Stafford was convicted by a majority of 55 votes of Guilty to 31 of Not Guilty and sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered, the punishment of traitors, which was commuted by the King to beheading. The King, even though he is not thought to have had much personal regard for the unpopular Stafford, later said that he had signed the death warrant "with tears in his eyes", but in the current state of public opinion a reprieve was impossible. Charles added that Stafford's accusers had his blood on their hands, just as he later told the Earl of Essex that the blood of Oliver Plunkett was on his head.