Ernest Austin

Murderer

1known / alleged victims

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Case Facts

Gender: male
Country: Australia
Location: Samford, Queensland, Australia
Date of birth: 1890
Age at first offence: 23
Characteristics: rape, child killer
Victim profile: Ivy Mitchell ( 11-year-old girl)
Method of murder: Cutting her throat
Date(s) of murder: June 8, 1913
Years active: 1913
Date of arrest: —
Status: Executed
Executed by hanging at Brisbane's Boggo Road Gaol on September 22, 1913

Case Summary

Background

Ernest Austin died on 22 September 1913. He was the last person executed by Queensland.

The offence

Ernest Austin was convicted of raping and murdering a 12-year-old girl, Ivy Mitchell, at Cedar Creek road near Samford. The case involved sexual assault and murder of a child.

Trial

Ernest Austin was sentenced to death in 1913 for the vicious murder and sexual assault of an 11-year-old girl, Ivy Mitchell of Samford.

During his trial and imprisonment, Austin appeared resigned.

Sentencing

Austin was sentenced to death in 1913.

Arrest

Far from being proud of his crime, Austin had tried to hang himself in the police watch-house.

Outcome

Ernest Austin was executed by hanging at Brisbane's Boggo Road Gaol on September 22, 1913, and he was buried in South Brisbane Cemetery.

His last words were reported in the Brisbane Courier as: "I ask you all to forgive me. I ask the people of Samford to forgive me. I ask my mother to forgive me. May you all live long and die happy. God save the King! God save the King! God be with you all! Send a wire to my mother and tell her I died happy, won’t you. Yes tell her I died happy with no fear. Goodbye all! Goodbye all!"

A similar account appeared in the Truth newspaper, this one reporting that "God save the King" were his actual last words.

Aftermath

In Australian folklore, the ghost of Ernest Austin is said to haunt the Boggo Road Gaol.

In later years, prisoners would see a face appear outside their cell door, and when they looked into his eyes they somehow knew it was Austin and that he had made a deal with Satan to deliver their souls in exchange for his own. After locking eyes with the prisoner, the ghost of Ernest Austin would come through the door and try to strangle them, driving some to madness, according to the folklore described in later tellings.

It was also said that Austin was said to haunt No.2 Division, though he was actually hanged in the original No.1 Division, which was demolished to make way for a newer No.1 Division in the early 1970s. The newer No.1 Division prison was demolished in the 1990s.

Timeline

22 September 1913 — Ernest Austin was executed by hanging at Brisbane's Boggo Road Gaol.
23 September 1913 — His last words were reported in the Brisbane Courier.

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