In order to accommodate women being held under sentence of death, one of the ground floor cells was converted into a ‘condemned cell’ in 1904. This was done by removing the cell door from the interior of the doorway and re-affixing it onto the exterior of the doorway, allowing it to open outwards. A lockable barred door was then installed where the cell door originally was, in order to allow better observation of the prisoner. This was needed in case the condemned prisoner tried to kill or injure themselves. This adapted cell door is still in place today.The most infamous female prisoner in early Boggo Road was Alma MacDonald. By the normal standards of the day, she should have hanged for her horrendous crime, but her death sentence was commuted. The victim was her 12-year-old stepchild, Grace MacDonald, who had been made to work in the house from dawn to dusk, sleep on the floor, eat with the dogs, received no warm clothes in winter, and was viciously beaten. She died as a result of this treatment, and a subsequent medical examination showed that she appeared to have been starved, had broken ribs and a wrist, bones were protruding from her right arm and large pieces of skin had been torn from parts of her body. Large sores showed that she had crawled around on her hands and knees, too weak to walk.
Alma and Angus McDonald arrive in Brisbane for the murder trial. (The Truth) |
Alma McDonald, 1904. (The Truth) |
There were two other women held at the prison under sentence of death. The first was a young unmarried mother called Amelia Linke. She was sentenced in April 1906 for the wilful murder of her infant son. Having smothered the baby in a paddock at Fernvale, near Ipswich, she had reportedly intended to commit suicide afterwards but lost heart. She was granted clemency on account of her ‘unsound mind’, and released in August 1908 after spending time at Goodna Mental Asylum.
Amelia Linke, 1906. (The Truth) |
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- Agnes Baker murder trial (Townsville Daily Bulletin)
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