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.
