27 year old Colin Campbell Ross was convicted of the rape and murder of 12-year-old Alma Tirtschke on the 30th of December 1921 in Melbourne’s Gun Alley in Australia.
Alma’s naked body was found the following day, she had been raped and strangled. The police interviewed a large number of people, including Ross, who was arrested and charged with the rape and murder on the 12th of January 1922.
At the inquest Florence Matthews, a woman who was formerly Ross's partner at his wine café, gave evidence of an alleged admission by Ross that he had assaulted Alma on the 30th of December.
Ross stood trial at the Melbourne Criminal Court before Justice Schutt, commencing on Monday the 20th of February. He was found guilty and sentenced to death on the 26th of February 1922.
Despite of his protests of innocence, he was hanged at Melbourne at 10.00 a.m. on Monday the 24th of April 1922. At precisely 10 o’clock the heavily masked hangman and his assistant went to the condemned cell and pinioned Ross’ wrists.
He then walked without assistance the few feet onto the trap doors where the Sheriff asked him if he had any final statement. He replied “I am now face to face with my maker. I swear by Almighty God that I am an innocent man. I never saw the child. I never committed the crime and I don’t know who did. I never confessed to anyone.
I ask God to forgive those who have sworn my life away. I pray God to have mercy on my poor darling mother and on my family.” The white hood was drawn over his head and the drop fell. Death was reportedly instantaneous.
Ross weighed 153.5 lbs. and was given a drop of 7’ 6”. The official prison records completed by C. G. Godfrey, the prison medical officer, stated that : “the arms flexed & relaxed three times at elbows, and legs were simultaneously slightly drawn up, the interval being about 3 seconds each time.
The four strand rope was somewhat less pliable than normal, and the knot was unnecessarily large. The noose did not run freely and was found to have only contracted to 4” in diam. instead of 3”. It was decided that four strand rope should not be used again. Some 50 people had witnessed the execution and a crowd had gathered outside the prison.
Kevin Morgan, a former school teacher, became interested in the case and managed to acquire Ross’ prison bible in which had made many annotations concerning the evidence given against him.
Morgan published a book "Gun Alley – murder, Lies, and Failure of Justice" in 2005, which raised serious doubts about the Ross conviction. On 20 December 2007, Supreme Court Justices Teague, Cummins and Coldrey delivered a unanimous verdict that there had been a miscarriage of justice in Ross's case. He was finally posthumously pardoned by Governor David de Kretser on the 27th of May 2008.
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