On This Day ……. 7th June 1919
The Geelong branch of the Returned Soldiers and Sailors’ League alleges that a soldier while returning home absented himself from the steamer at Adelaide, and is now serving 112 days’ imprisonment in Geelong gaol. The officers of the league urge that an inquiry be held.
On This Day ……. 19th April 1930
In the Geelong Supreme Court on this day in 1930, Erie Harris Brockwell aged 24, was charged with having murdered Horace Thomas Walpole on the 28th of April 1929. Walpole’s body was found in his motor car on the Queenscliff-road. There were injuries to the head, and a post mortem examination disclosed a bullet in the brain. Walpole had been shot from behind. Senior Detective Siekerdick said that when he interviewed Brockwell on the 29th April, Brockwell admitted that he fired two shots at Walpole. Witness added that Brockwell asked to be “saved from the rope”. He did not mind doing 15 years. Walpole had called him a gaol bird, and he (Brockwell) had fired at him. Brockwell later signed a statement in which he admitted having killed Walpole. Brockwell, in a statement from the dock, said that he was too drunk to remember the incident. He had intended to kill himself, because he was depressed and in ill-health. He engaged Walpole to drive him to Queenscliff, and there had been a quarrel, but he had not fired to hit. The jury returned a verdict of manslaughter, and Brockwell was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment. “The jury took a very lenient view,” remarked the Chief Justice, in passing sentence. Brockwell was sent to Geelong Gaol and released in 1941.
ON THIS DAY – March 31, 2004
Masked gunmen entered the Brunswick Club on Sydney Road, Brunswick, at approximately 6.40pm on 31 March 2004, driving a Ford Falcon EF XR6 station wagon. Moran ran from his place at the bar, over a poker machine, through a glass window before the gunman caught up with him and shot him twice, the fatal bullet being fired into the back of his head from a few centimetres away. Associate Herbert “Bertie” Wrout was severely wounded but survived the attack. Keith Faure, his brother Noel Faure and associate Evangelos Goussis were charged with the murder. On 3 May 2006, Faure pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 19 years for the murders of Moran and Lewis Caine, who was killed two months after Moran. Former Kickboxing champ Goussis, 40, of Geelong was found guilty of Moran’s murder on 29 May 2008 in the Victorian Supreme Court. Goussis had stormed into the Brunswick Club and shot Moran as he cowered in a corner. Goussis and two others reportedly accepted a $150,000 contract from Tony Mokbel to kill Moran, the Victorian Supreme Court heard. After five days deliberation, the jury also found Goussis guilty of intentionally causing serious injury to Wrout, but not guilty of his attempted murder. Goussis was also convicted of murdering Caine. In February 2009, Goussis was sentenced to a minimum 30 years in prison for Moran’s murder. Lewis Moran was suspected in ordering the death of underworld Hitman Dino Dibra. On 7 May 2007, Carl Williams was convicted of commissioning Lewis Moran’s murder, and sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment. Williams died in Barwon prison, on 19 April 2010, as the result of an attack by a fellow inmate.
ON THIS DAY – March 31, 1949
WARRAGUL
Steven Kelly, 46, farm labourer, of Warragul, who had pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of John Thomas Bateson, 74, pensioner, at Warragul, on March 31, was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment by Mr Justice O’Bryan in the Criminal Court. His Honour described Kelly’s crime as dreadful, but said that he accepted the view that Kelly was inflamed with drink, and that Bateson’s death occurred during a drunken quarrel.
On This Day ……. 7th June 1919
The Geelong branch of the Returned Soldiers and Sailors’ League alleges that a soldier while returning home absented himself from the steamer at Adelaide, and is now serving 112 days’ imprisonment in Geelong gaol. The officers of the league urge that an inquiry be held.
On This Day ……. 13th May 1910
At the Geelong police court, Robert Bryer, aged 17, was charged with having stolen a suit of clothes, a hat, two half sovereigns, and some silver, the property of R. J. Connelly. He was sentenced to two months imprisonment in Geelong Gaol.
On This Day ……. 3rd May 1941
Leo Alexander Willard, of Newtown, was sentenced to one month’ imprisonment in Geelong for having stolen a bicycle, the property of Francis Martini. The machine was taken from a Geelong West industry. Constable Child, of Footscray, said that Willard called at the Footscray police station to give himself up, saying he had “pinched” a bicycle at Geelong West. Willard had said that he met a girl and prevailed upon her not to go to work, but to go for a bicycle ride in the country. They rode some miles out, became tired, and then left the bicycle and obtained a lift to Melbourne.
ON THIS DAY ……. 30th April 1919
WARRACKNABEAL
In the Supreme Court at Ballarat, Honora Sheehy was charged with the murder of a male child at Warracknabeal on this day in 1919. She Pleaded not guilty. Evidence was given that on the afternoon of the 1st of May, the body of a child was found in a settling tank, having been concealed in a bag. A piece of towel, about an inch wide, was tied tightly around the child’s neck. There were a couple of bricks in the bag. The jury brought in a verdict of guilty of manslaughter. Accused was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment for the murder on the 30th.
On This Day ……. 23rd April 1870
Quong Song, was found guilty of an unnatural offence, and had a sentence of death recorded against him. Mr Struehan, agent for the executors of the late Mr Calvert’s will, wished to give evidence, and, having been sworn, stated that he had known the prisoner for upwards of 15 years, and he had always borne an excellent Character on Mr Calvert’s station, where be had been employed for 20 years. His Honour pointed out that a judge hud no option but to record sentence of death for such an offence, and recommended the witness to send his testimony to the Executive Council, who would no doubt consider it in fixing the term of imprisonment. Quong Song sentence was changed to 10 years at Geelong Gaol.
On This Day ……. 19th April 1930
In the Geelong Supreme Court on this day in 1930, Erie Harris Brockwell aged 24, was charged with having murdered Horace Thomas Walpole on the 28th of April 1929. Walpole’s body was found in his motor car on the Queenscliff-road. There were injuries to the head, and a post mortem examination disclosed a bullet in the brain. Walpole had been shot from behind. Senior Detective Siekerdick said that when he interviewed Brockwell on the 29th April, Brockwell admitted that he fired two shots at Walpole. Witness added that Brockwell asked to be “saved from the rope”. He did not mind doing 15 years. Walpole had called him a gaol bird, and he (Brockwell) had fired at him. Brockwell later signed a statement in which he admitted having killed Walpole. Brockwell, in a statement from the dock, said that he was too drunk to remember the incident. He had intended to kill himself, because he was depressed and in ill-health. He engaged Walpole to drive him to Queenscliff, and there had been a quarrel, but he had not fired to hit. The jury returned a verdict of manslaughter, and Brockwell was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment. “The jury took a very lenient view,” remarked the Chief Justice, in passing sentence. Brockwell was sent to Geelong Gaol and released in 1941.
On This Day ……. 10th April 1923
Thirteen youths who absconded from the Danish ship Sterna on the 1st April, and who were recaptured the next day on the road between Geelong and Melbourne, were before the police court on this day charged with having deserted their vessel. They were each ordered to one month’s imprisonment, and were removed to the Geelong Gaol to serve their sentences — a mere formality. The Sterna was ready to go to sea be the weekend, and the youths were placed on board before the boat quit its berth.
ON THIS DAY – April 4, 1954
BENDIGO
After finding a 31-year-old mother of four children not guilty of murdering her husband, a Bendigo Supreme Court jury decided that she was guilty of manslaughter. The woman, Mrs. Dorothy Beck, of Bendigo, was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment. Mrs. Beck had pleaded not guilty to the charge of having Murdered her husband, Ivan Edward Beck, 30, a quarry worker, at their home on the 4th of April.
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