All were found guilty the next day and sentenced to death, with the executions set for June 4, 1778. Spooner petitioned for a postponement, citing her pregnancy, based on common law principle that protected the life of a fetus if it had quickened. Spooner was examined by a panel of 12 women and two male midwives. All swore that she was not "quick with child." When Spooner and her confessor, the Rev. Thaddeus Maccarty, protested the report, four of the examiners joined by another midwife and Spooner's brother-in-law, Dr. John Green, conducted a second examination and supported the claim of pregnancy. The court did not accept those findings and Bathsheba Spooner was hanged alongside Ross, Brooks and Buchanan on July 2 in Worcester's Washington Square before a crowd of 5000 spectators. A post-mortem examination, performed at Spooner's request, showed that she was pregnant with "a perfect male fetus of the growth of five months."