The Prosecution
​
The prosecution was problematic because of several reasons. First, there was very little evidence to prove that Charles and Albert had killed their father. The evidence that was brought to the court had been by detective J.V Brighton, who was unreliable and had a questionable reputation throughout the Midwest. T.J Johnson, the defense attorney, believed he and Wilford Mitchell, the uncle of Albert and Charles, had lied in order to get the cash reward from Belle Talbott.
​
Henry Wyatt was manipulated on multiple occasions by the prosecution. He was convinced by them to lie about what had happened in order to convict Albert and Charles of murder. This was ultimately done by writing a statement saying he heard the two boys talking about killing their father. It is suspected that Henry suffered from a mental disability, though there are no official records that show this. Unfortunately, the prosecution used this to their benefit, and why there was very little consistency in his testimonies.
​
One of the most important aspects of the trial however, was how the prosecution chose to frame the motive for murder. They used the testimonies of Anna Hosher, a friend of Belle, and Wilford Mitchell that claimed Belle had been frequently abused by her husband as a motive for Albert and Charles to kill their father. Along with this, several stories were believed to have been created that claimed the boys' had planned Talbott's murder from the beginning. There had been little to no evidence to prove this, however the stories ultimately led to their conviction.
​