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[Music] our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at any
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time you need support please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support
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and for a more detailed list of content warnings please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our
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website today's episode involves crimes against children and won't be suitable for all
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listeners shortly after 3 on the afternoon of Friday December 30 1921 Melbourne cab driver Joseph Graham was
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strolling up a little Collin Street on his way to the grocery store all of a sudden a piercing high-pitched scream
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ran out the area was notoriously Rowdy but in the hundreds of times that Joseph had
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been there he'd never heard such a heart-rending scream he described it as sounding like
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a little girl terrified at what was occurring or what was about to occur Joseph estimated that the girl was
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between the ages of 10 and 15 it sounded as if she was being dragged somewhere close
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by five or six more screams followed each more terrifying than the last as the girl was slowly drained of
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energy further down the street another man also heard the screams he and Joseph glanced around trying to identify where
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exactly the noise was coming from while they couldn't narrow down an exact spot they seemed to be coming from the
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direction of Gun [Music] Alley [Music] when Joseph Graham heard about Alma tur's murder a little over a week later
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he went straight to the police to report the screams he'd heard on little Colin Street on the afternoon of December 30
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the officers didn't seem interested plenty of people brought their children into the City and it wasn't unusual to
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hear them screeching for a Litany of innocent reasons some local business owners brought their children to work
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with them including a nearby Bara whose young daughter was known for her screeching despite these explanations
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Joseph remained certain that what he'd heard wasn't just a child playfully acting up
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meanwhile at a police station in the regional town of balarat the other man who heard the screams also came forward
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like Joseph he reported that the screaming occurred sometime between around 3:05 and 3:25
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p.m. but unlike Joseph he didn't think there were multiple screams just a single scream that echoed down the
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street he thought it was emanating from a derelict lodging house next to Gun Alley
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but as he walked towards the distressing sound it suddenly stopped the man convinced himself it was
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just an unruly child being disciplined by an exasperated parent and carried on with his
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day when he heard about Alma tury's murder he thought about contacting the police but he was unwell at the time and
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didn't want the publicity he also assumed the other witness Joseph Graham would report it
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thus negating his need to do so when the days passed with no reports about The screams in the papers he
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finally decided to come forward saying there was a stall holder in the Eastern Market who could corroborate his version
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of events Ballarat police forwarded this information to the detectives fronting the turki case they now had two
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independent accounts of a girl screaming in Fright around little Collin Street between 3 and 3:30 p.m. on Friday
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December 30 these reports aligned with the last confirmed sighting of Alma turki after
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she left the Eastern arcade on the very corner where the lodging house was located this posed a major problem for
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investigators they'd been working on the theory that Elma had been lured somewhere private to be assaulted before
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her body was dumped in Gun Alley later that night what's more if the screams heard had indeed come from Elma it
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Vindicated their Prime Suspect Colin Ross when Colin Ross was found guilty of the 12-year-old's murder his family were
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left stunned from the outset of the investigation they knew there was no way he could have done it for starters
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Colin's brother Stanley Ross worked alongside Colin at the Australian wine Saloon at around 2: p.m. on Friday
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December 30 19 21 Stanley was in his usual spot behind the bar when Colin arrived for work it was a relatively
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quiet afternoon the brothers spent the entire afternoon serving and interacting with
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the few clientele at no point did Stanley see a young girl matching Elma tury's description in the
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saloon colins sometimes brought women into the private room behind the bar but they were never as young as Elma
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former bartender Ry Matthews and saloon customer Francis Upton had both served as star Witnesses for the prosecution
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implicating Colin in the young girl's murder both claimed they had been drinking at the Australian wine Saloon
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Friday December 30 1921 where they ordered a drinks at the bar but Stanley had been behind the bar
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all afternoon and at no point did he see either one of them the the only witness
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he did see was Olive Maddox Olive had testified to seeing an underage girl matching elma's description drinking in
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The Parlor and had confronted Colin about it yet according to Stanley this never
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happened Olive did briefly greet Colin at the bar but the pair didn't engage in any meaningful conversation and she
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never mentioned the presence of a young girl Stanley and Colin remained at the saloon together until closing time at
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which point Colin went home for dinner while Stanley ate at a nearby restaurant at 7:30 p.m. Stanley returned to the
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saloon to use the bathroom no one else was in there Colin had always maintained that
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he'd met his friend gladus in the city before returning home at around midnight and going straight to bed his mother
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Edie Ross vouched for this she recalled that Colin had arrived home at around 7:00 p.m. ate dinner and then went out
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again Edie was still up when Colin returned around midnight he went straight to the bedroom
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he shared with another of his brothers Ronald a military man who'd served overseas Ronald was a light sleeper who
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woke at the slightest of noises he stirred when Colin entered the room and was certain he couldn't have left during
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the night without waking him according to prosecution witness Sydney Harding Colin had confessed to
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killing Elma in the back room behind the bar before cleaning the scene Stanley Ross had returned to the
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Australian wine Saloon on Saturday morning to prepare for the day's trade he swept the floor and scrubbed
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surfaces there was no indication that the Saloon or its back room had been cleaned the previous
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night the Ross family testified at trial in support of Colin and corroborated his
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version of events Edie described Colin as a good son who was a bit rough around to the edges but certainly not a child
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killer another one of Colin's brothers named Thomas told the court that when the family heard news of Colin's arrest
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they found it comical in its absurdity Thomas explained I thought that my brother
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would have been the last man in the world to to be detained to Outsiders the Ross family
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were just protecting one of their own no one seemed to consider the possibility that they were telling the
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truth after Colin's conviction his family gathered at their home to plot their next move they agreed without
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hesitation to mortgage their house to fund an appeal all of a sudden there was a knock
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at the front door standing outside was a young woman who introduced herself as Florence
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rodkin she was well aware of the infamous turki case the vicious frenzy it had stirred
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up in Melbourne had prevented Florence from coming forward sooner as she wanted no association with
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it but with Colin being found guilty Florence put her personal feelings aside to reveal what she
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knew at around 5 on the afternoon of Friday December 30 1921 Florence had stopped in at the Australian wine Saloon
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she visited occasionally as it was a quiet establishment where she could be left
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alone Florence settled into a dark corner in the Parlor it was an uneventful visit until Olive madx
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dropped in boisterous and unsteady Olive was clearly intoxicated she stood at The Parlor
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entrance and examined the room before before moving off Florence was still in the Parlor
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when Olive reappeared an hour later right before closing time when Florence went to leave Colin
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Ross was still there she caught a glimpse of the private room behind the bar there was no one
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there the reason Florence felt it was so important to come forward with this information was that she had flowing red
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hair at the time of her visit the saloon she'd been wearing a hat just like Alma
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turki given that the Parlor was dimly lit and Olive Maddox had been intoxicated Florence feared that Olive
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had mistaken her for Alma Stanley Ross had remembered Florence rudkin as one of their few
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customers that day he'd sought her out when his brother was initially detained but he only knew her as flurry and was
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unable to track her down Florence ruin was told to take her story to a man named Thomas Brenan an
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experienced and formidable criminal attorney Brennan was one part of Collin's Twan legal
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team like the Ross's Brennan was left speechless by Colin's conviction he' never doubted the man was
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innocent and after hearing the entirety of the prosecution's evidence in person he couldn't believe the jury had found
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him guilty Beyond Reasonable Doubt in the defense's opinion the prosecution's case was not only
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absolutely incoherent but absolutely inconsistent after detailing all of its flaws and inconsistencies they was
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certain colum was going to walk from Court a free man as far as the defense were concerned
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the prosecution star Witnesses were a quintant of disreputable for starded there was
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Francis Upton the man who claimed to have visited the Australian wine Saloon after midnight on December 30 to
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encounter Colin Ross with bloodstained hands Francis had also implicated an unidentified woman who he claimed to
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have heard in the saloon with Colin Thomas Brennan was incredulous of francis's testimony from the outset in
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Brennan's words Francis was a derelict a drunkard a deserter a notorious romancer
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and convicted criminal his rap sheet included charges for leny drunkenness and embezzlement in court Francis described
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himself as a bad character who'd skipped out on his wife and kids and spent all his earnings on
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alcohol Brennan hoped the jury would realize that testimony beginning with the witness regaining Consciousness in a
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park after a bender necessitated a considerable degree of skepticism Francis even admitted during
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cross-examination that he usually got so drunk he didn't remember anything in fact he was such a prolific
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alcoholic that he had no memories of ever visiting the Australian wine Saloon except for on December
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30 Francis said he'd leared of Amma tur's murder on January 2 yet he only approached police to implicate Colin
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Ross after the £ 1,000 reward was offered then there were the two jail Birds Sydney Harding and Joseph
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Dunston Sydney testified that Colin had confessed to killing Elma while they were in the prison yard Joseph
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corroborated this saying he overheard parts of the confession Thomas Brennan had explained
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to the jury why they should be wary of these claims Sydney and Joseph were convicted criminals with a history
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including assault lassy receiving stolen goods and even perjury not only were they known to one
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another they were on remand for a housebreaking they committed together Sydney Harding had come forward
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to the police before the coronial inquest but after the big reward was announced after establishing himself as
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a star prosecution witness Sydney was per permitted to leave the confines of jail and to live in Far Cozier lodgings
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near the city it was a fitting prize for a man other prisoners referred to as a dog due to his reputation as a
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snitch Colin Ross knew of Sydney's dishonorable notoriety and in no way considered him a
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Friend Thomas Brennan assumed the jury would realize how comical the whole setup was why would his client trust the
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criminal he barely knew who had a reputation for leaking information to police during one prison visit Colin's
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legal team had warned him say nothing they'll plant people in here to testify against
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you it made no sense for him to then go and divulge everything about the murder to a random
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inmate Joseph dunon came forward to police after the coronial inquest but before the trial he had admitted that
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he'd spoken to Sydney before making his statement both men also revealed that they'd read the daily paper together
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which featured detailed updates on the turki case these stories included all the evidence Colin's version of events
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and the allegations other Witnesses had made against him another prisoner on remand with the
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two witnesses claimed that he'd overheard Sydney tell Joseph I have told you about Ross and I
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will fix you up after the trial Thomas Brennan knew better than most that assertions made by prison
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snitches should be considered with Extreme Caution Sydney and Joseph had proven themselves Liars in the past pleading
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innocent for crimes they were ultimately found guilty of criminals usually didn't help the
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police unless there was something in it for them the jury were told to consider the
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likelihood the pair were offered a deal to testify against colum as for Ivy Matthews the former
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bartender who claimed to have seen Alma turki drinking in the private room behind the bar of the Australian wine
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Saloon the defense had some serious doubts about her story Ivy was first interviewed by
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detectives almost a week after elma's body was discovered at that time Ivy said she hadn't seen Elma and knew
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nothing about what had happened to her it was only weeks later that she came forward to police with her story
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implicating Colin Ross in the crime when asked why she hadn't revealed this pertinent information during her
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first interview Ivy said as a former employe of Collins she felted a degree of loyalty to
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him both Ivy Matthews and Olive Maddox claimed to have seen a girl matching Elma tury's description drinking at the
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saloon on the afternoon of December 3rd 30 Colin had allegedly confessed to giving Elma upwards of three glasses of
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wine prior to the attack however elma's stomach had been examined postmortem for traces of
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alcohol and none were found during Collin's trial the defense pointed out that both Ivy and Olive had
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added more damning claims against Colin every time they were interviewed not only did they come
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forward after the one ,000 reward was on offer they also revealed key information
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only when the same information had just been reported by the Press Ivy and Olive were longtime
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friends who admitted to having discussed the case on multiple occasions before and after Colin's
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arrest as far as the defense were concerned the two women had colluded to falsely accuse Colin in a bid to claim
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the reward money while the claimed that they were amicable with Colin he said otherwise Olive and Colin had a
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temperamental history with one another and hadn't spoken for months meanwhile Ivy had been aggressively demanding
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money from him that she felt was owed to her she was also bitter about having lost her job at the saloon with Colin
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asserting that Ivy would quote do anything for spite to get even with him as the defense pointed out the only
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moments where the five key Witnesses stories aligned was when they were presenting information that had been
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published in the papers the other Mysteries of the case such as how exactly Elma came to be in the saloon
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and how her body was disposed of conflicted between accounts Colin had allegedly told Ivy
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that Elma approached him and asked for a drink in Sydney's version of events it was Colin who coaxed the girl into his
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Saloon Ivy said she'd seen Elma in the room behind the bar at 300 p.m. while Olive said she saw Elma at 5:00 p.m. in
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The Parlor in Ivy's version Elma was awake and alert when the attack commenced in Sydney's account Elma was
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unconscious Ivy said Colin had a driven back to the city in in the early hours while Sydney claimed he rode a
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bicycle depending on the witness elma's body was either driven or carried to Gun
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Alley the timings of all these happenings conflicted and when taken as a whole were completely
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incoherent Colin's alleged descriptions of Elma also didn't add up those who knew Elma best said she was a shy and
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naive girl with a quiet temperament accounts from the so-called quintet of disreputable had Colin saying
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Elma was a cheeky little devil who demanded alcohol was forthright with men and sexually
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active the defense felt there was no way Colin could have interacted with Alama and Come Away with such an inaccurate
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character assessment none of this even took into account the assertions of other
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Witnesses 60 other customers visited the Australian wine Saloon on December 30 based on the statements provided by
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Olive Maddox and Dy Matthews Elma was in the saloon for upwards of 3 hours that afternoon yet aside from those two women
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no one else saw her two patrons said they'd shared a drink with Colin Ross and his brother
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Stanley in the room behind the bar and remained there until closing time they could say with utmost confidence that
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Elma turki was not with them these men along with the other Saloon patrons went to the police and vouched
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for Colin unanimously stating that he was at the saloon between 2: p.m. and closing time on December 30 they
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remembered him helping his brother behind the bar and chatting to customers Ivy Matthews claimed it was
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the following day of December 31 that Colin led her out of the saloon and on to little Collin Street where he
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confessed to elma's murder but other patrons including Florence rugen had been in the saloon at the time at no
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point did they see Ivy Matthews there nor did Colin leave the building at any time if he disappeared from view it was
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for barely minutes at a time according to Olive Maddox Colin had made suspicious comments to her about
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the tki case on January 5 but multiple Witnesses asserted that Colin was socializing at a home in West
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Melbourne that day and Olive wasn't there in the leadup two and during the trial each of the prosecution's
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Witnesses were paid sustenance payments which rewarded witness cooperation post conviction they were
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each eligible to receive a share of the 1,000 reward Thomas Brennan hoped the jury
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would realize danger of hinging a man's life or death on conflicting circumstantial
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evidence yet even if the jury had dismissed the witness's claims there was still the matter of the prosecution's
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Smoking Gun Alma's hairs found on the blankets from Colin's Saloon this was concrete evidence that
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she'd been there the kind of evidence that was impervious to deceit pressure or influence or was
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it when the saloon closed down after failing to secure a new liquor license most of its contents were taken to the
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Ross family home in foot gray including the two blankets from the back room one brown one
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blue the blankets were often laid out on The Veranda for guests to sit on at no point did Colin's mother Edie see any
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long red hairs on them if there were any she believed they'd likely come from a redheaded female relative who had been
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staying over when the blankets were taken into police custody they weren't secured in
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any way to avoid contamination after being freely transported in a police car they were
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left on a detective's desk for an extended period of time until the analyst was ready to examine
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them the Ross trial marked the first conviction in austral Asia using a scientific comparison of hairs and it
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was not as reliable as it seemed the analysis was done on appearance alone the analyst who performed the
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comparison was a chemist by trade he had no expert knowledge in hair analysis and
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had never previously analyzed any hair samples while the hairs were all red in color they varied in tone length and
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texture Colin admitted to Bringing women into the salon's back room two redhead women even testified to having combed
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their hair while in there using a mirror which hung above the couch where the blankets were
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laid gladus the friend Colin brought to his Saloon on the night of December 30 also had a red
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hair had the hairs been forcefully pulled from someone's scalp one would expect they would still contain their
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Roots however only one of the hairs still had its root attached in the state they were found in
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the hairs aligned more with having fallen out naturally not forcefully the one route the analyst did have was
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essentially useless he couldn't compare it to the sample of Alma's hair as it had been cut 6 in from her scalp and
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therefore didn't have any Roots attached either the analyst concluded that all the hairs had come from Elma but without
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a form of testing that could prove it his findings were nothing more than personal
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opinion Colin had initially identified the brown blanket where 22 of the red hairs were found as having been inside
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his Saloon but he later realized that he'd confused it with another blanket he now claimed that the one
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taken in his evidence had never been in his Saloon when shown the exhibit even former bartender Ivy Matthews said she'd
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never seen that blanket before Seenin found on the blue blanket were deemed evidence that Colin had
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raped armor however when the blanket was kept at the Ross house several of Colin's Brothers had sprawled on it with
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their girlfriends there was no way to test who the Sean originated from the torn up blue fabric allegedly
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found on foot's gry road before Colin's trial wasn't a reliable piece of evidence either it had been given weight
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because it supported Sydney Harding's statement that Colin shredded elma's clothing and Scattered the pieces at
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that location after her murder the piece of fabric was never proven to have originated from elma's
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clothing it was also surprisingly clean considering it had allegedly been on the
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side of a busy road for months furthermore the police had never even bothered to search the area where it was
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recovered given the hoaxes that had Arisen around the Gun Alley it wasn't outrageous to consider that the fabric
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could have been planted there in any case if Sydney's statement was a l as the defense argued the fabric held no
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relevance at all even if Colin Ross had killed Alma turki in each alleged version of the
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crime the manner in which the death occurred was described as accidental not deliberate Ivy Matthews original
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statement even contained the line Colin did not intend to kill her a crucial Point she failed to repeat a trial
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the defense felt that even if the confessions were true Colin should have been charged with the Lesser crime of
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manslaughter with all this in mind Thomas Brennan couldn't believe Colin Ross was handed a guilty verdict for
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murder expressing an opinion that was ahead of its time Brennan believed the jury were unconsciously swayed by The
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Sensational and salacious press their articles inflamed public perception of colum the moment he
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entered the investigation in Brennan's opinion his client came into the dock convicted he
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said never in the history of serious crimes in Victoria or indeed in the British Empire has a man been convicted
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on such a jumbled mass of contradictions the only explanation is that the jury quite unconsciously formed
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opinions before they went into the box and with their judge ments clouded by their natural indignation they were
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unable to view the matter dispassionately in the months following Colin's trial several jurors spoke
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anonymously with the Herald newspaper one said that during proceedings he locked eyes with Colin
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who quickly averted his gaze this one fleeting action led the juror to conclude that Colin was a guilty
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man another said there was a fear among the the jury of speaking critically about the evidence presented against
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Colin in casee the hand of public scorn might Point them out forever he admitted that the jury had
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disregarded the claims by prosecution witness Francis Upton and there was scattered support for the
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others the majority believed Ivy Matthews but only half believed Sydney Harding the guilty verdict would have
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been reached in minutes had it not been for two jurors expressing doubts that dragged the process out one of the
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dissenting jurors was an elderly man who broke down in tears when the verdict was
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read out in court another became emotional once he got home saying I never want to serve on another jury
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charged with having to decide on a man's fate [Music] again the defense had presented all the
00:30:57
points justifying and Collin's innocence during the trial and still lost they couldn't pursue an appeal with the same
00:31:05
information with Florence rodkin coming forward post conviction Thomas Brennan had something new to work with and
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Florence wasn't the only one prompted by the conviction Taxi Driver Joseph Graham came forward to
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Colin Ross's legal team to detail his story about hearing a young girl screaming on little Collins Street on
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the afternoon of Friday December December 30 1921 although the police had been aware
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of this information and a second witness from balarat had corroborated it this was the first time the defense had ever
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heard of it while detectives had taken notes they never followed up with either of the men
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nor were further investigations made into the claims the information was never given to the press to see if
00:31:53
anyone else could elaborate on it neither Joseph Graham nor the man from balarat were contacted to participate in
00:32:01
the coronial inquest or murder trial relating to Alma turki's death to critics of the investigation
00:32:09
the men's exclusion highlighted the detective's attitude towards evidence that Vindicated Colin the level of
00:32:16
disinterest from authorities about these witness accounts resulted in the name and contact details of the Ballarat man
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getting misplaced Thomas Brennan took Chief responsibility for appealing Colin's
00:32:29
verdict when he made the application he asked the Court of Criminal appeal for time after all two new and extraordinary
00:32:38
Witnesses had come forward and he needed to investigate their claims thoroughly the judges weren't willing to
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hold up proceedings to allow such investigations to take place Brennan told them surely in a case
00:32:53
of life and death time should be given to prepare the appeal his request was denied and the appeal
00:33:01
was scheduled to take place one week later Colin Ross appeared for the 4-day hearing he was worn as he hadn't been
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sleeping and was in a constant state of anxiety as a man on death row he was isolated from other prisoners and was
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only L out into the yard when it was empty from there he had a full view of The Gallows due to the lack of preparation
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time Thomas Brenan wasn't able to schedule all the witnesses he'd intended to present at Colin's appeal he had to
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work with what he had hoping it would be enough during the appeal process a third
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new witness approached the Ross family his name was George Krill and he'd been motivated to come forward after reading
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about Colin's ordeal and the implication of police suppression and manipulation of
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evidence George claimed that on the afternoon of Friday December 30 1921 he was walking up little Collin Street
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between 1:30 and 145 p.m. when he noticed a girl matching Alma turki's description a man was following
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uncomfortably close behind her so much so that George felt an urge to confront him a short time later George's
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attention was drawn to the facade of the Eastern arcade the man and girl were still
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standing there together talking George didn't know who the man was but it wasn't Colin
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Ross George had given this information to police during their investigations and was questioned several times over
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the matter but nothing further was done when Thomas Brennan informed the court of criminal appeal of George Krill Story
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the Chief Justice replied there is nothing remarkable in somebody seen talking to a little
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girl Brennan argued otherwise and while the judges agreed to consider George's statement they decided that they'd hear
00:35:07
no further evidence and immediately retired to consider their verdict when it was time to make their
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announcement the Chief Justice stated that it was not part of the Court's function to put aside the verdict of a
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jury unless a miscarriage of Justice could be proven with that he announced that Colin
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Ross's appeal was denied Colin sat quietly while his mother and Florence rkin sobbed behind
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him Colin was taken back to prison to await his death sentence Thomas Brennan filed a new
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appeal this time with the high court the proceedings commenced just weeks before
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colum was due to be executed the high court judges respected the jury's decision and re rejected most
00:35:58
of the grounds brought forth by the defense one judge acknowledged that while Collins's two alleged confessions
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vared in facts both ultimately had him admit to raping and killing Alma turki quote if there is any inconsistency it
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is an inconsistency in the prisoner statement not any inconsistency in the evidence of the witnesses to the alleged
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confessions the high court by a majority of 4 to1 rejected the motion for a retrial Colin cried
00:36:34
out I am innocent and if they hang me they will hang an innocent man Edie Ross sold the family home to
00:36:45
fund her son's appeals she fought desperately for his life taking her campaign all the way to high ranking
00:36:52
religious leaders politicians and even the Attorney General she brought along a bundle of
00:36:58
letters from sympathetic members of the public and a petition against Colin's conviction with 2,000 signatures of
00:37:06
support the public perception of Colin was shifting as a result of their actions
00:37:13
post trial the Integrity of the prosecution star Witnesses were being questioned having essentially been
00:37:20
identified as a grifter Frank Upton adopted an alias and fled the state fearing retribution from Collins
00:37:28
supporters Sydney Harding and Joseph Dunston were convicted of their joint housebreaking charge though Sydney was
00:37:35
granted early release and Joseph was pardoned this added Credence to the theory the men were offered deals to
00:37:43
testify against Colin Ross Olive Maddox wound up in prison for sex work and drunkenness Ivy Matthews gave an
00:37:52
interview to the Midnight Sun newspaper about the tury case that was full of inaccuracy
00:37:58
with the publication concluding the question of to what extent Matthews can be relied on either
00:38:05
in speaking of herself or others is a very open one indeed While most Australians still
00:38:13
believed in Colin's guilt some felt capital punishment should be reserved for the most coldblooded and calculated
00:38:20
offenders letters were sent to the governor seeking Mercy for Colin While others asked that he at least be given a
00:38:28
proper opportunity to prove his innocence Edie Ross was nevertheless fighting an uphill battle when she told
00:38:37
one politician my boy is as innocent as me the politician responded I am perfectly satisfied that you are wasting
00:38:46
your time and money she managed to get the Attorney General to acknowledge there were
00:38:53
weaknesses in the prosecution's case but he refused to to Halt the execution on the morning of Colin's
00:39:03
family went to see him one last time they struggled to find any words but colum was talkative and appeared
00:39:12
accepting of his fate he expressed his gratitude for their belief in him and encouraged them to live on without
00:39:20
him his mother reassured him that she'd continue to fight for him until her last
00:39:26
breath she wasn't permitted to hug Colin so the brief meeting ended with an unceremonious verbal
00:39:34
farewell more than 1,000 people encircled Melbourne jail on the morning of Colin's
00:39:41
execution in his final moments Colin sat quietly with a reverend and wrote a letter to his
00:39:47
family it read in part goodbye my darling mother and brothers on this the last day of my life
00:39:56
I want to tell you that I love you more than ever do not fear for I know God will be with me try to forgive my
00:40:05
enemies let God deal with them do not fret too much for me the day is coming when my innocence will be
00:40:15
proved when the cell door opened Colin remained silent he handed the Reverend of the Bible he' possessed during his
00:40:24
incarceration then placed his hand on the reverend's shoulder ERS in a way described as more eloquent Than
00:40:32
Words column was then led to the Gallows an experimental four strand rope was used for the occasion though never
00:40:41
again as it ended up taking upwards of 20 minutes for Colin Ross to die Colin's prison Bible was passed on
00:40:51
to his mother the inside was full of annotations and alterations he'd made the text to make it relevant to his
00:40:59
current circumstances they depicted a man fighting desperately against the world
00:41:05
determined to condemn him with lines like false Witnesses rose up against me they laid to my charge things that I
00:41:14
knew not time will tell and the police wickedness is in the midst thereof deceit and guile depart not from her
00:41:26
Street Melbourne on one page Colin underlined the words full of bribes and wrote next
00:41:35
to it this is our police force which our people think so much of with the execution of Colin Ross The
00:41:46
Gun Alley murder as it came to be known faded from headlines until eventually people stopped talking about it all
00:41:54
together Edie Ross maintained her promise to to fight for her son's name she wrote a letter to the people of
00:42:01
Australia that urged I view with horror the awful crime for which my son was wrongly
00:42:09
executed I quite understand the indignation and wrath that must sway the Judgment of the public at the committal
00:42:16
of the shocking deed but as his mother I protest with all my soul that my boy should be made the innocent victim of
00:42:24
that indignation and Wrath I have gone from place to place from one to another pleading for my boy's life
00:42:33
pleading for justice and mercy only to be turned away without hope as my dear son Colin has suffered
00:42:42
all that the law can do to him I now make a Mother's appeal to the public of Australia to help me clear my son's name
00:42:50
from the terrible stigma that has been placed upon it Melbourne ever was prepared to move
00:43:00
on and it [Music] did 71 years later in 1993 a retrospective exhibition on Australian
00:43:15
artist Charles Blackman was held at the National Gallery of Victoria titled school girls and Angels it featured a
00:43:23
series of paintings and drawings black men produced in the 1950s depicting Bleak deserted cityscapes reminiscent of
00:43:30
Melbourne in the 1920s a girl wearing a school uniform and a straw hat wandered among the
00:43:36
streets as if lost her eyes wide in fear 37-year-old Kevin Morgan was a trainee librarian at the National
00:43:46
Gallery every time he walked to his workspace he passed black men's art Kevin didn't know what inspired the
00:43:54
menacing images but they intrigued him he found himself asking who was this mysterious
00:44:01
child he later explained quote there was something about her haunting and haunted that seemed to beg
00:44:10
the heart this child had a sense of death around her seeking an explanation Kevin read a
00:44:17
catalog about Charles Blackman that contained quotes from an interview he'd given many years
00:44:23
earlier Blackman discussed his inspiration for the artwork saying a school girl was once murdered
00:44:30
in the lane near the Old Eastern Market and it left a direct and anguished effect on
00:44:37
me Kevin Morgan had never heard of Alat turki but Blackman's confronting art drove him to learn more about her case
00:44:46
by that point the families of the victim and the convicted and all the witnesses
00:44:50
and investigators involved in the original case had passed away key locations like Gun Alley and the Eastern
00:44:58
arcade no longer existed still Kevin dug up as much information as he could examining
00:45:05
newspaper archives and the writings of defense attorney Thomas brandan the more Kevin studied the case
00:45:12
the more he came to realize it featured two innocent victims the obvious one was
00:45:17
Alma turki the other was Colin Ross although Colin had died 34 years before Kevin was born Kevin could feel
00:45:28
Colin's presence in everything he read it felt as though he was crying out for his name to be
00:45:35
cleared Kevin left his job to devote the next seven years of his life to conducting a deep dive into the turki
00:45:42
case he reached out to the living relatives of those involved and obtained Colin's old prison Bible which had been
00:45:49
stored in a shed upon taking in all the messages Colin had scrolled in it Kevin was
00:45:56
deeply affected he accessed the original court documents absorbing the mess of contradictions and
00:46:03
anomalies in the prosecution witness testimony he read about the witnesses who had gone ignored but whose
00:46:10
Recollections might have rescued Colin from The Gallows but the biggest Revelation was
00:46:16
Yet to Come As Kevin examined the archives of the Office of Public prosecutions Library he made a discovery upon looking
00:46:26
inside an an old forgotten box he came across an envelope marked with the words on his Majesty's
00:46:33
service inside were several White cards with a small amount of hair stuck to them one card was labeled as Alma
00:46:41
turki's hair the other held the hairs lifted from Colin Ross's Brown blanket in 1922 these hairs played a
00:46:51
major role in securing Colin's conviction even after so many years they were as vibrant a red Hue as
00:46:59
ever Kevin had been told that all the physical evidence pertaining to the case had been destroyed so this was a major
00:47:08
find with the advancement of forensic technology Kevin sought to have the hair reexamined a long bureaucratic and legal
00:47:17
battle followed it took 3 years but Kevin was finally permitted to carry out the
00:47:24
tests in 1998 the results were in an analyst from the Victorian Institute of forensic medicine concluded
00:47:33
that the hairs were easily differentiated at the microscopic level there were very clear differences in
00:47:40
color pigmentation and other features they had not originated from the same scalp as had been claimed
00:47:47
during Colin Ross's murder trial the samples were retested by the federal police investigation unit who
00:47:55
concluded the hairs from the brown blanket could not have come from Elma [Music]
00:48:06
turki in 2005 Kevin Morgan released a book on his findings titled Gun Alley murder lies and failure of
00:48:15
justice that year assisted by legal experts he prepared a petition to the Victorian government asking for the
00:48:22
verdict in alur's Murder to be aned such requests were typically made by the convicted person themselves but
00:48:31
this was the first time in Australian legal history that the request was made poly Kevin had been given permission to
00:48:39
go ahead by both Colin and dma's living relatives who all signed the petition the Attorney General considered
00:48:48
the petition for a year before referring the matter to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of
00:48:53
Victoria 14 months later after the Court's most senior judges had poured through all the new and old evidence of
00:49:00
the case a report was completed They concluded that if the 1922 jury were given access to the
00:49:09
recent hair test results Colin Ross would have been found not guilty the trial was formally ruled a miscarriage
00:49:17
of Justice referring to the case as a travesty the Attorney General presented a framed letter of Pardon for Colin Ross
00:49:27
that was handed to members of his and the turki families one of Colin's nieces felt a
00:49:33
great sense of relief saying I had lived with this fear and doubt for most of my
00:49:39
life the more so as I began to have children that perhaps I carried the genes of a
00:49:45
murderer that shadow has gone Alma's relatives felt the pardon wasn't enough a second cousin of hers
00:49:55
said a pardon means I am forgiving you for something you have done shouldn't it rather be an exoneration which means I
00:50:05
accept you didn't do this in the first place nevertheless they were grateful for the impact the pardon would have on
00:50:13
the country's Collective memory of Elma one of elma's nieces said the pardon has also helped restore
00:50:21
the reputation of Elma because it shows that she didn't enter the wine bar as was said in the trial she was a good
00:50:30
girl Colin's remains were ordered to be removed from the unmarked prison grave they were resting in so he could be
00:50:37
given a proper burial Melbourne jail had long since been decommissioned and the remains of deceased prisoners buried
00:50:44
there were moved around and reburied at different sides Colin's remains were in a coffin
00:50:50
shared by three other men and it took years to track down where exactly they had been placed and which remains among
00:50:57
them belonged to Colin in October 2010 Colin's relatives held a funeral service on his behalf on
00:51:06
the site where he'd been executed the relatives of Elma turki attended in a show of
00:51:12
solidarity one of Colin's relatives stated this morning we leave behind us the cold stones of the Melbourne jail
00:51:21
Colin is at last set free he is with his family once again [Music] Colin's remains were crad and interred
00:51:30
beside those of his mother in rural Victoria Kevin Morgan Whose actions led to Colin Ross's Vindication told the age
00:51:41
newspaper a big stain on the legal system has finally been expunged and a shadow on two Australian families has
00:51:49
also been lifted that justice has finally been done for the Ross and turki families
00:51:55
after 86 years is a tremendous outcome reflecting on the entire experience for his book Kevin
00:52:04
said 17 years earlier as I walked through the picture gallery pondering the identity of Charles Blackman's
00:52:10
school girl I could not have guessed what ordinary people could do let alone achieve in the face of a perceived
00:52:22
Injustice with Colin Ross pardoned the question remained who killed Alma turki based on the known facts of the
00:52:31
case Kevin Morgan was surprised Colin Ross was ever considered a suspect he had no history of sexual based offending
00:52:39
and in Kevin's words he was an impulsive bungling criminal acting without forth thought as exemplified by him proposing
00:52:48
at gunpoint and the Planned robbery that went a he could be stupid to put it frankly
00:52:57
in contrast Kevin concluded elma's killer was someone possessed of a clear mind capable of thinking ahead and aware
00:53:06
of the sorts of clues that might disclose his identity this person was not stupid or
00:53:12
careless May indeed have been educated and appears to have known about techniques of crime detection as they
00:53:19
were then applied and the state of forensic medicine in 1922 other child killers were tenuously
00:53:28
linked to Elma but none were considered genuine suspects while researching his book
00:53:35
Kevin Morgan collated all the information provided by elma's younger sister Viola who was 10 years old in
00:53:43
1921 in doing so Kevin discovered a chilling Secret After elma's murder Viola was
00:53:51
plagued by nightmares of being pursued by a male figure through Dark Places sometimes she'd have visions of the man
00:53:58
poking his head through her bedroom window during one nightmare he entered Viola's room and told her I came home at
00:54:10
1:00 Viola believed the man in her nightmares was George Murphy the husband of one of her older
00:54:17
cousins she sensed George was a pedophile and that he'd wanted to sexually assault her from a young age it
00:54:24
all started when she was around 6 or 7 years old and he rubbed her legs in an inappropriate manner from then onwards
00:54:33
Viola felt George was trying to groom her she took to hiding in a wardrobe whenever he visited and asked other
00:54:41
family members to keep close to her whenever he was around on one occasion he chased her out
00:54:47
onto the street and continued to pursue her until she reached safety when Viola was 16 George asked
00:54:56
her to marry him she refused Viola didn't tell anyone about George's actions at the time as she felt
00:55:04
no one would believe her her silence was fueled by the era's conservative culture
00:55:10
as the topic of sex even non-consensual sex was never openly discussed in an interview in 1997 Viola
00:55:19
revealed that she wasn't questioned by anybody including the police about her sister's
00:55:25
murder therefore she never implicated George Murphy in the crime saying I was kept right out of it right
00:55:34
out of it all together Kevin Morgan discovered that in December 1921 George Murphy was working
00:55:46
as a draftsman for the office of the register General and register of titles his office was on Queen Street in
00:55:54
Melbourne's CBD which inter Ed all the main thoroughfares relevant to the turki case including Burke little Collins and
00:56:02
Collins streets Kevin theorized that after unsuccessfully grooming Viola George Murphy set his sights on
00:56:11
Elma of the Two Sisters Elma was the more trusting and obedient a befitting target for a child
00:56:19
predator if Elma had endured any form of sexual abuse it was reasonable to assume
00:56:25
she wouldn't have spoken out about it the fact that it involved a family member would have made it even more
00:56:33
unmentionable maybe her uncle-in-law had scared her silent a month before her murder Elma
00:56:41
told her friends that a spiritualist had warned that she'd die soon although this
00:56:46
story was proven false Kevin Morgan wondered whether Alma was exposing a very real fear she had within a
00:56:53
fictitious narrative George M Murphy could have threatened to kill Elma if she exposed
00:56:59
his crimes when George learned Elma was leaving Melbourne to live with her father in Regional Victoria he might
00:57:06
have feared losing control of her outside of his reach she could be compelled to expose
00:57:14
him as Kevin theorized George might have felt like he had to silence her once and
00:57:19
for all by the time Kevin Morgan began looking into George Murphy as a suspect in the turki case the records of his
00:57:29
former employer were no longer available therefore George's whereabouts that day
00:57:34
couldn't be proven when Elma had arrived at the butcher shop on the day of her disappearance she wasn't in a state of
00:57:43
distress therefore Kevin Morgan believed that her ordeal began shortly after she
00:57:48
left the shop Witnesses had reported seeing a man following Elma along little Collin Street before confronting her
00:57:56
outside the Eastern arcade Elma wasn't inclined to speak to strangers so it was possible that she
00:58:04
knew the men Elma had been instructed to leave the parcel of meat at her aunt's flat
00:58:11
knowing that the flat itself would be empty in a move that was completely out of character for a girl who wrote a
00:58:18
school essay titled Judy first Elmer instead slowly and nervously wandered around at the neighboring streets
00:58:26
avoiding her intended destination according to Kevin Morgan quote the meeting altered Alma's course
00:58:35
she diverged from her route to her aunt's flat 10 minutes away because it was no longer a
00:58:43
sanctuary Kevin considered whether Elma had told the man where she was headed and then stoed for time out of fear that
00:58:50
he would go there and wait for her perhaps she was seeking safety by remaining in a public populated area she
00:58:58
wandered into the Eastern arcade only to realize it wasn't a suitable space for lone children so she headed back
00:59:05
outside shortly after this the screams of a distressed young girl were heard echoing up little Colin
00:59:13
[Music] Street when speaking to the press in January 1922 investigators leading the turki
00:59:23
case assured the public no piece of information was disregarded and every supposed clue was subjected to the
00:59:31
closest scrutiny at that time the cas's lead detective Fred pigot was considered a
00:59:39
real life Sherlock Holmes a hard-nosed detective with an eye for detail pigot was a celebrity due
00:59:47
to his work on many high-profile homicide cases he was widely regarded as one of
00:59:53
the best detectives of his era his work on the turki case not only earned him accolades and respect but
01:00:01
credited him as helping bring forensic science into Australian courtrooms detective pigot had passed
01:00:09
away by the time Colin Ross was pardoned during his illustrious career he was involved in a case involving a
01:00:16
husband accused of fatally shooting his wife in a groundbreaking move pigot carried out what was then the first
01:00:24
example of blood spatter interpretation in a Victorian criminal case he determined that the killing was in fact
01:00:32
a suicide and his work saved the accused from being executed what exactly went wrong for
01:00:40
pigot in the turki case will never be fully understood he was the type of detective to put in the work to ensure
01:00:47
Justice was correctly served but had failed spectacularly in that instance it's believed that pigot put
01:00:56
too much faith in the analysis of the hair evidence even though it wasn't reliable still this didn't answer why so
01:01:04
many significant pieces of evidence that exonerated Colin Ross went willfully ignored in 1961 detective pigot gave an
01:01:15
interview that touched on the turki case during which he stated the public were clamoring for
01:01:22
police action and the politicians of course were harassing her us we survived the Uproar long enough to plump for the
01:01:29
theory that Ross ravished and strangled armor in the saloon but we were well aware that our
01:01:36
evidence was only circumstantial he also said while I suspected Ross we desired to build up the chain of evidence that
01:01:47
was being forged against him in his book on the case Kevin Morgan added his own thoughts to this assertion
01:01:56
writing thus when a piece of evidence could not be forged into a link it seems it was simply
01:02:08
discarded throughout his time as Colin's attorney Thomas Brennan had received many letters some warned him against
01:02:16
helping Colin While others expressed their support of The Condemned man there were even multiple alleged confessions
01:02:23
from someone claiming to be Alma turki real killer Brennan easily recognized the
01:02:30
confessions as hoaxes some had been panned by Colin supporters in the hopes they could somehow prevent his
01:02:37
execution but on Sunday April 23 1922 the eve before Colin Ross was set to be executed an anonymous letter arrived at
01:02:47
Brennan's office that he felt was genuine the author Left Behind no identifying information save for a
01:02:55
postmark indicating the letter had been sent from a country town in Victoria as reproduced in Brennan's book
01:03:03
on the case titled The Gun Alley tragedy the letter read to Colin Ross at Melbourne
01:03:12
jail you have been condemned for a crime which you never committed and are to suffer for another's
01:03:19
fault since your conviction you have no doubt wondered what manner of man the real murderer is and who could not only
01:03:27
Encompass the girl's death but allow you to suffer in his stead my dear Ross if it is any
01:03:35
satisfaction for you to know it believe me that you will die but once but he will continue to die for the rest of his
01:03:44
life honored and fored upon by those who know him the smile upon his lips but hides the canker eating into his
01:03:53
soul day and night his life is a hell without the hope of reprieve gladly would he take your place
01:04:01
on Monday next if he had himself alone to consider his reason then briefly stated
01:04:08
is this a devoted and loving mother is ill a shock would be fatal himself he will sacrifice when his
01:04:19
mother passes away he will do it by his own hand he will board the ferry across the St sticks with a lie on his lips
01:04:28
with the only hope that religion is a myth and death Annihilation it is too painful for him
01:04:36
to go into the details of the crime it is simply a jaal and hir existence by a freak of nature he was
01:04:44
not made as other men this girl was not the first with a procuress all things are
01:04:54
possible in this case there was no intention of murder the victim unexpectedly collapsed may it be some satisfaction to
01:05:04
yourself your devoted mother and the members of your family to know that at least one of the legions of the Damned
01:05:11
who is the cause of your death is suffering the pangs of hell he may not ask your forgiveness or
01:05:19
sympathy but he asks for your [Music] understanding [Music] [Music] for