Muybridge's professional career was interrupted briefly by tragic events in his personal life. About 1872 he had married a young divorcee, Flora Shallcross Stone, who in April 1874 gave birth to a son, Floredo Helios Muybridge. Six months after the birth, Muybridge was given reason to believe that Floredo was not his son, but that of his wife's lover, Harry Larkyns. He shot Larkyns dead on 17 October 1874 and was imprisoned until his trial for murder in February 1875. After a brilliant defence by his lawyer Wirt Pendegast, Muybridge was acquitted and set off immediately on an expedition to Central America.