 In 1907 a comprehensive Orchard confession was published in a popular magazine, in which Orchard described using a pistol as a triggering device for explosives.Shattered pistols were found at the Vindicator explosion site and the Independence Depot explosion site.p.211,218 There were also some contradictions in Orchard's allegations.p.119-120 

Orchard named at least five WFM men as his accomplices in the crimes to which he confessed.Three of those men stood trial in five court cases, four trials in Idaho and one in Colorado.