Cleared of murder after almost 90 years …
The State Government (of Victoria) will create legal history today when it announces a posthumous pardon for a man wrongly executed 86 years ago…Governor David de Kretser has signed the pardon, and Attorney-General Rob Hulls will formally announce the decision today in Parliament during question time. The pardon follows an unprecedented inquiry by Victorian Supreme Court judges Bernard Teague, Phil Cummins and John Coldrey…The formal re-examination of the case began three years ago when relatives signed a petition of mercy after they learned that fresh evidence showed the executed man had been wrongly convicted…
Excerpt from The Age on May 27, 2008.
THOSE familiar with Australian historical crime annals which document tragic, high profile cases will recall the wrenching details of what has come to be known as The Gun Alley Murder…
In brief, the body of twelve-year-old Alma Tirtschke was discovered in a Melbourne city lane way called Gun Alley as the dawn broke on New Year’s Eve in 1921. The little schoolgirl had been raped and murdered. Public hysteria ensued, stoked by a rabid media offering lurid, sensational headlines and very large rewards. Under enormous pressure to solve the case, history now reveals that a shoddy police investigation followed. In less than a fortnight, the 29-year-old owner of the nearby Australian Wine Shop was charged with Alma’s murder. Colin Campbell Ross protested his innocence to the moment he was hanged in Melbourne Gaol on April 24, 1922.
The shame of acknowledging the existence of a child killer in the family, meant that for generations his name was spoken only in hushed tones – if at all. Despite constant protestations of his innocence by his family and friends, revelations of bungled police work, and accusations of perjury at his trial, there was to be no justice for Colin Ross – or young Alma – for another 86 years.
In an extraordinary turn of events, a Melbourne librarian-turned-author Kevin Morgan, and his wife Linda, became interested in the case after seeing an art exhibition in 1993 in which Alma was featured. Initial research led to doubts about Ross’ guilt and, spurred on to clear nasty, unfounded aspersions about Alma’s character, Morgan undertook his own independent investigation…
His considerable research skills, tenacity and determination for justice led him to discover hair samples which were heavily relied upon by the Crown in their prosecution of Ross. (In fact, their “identification” by a Government scientist as belonging to the murdered child, is widely acknowledged as the first time forensic evidence played a key role in an Australian murder trial and conviction.) In 1998 the samples underwent a Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine test, and subsequent analysis by the Australian Federal Police. The hair was not Alma’s. This result, and other incontrovertible facts unearthed by Morgan laid the groundwork for an extensive Victorian Government inquiry and petition for mercy to be instigated which resulted in Ross’ pardon.
Kevin Morgan’s astounding findings are recounted in his book Gun Alley: Murder, Lies and Failure of Justice (Simon & Schuster, 2005).
Colin Campbell Ross was first cousin to Annie Walsh.
LATEST UPDATES:
The final chapter in this sad saga was played out in October 2010, as reported in The Age on October 16, 2010 (click here). A number of subsequent reports were published regarding the handover of the remains of Colin Campbell Ross to his surviving nieces for burial next to his mother and grandmother in Bendigo on October 18, 2010, including:
The Age (October 16, 2010)
The Age (October 18, 2010)
The Age (October 19, 2010)
ABC.net (October 19, 2010)
PRESS and RELATED MATERIALS
A selection of press clippings, releases, and related material on Colin Campbell Ross including the petition for mercy, prison register and Supreme Court of Victoria media release, may be found by clicking on the links below.
Old Melbourne Gaol – Prison Register Page
Media Release – Petition for Mercy
Supreme Court of Victoria Opinion – May 2008
Supreme Court of Victoria – Media Release – Petition for Mercy
Colin Ross Pardoned – Public Record Office – Victoria
Old Melbourne Gaol – Press Release – Colin Ross case
Colin Ross reports – Ross Murder Case Referred to the Supreme Court
Press Release from the Office of the Premier of Victoria October 18, 2010
A SELECTION OF MEDIA COVERAGE
ABC – Local – Executed Man Pardoned Over 1921 Murder
ABC – pm – Colin Campbell Ross – Pardoned 86 years On
Australian Story – The Hanged Man’s Shadow
The Daily Telegraph – Man Hanged for Gun Alley Murder Gets Justice At Last