Adams asked Packer why he had not told him this story nine years previous, with Packer replying: "I was excited, I wanted to say something, and the story, as I told it, came first to my mind!" It was the argument of the prosecution that the only logical reason for Packer to have attempted such a perilous journey through the mountains with such minimal food and supplies was for the sole purpose to lead the men into the wilderness to both kill and rob them.