Justice
Sydney Vane death was not only loved by members of his community, but also had the sympathy of the whole of England as the press coverage became nationwide, in the quest to avenge his death. Despite the lack of solid proof that Westwood was responsible for his death, the people knew that this was the case and so aided in the investigation by coming forward as witnesses, in order to ensure Vane got justice.
Revenge
The most prominent reason for proving it was Westwood who was indeed the murderer, stems all the way back to the relationship between the two before Vane’s death. Westwood was a poacher who was known for his ill-manner and aggressive nature. He was illegally poaching rabbits, which Vane reported and resulted in Westwood being sent to jail. The latter was enraged at this and vowed to get revenge on Vane which he eventually did by murdering the man.
The Legal system
As the trial is the main coverage of the story, many legal factors come into play when prosecuting Westwood for the death of Vane. For starters, no one actually could attest to the murder since there were no witnesses to the murder. However, the prosecution was based on solid witness-proof and logic. For example, many people knew Westwood had a vendetta against Vane for the illegal poaching. On top, witness accounts correlated to Westwood looking beaten and withdrawn with parts of his coats damaged, thus providing further proof of him being the killer. Finally, Westwood owned a gun, and a gun was used as the murder weapon. All of these reasons allow for the jury to convict Westwood as the killer.
