Ernest Austin (murderer)
| Ernest Austin | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | 1890 Victoria, Australia |
| Died | 22 September 1913 (aged 22-23) Brisbane, Queensland, Australia |
| Cause of death | Hanging |
| Criminal penalty | Execution |
| Conviction(s) |
Murder Rape |
| Killings | |
| Date | 8 June 1913 |
| Location(s) | Samford, Queensland |
| Target(s) | Ivy Mitchell |
Ernest Austin (1890 – 22 September 1913) was an Australian criminal, notable for being the last person executed in Queensland.
On 8 June 1913, 11-year-old Ivy Mitchell was found raped and murdered at Cedar Creek Road, near Samford, Queensland. Ivy was the daughter of a farmer, who had been playing at the home of her friend, 7-year-old Mary Frisch, and at dusk Ivy left to go home. The Mitchell family lived two miles away from the Frisch family, and the homes in the rural farming community around Samford were connected by dirt roads. Austin began to stalk the two girls as Mary escorted Ivy to the end of the Frisch's drive and said goodbye, and while Ivy was walking home alone she disappeared. Ivy's brother, James Mitchell Junior, became worried when Ivy did not return home before sundown. With a lantern, James Jr walked to the Frisch home where he was told Ivy had already left hours before, and proceeded to rush home to tell his family Ivy was missing. James Mitchell Senior, James and Ivy's father, headed out with James Jr to follow the footprints left behind in the dirt road by Ivy from the end of the Frisch's drive. After a distance unknown large footprints joined Ivy's small footprints, and in lantern light the Mitchell men followed them to the thick scrubland behind the local school, Parker State School, where the grass had been crushed by something being dragged. Here they found Ivy's corpse dumped in the scrub where she had been raped and her throat had been cut, along with hoof marks and part of a riding crop, indicating the perpetrator had escaped by horse.
The discovery of Ivy's body caused policemen to be dispatched by automobile from Samford, who began questioning locals. However, those that had seen Ivy only saw her alone or with Mary Frisch, but not with anyone else. A labourer, Alexander Gordon, was near the school at 5.30pm where he had trespassed into a garden to pick a couple of fruits from an orange tree. Gordon recognised a local farmhand, Ernest Austin, thundering past on his horse as he was emerging from the garden with the oranges in hand. Austin spotted Gordon as he rode by, saying "Good night", and urging his horse along with a small tree branch. Earlier witnesses had seen Austin with a riding crop, however Gordon claimed he did not have one when he rode past. John Lofft, another local labourer, worked on a property with Austin and the pair shared living quarters. The night Ivy Mitchell was murdered, Austin had been in their room scraping at the sole of his boot with a knife, and had asked Lofft "Where are the pincers kept?", to which Lofft replied "In the blacksmith's shop." Austin then used the tool to tear the soles from his boots.
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