"None of the Evangelists set to write a detailed chronicle of the day Jesus died. All of them provide some reliable historical details. But their real interest lay in the theological significance of Jesus' death for us and for our sins, and how his death took place according to the Scriptures," writes Harrington. In answering the title question Harrington writes, "The ultimate legal and moral responsibility for Jesus' death lay with Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect of Judea between A.D. 26 and 36. Pontius Pilate killed Jesus."