It was, however, a very able performance.

Thurtell's line of defence was to declare that Hunt and Probert were the murderers, and that he was a victim of their perjuries.
If hanged, he would be hanged on circumstantial evidence only, and he gave, with great elaboration, the details of a number of cases where men had been wrongfully hanged upon circumstantial evidence.

His lawyers had apparently provided him with books containing these examples from the past, and his month in prison was devoted to this defence, which showed great ability.

The trial took place on 6th January 1824, and Thurtell was hanged on the 9th, in front of Hertford Gaol: his body was given to the Anatomical Museum in London.

A contemporary report says that Thurtell, on the scaffold, fixed his eyes on a young gentleman in the crowd, whom he had frequently seen as a spectator at the commencement of the proceedings against him.