
To an outside observer, the trial, with attorneys and witnesses who took the stand in historic garb of the time, was a reenactment.
But it wasn’t — the trial of Clark versus Irish never took place.
Read the full article in the June 15, 2009 edition of the Rutland Herald.
