I N F A M O U S   I N M A T E S

ERNEST AUSTIN
Ernest Austin was hung at Boggo Road Gaol on the 22nd September 1913. He was the last man to be hanged at the gaol and the last prisoner to be hung in Queensland. He received the death penalty for the murder of an eleven-year-old girl, Ivy Mitchell, who lived in the northern Brisbane suburb of Samford. Austin was believed to have followed the girl along a dirt road after she had left her parents’ farm to visit a neighbour. Records show that he was caught when police were able to match the broken heel of his shoe with footprints that were found near the murdered girl’s body. It is claimed that Austin remained indifferent throughout his trial and showed no sign of remorse for the crime he was on trial for. As Austin stood upon the gallows he declared, “I say straight out that I highly deserve this punishment. I ask you all to forgive me. God save the King.” As the hangman covered Austin’s face for the hanging, the prisoner stated, “ Send a wire to my mother and tell her I died happy.” With that the executioner pulled the trap door lever and Austin fell through. He was buried in an unmarked grave in the nearby South Brisbane cemetery.