Walter Edward Gordon was a woolshed hand on Darr River Downs station near Muttaburra when fever took hold of him in 1885. He begged station manager Walter Dunning to send him to hospital, but Dunning refused, warning that if he took one sick man in he would have fifty more lining up behind him. The night before the killing, Gordon was overheard muttering that he would shoot him.
On 2 May he walked into the station office, placed a revolver to Dunning’s back as he sat writing, and fired. Dunning died within minutes, saying only “Good-bye George” to his brother before blood filled his throat. At trial Gordon’s counsel argued the fever had left him delirious and not responsible for his actions, but a doctor testified he had acted with full awareness, and the jury convicted him, though they recommended mercy given his poor health. He was hanged in Brisbane on this day in 1885.
On the scaffold Gordon struggled against the hood, insisting he wanted to speak. “I am innocent of the murder of that gentleman. I conscientiously,” he began, before his voice failed him entirely.
