Dark Stories: On This Day In True Crime History - Dark Stories True Crime Tours

1928: Clifford Hulme Hanged at Perth for the Wubin Murder

In June 1928, Clifford Hulme shot and killed Harold Eaton Smith at Wubin, a remote farming district north of Perth. The two men had been working together that afternoon. When Smith’s children went to bring their father his usual tea, they found Hulme approaching the house carrying a rifle. What followed included further attacks on Smith’s widow and children, crimes that shocked the court and compelled the Chief Justice to clear the public gallery before Mrs Smith gave her testimony.

Hulme’s defence rested on a plea of insanity, but the jury declared him sane and guilty. He received the death sentence without a word. He was executed on 3 September 1928.

Clifford Hulme murderer hanged at Fremantle Gaol Monday morning

⬅ See all events from 3 September

Australia Execution Murder Perth Trial WA Wubin

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

1885: Charles Bushby Hanged at Ballarat for Shooting a Detective on the Gong Gong Road

In December 1884, plain-clothes Detective Sergeant Hyland was pursuing a suspect wanted as an accomplice in a wool-stealing robbery at Kyneton. Acting on a tip that the man had been seen asking questions near the Gong Gong hotel, Hyland and Senior Constable Hehir hired a cab and tracked him along the road near Brown Hill. When Hyland stepped out and approached, the man drew a revolver and shot him in the shoulder at close range. Hyland rushed him before he could fire again, and a fierce struggle followed, with two more shots discharged into the ground and air before the man was handcuffed and taken into Ballarat. Surgeons at the hospital extracted the bullet from the sergeant’s back.

The man, Charles Bushby, also known as Baker, was convicted of attempted murder at the Ballarat Court and sentenced to death. He was hanged at Ballarat on 3 September 1885.

Old abandoned Kyneton Hospital building in Victoria, Australia

⬅ See all events from 3 September

Australia Ballarat Execution Kyneton Murder Police Robbery Trial VIC

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

1857: Two Men Hanged at Melbourne Gaol for the Brutal Murder of a Brothel Madam

On a wet, cloudy night in 1857, Chong Sigh and Hing Tzan entered the brothel of Sophia Lewis on Exhibition Street, in Melbourne, intending to rob and murder her.

Chong Sigh cut the sleeping woman’s throat, but the first wound was not fatal. Hing Tzan held her down while a second, deeper cut was made. When Lewis moved again, Hing Tzan returned to her and, according to the men’s later confession, almost severed her head from her body.

The pair then plundered the room and slipped away into the night, narrowly avoiding a constable on his beat before eventually scattering to Geelong and Ballarat.

Both men were arrested, confessed and were convicted of murder. Their statements confirmed that Chong Sigh had conceived the plot, with robbery as the motive, while Hing Tzan carried out the final fatal attack.

At Melbourne Gaol, the two men presented a striking contrast on the scaffold. Chong Sigh was overcome with emotion and cried loudly, while Hing Tzan remained comparatively composed and appeared to chant a prayer. Hing Tzan briefly resisted when the execution cap was placed over his head, apparently fearing that his hair was about to be cut, but quickly became calm. Both men were hanged on 3 September 1857.

Hooded man holding a glowing lantern in a dark forest

⬅ See all events from 3 September

Australia Execution Melbourne Murder Organised Crime Robbery VIC

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

1984: The Milperra Massacre: Seven Dead in Father’s Day Bikie War at Sydney Tavern

On Father’s Day, 2 September 1984, a heavily armed convoy of Comanchero motorcycle club members descended on the Viking Tavern car park in Milperra, a south-western suburb of Sydney.

The Comancheros had been at war with the newly formed Bandidos, a breakaway chapter, whose split from the Comancheros founder had curdled into open conflict. When both clubs converged on a swap meet that day, gunfire erupted in the car park. Seven people died, including a 14-year-old girl caught in the crossfire, and twenty-eight others were wounded.

The Milperra Massacre became the bloodiest single clash in the history of Australian outlaw motorcycle clubs.

⬅ See all events from 2 September

Australia Gang Milperra Murder NSW Organised Crime Sydney Trial

1928: Clifford Hulme Hanged at Perth for the Wubin Murder

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

1885: Charles Bushby Hanged at Ballarat for Shooting a Detective on the Gong Gong Road

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

1857: Two Men Hanged at Melbourne Gaol for the Brutal Murder of a Brothel Madam

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

1984: The Milperra Massacre: Seven Dead in Father’s Day Bikie War at Sydney Tavern

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

Subscribe to Dark Stories