james doyle and two sons were dragged outside their house and hacked to death. mrs. doyle, her daughter and a 14-year old son were not killed. they next went to alan wilkinson's farm where he was taken "prisoner". his sick wife and two children begged brown not to kill him. brown's men took his rifle and two saddles, but let wilkinson live. james harris owned the third house brown visited that night. haris, his wife and young child plus three other men were living there. brown's men killed one man, william sherman, then took their weapons, a saddle and one horse. brown's followers included four of his sons who all later claimed that brown himself did not actually murder anyone. but he was the leader and he made all the decisions of who would live and who would die. they washed the blood from their hands and their swords in the creek, then went home. none of the killers were ever prosecuted for the crime.