1858: He Named Four Innocent Men as the Killers: Hanged in Melbourne for a Ballarat Murder
Hugh Anderson had money and a fortnight of riotous spending behind him when he was found dead in a Ballarat stable, dragged there in the dark with his boots and hat gone. A trail of blood led straight back to a coffee stall tent kept by George Thompson, a ticket-of-leave hawker who swore he had heard nothing of any murder that night.
Facing trial, Thompson changed his story completely. He claimed four strangers had forced their way into his tent, struck the victim down with an axe while he was held back and threatened into silence, and that he himself had taken no part at all. Investigators picked the account apart: of the men he named, those brought before the inquest were discharged for lack of evidence, and a jury convicted Thompson alone of wilful murder.
He was hanged in Melbourne on this day in 1858. Witnesses noted the strange contrast: a man who could kill with such ferocity for a few pounds now trembled uncontrollably as the hangman prepared the rope, and on the drop itself he stood perfectly still.
Thompson was stolid and unmoved for most of his time in gaol, but in his final days he confessed his guilt and acknowledged the justice of his sentence.
