A witness, subjected to intense and repeated police interrogation, identified the handkerchief as belonging to Dolan, who denied that the cloth was his. Dolan was tried and found guilty of murder in the first degree. Represented by attorney William F. Howe, Dolan went to lengthy efforts to save himself and won several stays of execution. However, he eventually lost his desperate legal battle. When sentenced to death for the second time, Dolan rose, told the judge, "I never lifted my hand against any man ... I never shed human blood," and burst into tears. He was hanged on April 21, 1876, on a cold, damp evening, at the Tombs Prison in New York City. The official cause of death was strangulation. His remains were buried at Calvary Cemetery. He was 26. He was survived by a wife, a mother and little sister. Stories featuring Johnny Dolan and the Whyos Gang were published in comic books "Real Clue Crime Stories" in 1947.