“The first requirement of a sound body of law is, that it should correspond with the actual feelings and demands of the community, whether right or wrong. If people would gratify the passion of revenge outside of the law, if the law did not help them, the law has no choice but to satisfy the craving itself, and thus avoid the greater evil of private retribution.”
This is exactly what happened! The law never could protect the people from the Reverend, or find anything to dissprove the belief that the Reverend was a murderer. The community didn't feel safe until the Reverend was dead.
