In the spring of 1658, the life of Katharine Clacherty, a married woman residing at Newlaw Croft in Kirkcudbright, was irrevocably altered when she was ensnared in the legal machinery of the witch trials. Her case was formalised on 10 April 1658, appearing shortly thereafter in the Kirkcudbright Roll. The records note her domestic ties, mentioning her husband—referred to as her "Goodman"—and the existence of at least one daughter. However, these familial connections were insufficient to protect her from the judicial scrutiny of the period, as she was also implicated in the testimonies given by Jonet Miller in other ongoing trials of the time.
Following her initial identification, Katharine was moved to Dumfries, where her trial concluded on 9 May 1658. The proceedings resulted in a verdict of guilty, leading to her sentencing and execution later that same month. In accordance with the judicial practices of the era for those convicted of this charge, she suffered the fate of being strangled and then burned. The swift progression from her listing in the Kirkcudbright Roll to her death in May illustrates the urgency with which these cases were handled within the regional courts of the seventeenth century.