STUDIES IN
AUSTRALIAN CRIME

BY

JOHN D. FITZGERALD

THE CLERMONT GOLD ESCORT
MURDER

I

IN November of the year 1867, during the palmy days of the Queensland goldfields, gold escort^* left Rockhampton for Clermont goldfields, carrying £4000 in bank-notes and coined gold and silver wherewith to purchase the miners' gold-dust or nuggets. This particular escort consisted of three men -- Gold-Commissioner Thomas John Griffin, about thirty-five years of age, and Constables John Francis Power (25) and Patrick William Cahill (27). They reached the Mackenzie River crossing on the 5th of November, and camped near a lonely bush hotel kept by one Bedford, whose nearest neighbour was twenty-five miles away.

*A party of well-armed police officers who protected from place to place vehicles containing gold or money against bushrangers.

  On the 6th, Griffin, carrying a heavy, unwieldy swag, started for Rockhampton with Bedford. They reached Gainsford that night, and slept at Beattie's Hotel. Next day they rode to Westwood on the railway line, and entrained for Rockhampton, arriving there on the night of the 7th.

  On the 8th, a bushman named John Peterson came across the escorts' camp in the bush, and found Power and Cahill lying dead within a few yards of each other near the camp fire.

  Sub-Inspector Elliott was in charge of the police in Rockhampton. Griffin on the morning after his return from the escort called upon Elliott, and in the course of conversation said he had gone with the escort to see them safely through the scrub, as he heard that there were suspicious characters about. Elliott replied that he often wondered that the escort had never been "stuck up"; there were so many places in the Gogango and Mackenzie scrubs where bushrangers might hide themselves close to the road and shoot the troopers without being seen. Griffin said: "It will never be done that way. If it is ever attempted it will be while the men are in camp -- and coming on for daylight, when the man left on watch is likely to go to sleep." Elliott remembered this curiously categorical statement afterwards.

  The same afternoon Griffin galloped up to Elliott's office, dismounted, and rushed into the office, exclaiming: "Have you heard about the escort being found dead in camp at the Mackenzie?"

  Elliott said "No." At that moment several police officers came in and presented the official report of the finding of the bodies. Griffin exclaimed:

  "My God! I left them at one o'clock on the Mackenzie, with Cahill on watch."

  From that moment Elliott suspected that Griffin was the murderer, but kept his own counsel. A party was hastily organized to leave next morning for the scene of the murder; it included, among others, Elliott and a detective, an Inspector of the Australian joint Stock Bank (whose money was in the escort bags), Dr. Salmond, a Rockhampton medical man, Sergeant Julian, and Gold-Commissioner Griffin.

  The first report stated that the troopers had been poisoned, and that several pigs which had eaten the vomit from the dead men had died. In a conversation between Griffin and Mr. T.S. Hall (manager of the A.J.S. Bank in Rockhampton) on the morning the party left, the question of poisoning came up. Hall said, "However did those fellows get the poison? I cannot make it out."

  Griffin replied, "They are not poisoned; it's all a trumped-up yarn -- a false report; they are shot, you'll see if they aren't."

  This was the first mention of shooting as the ethod of murder. The police report -- written by Sub-Inspector Uhr, who had seen the camp -- alleged poisoning. Mr. Bird, in The Early History of Rockhampton, gives a picturesque account of Uhr's hundred-mile ride, with one arm in a sling, to report the murder at the earliest moment. But that was nothing in those days.

II

THE search party, under Elliott, left Rockhampton on Saturday, November 9, took train to Westwood, and thence proceeded on horseback; Dr. Salmond, being no rider, drove in a trap. After a while Griffin begged a seat in the trap, pleading that he had been knocking about a good deal lately and was tired out.

  "This terrible news has prostrated me," he said. "I know every inch of the road, and will drive and save you all trouble."

  Dr. Salmond acquiesced; Griffin dismounted from his horse and gave it to a trooper, mounted the trap and took the reins and drove, Elliott riding behind the trap and keeping a sharp look out. Then an extraordinary thing occurred. Griffin drove recklessly. After miraculously escaping collisions with stumps and trees, the trap went down into a creek with steep banks. Seeing a log across the track, Griffin pretended to lose his presence of mind, threw his hands up, and the reins fell on the horse's back out of reach. The trap must inevitably have capsized if the horse had not swerved round the log and brought it to the top of the opposite bank in safety.

  Dr. Salmond at once ordered Griffin to get out of the trap, saying that he was the most careless or reckless man he had ever seen in his life. Griffin went back and remounted his horse. Elliott had been keenly watching these strange manœuvres.

  They arrived at a wayside hotel on the Sunday and had dinner. Elliott took the hotel-keeper aside and asked for a private room to talk a matter over with Griffin. "We shall order drinks," he said: "I shall always ask for gin, and you be sure to give me water. Give Mr. Griffin what he asks for."

  Griffin and Elliott sat and talked, and had several drinks. Griffin became drowsy, and Elliott feigned sleepiness too, lay back in his chair and pretended to go to sleep. At this Griffin betook himself to the sofa and genuinely slept. When he was soundly snoring, Elliott reached over and took Griffin's revolver out of the case strapped to his belt. Taking the caps from the nipples he scraped out all the detonating material, and damped the powder by pouring water into the nipples; he then replaced the caps, dried the revolver and put it back in the case. He lay down again for a few minutes, and then, jumping up, called Griffin, saying that they had slept too long and must get on.

  The success of this ruse was nearly defeated on the road later. That afternoon a black snake crossed in front of the cavalcade, and Griffin took his revolver to shoot it, when Elliott called out, "For God's sake don't fire, Griffin; this brute I am riding will not stand fire, and will put me off."

  Griffin put back his revolver, and the snake was killed with a prosaic stick.

  On Monday, the 11th of November, the party arrived at the scene of the murder, and rode to Bedford's hotel. The camp was four hundred or five hundred yards from the hotel, in a little hollow between the road and the river, behind a patch of scrub.

  Dr. Salmond, Griffin, Elliott and others went down to the camp. The bodies, which had been temporarily buried, were exhumed, and Salmond began a post-mortem examination. He found bullet-wounds in the heads of the murdered men, and quietly told Elliott. Elliott told him to say nothing about his discovery. His mind reverted to the strange statement made to him three days before. He resolved to lose no more time; and, telling Detective Kilfelder his suspicions, instructed him to engage Griffin in conversation and to go across and sit on a log.

  "I will come over directly and join in the conversation, and will sit on the other side of Griffin. When I give you the wink, on with the handcuffs."

  Elliott strolled across to Salmond, and saw Griffin and Kilfelder seat themselves on the log. He went over, sat down on the other side of Griffin and said, "This is a sickening sight; have you a drop of brandy or whiskey in your flask, Griffin?"

  Griffin said, "Oh, yes!" and put his hand in his pocket to get the flask, when the signal was given and he was seized and handcuffed.

  Then Elliott said, "I arrest you on suspicion of having murdered John Power and Patrick Cahill."

  Griffin "drew a long deep breath, which was half a groan" -- so says Mr. Bird -- and said quickly:

  "Well, I could only expect it, as I was the last person known to be in the company of the poor fellows."

  We are told in contemporary accounts, and can well believe, that the arrest of Griffin caused the greatest excitement throughout Queensland. That the leader of an escort should have murdered those under him, was an extraordinary event -- a case of the sheep dog killing the sheep confided to his care. Mr. Bird states that Griffin's friends rallied round him, declaring that it was a trumped-up charge, and the arrest the result of mere officiousness -- Elliott would certainly be punished later by reduction or dismissal. Crowds at the Rockhampton station awaited Griffin's arrival; but the police took him from the train at a near-by station and brought him inconspicuously in a cab to the lock-up.

  Here we may interrupt the story in order to sketch the previous history of this extraordinary man.

III

THOMAS John Griffin, like his two victims, was born in Ireland. In his speech from the dock, he claimed to be of good birth and highly connected. His father, it was said, was an officer in the army, who had become a police inspector. Thomas joined the Constabulary at the age of seventeen, and acted as clerk in his father's office. When the Crimean War broke out he, with many other young adventurous members of the Irish Constabulary, volunteered for service. In the Crimea he obtained a commission as cornet in the Turkish Contingent, and acquired a reputation for valour and determination in the field.

  After the war he emigrated to Australia, arriving in Melbourne in 1856 or 1857. While in Melbourne, it appears, he married a widow, a Mrs. Crosby who kept a boarding-house; but being a gambler and a spendthrift, he soon dissipated her money and separated from her, agreeing to give her an allowance. He pretended to go to New Zealand, and had a bogus account of his death there forwarded to his wife. Later, she discovered the fraud, and while he was in Brisbane, made him pay up the allowance.

  While he was supposed to have gone to New Zealand, he had really come on to Sydney, where he had no difficulty, from his training, bearing, and experience, in getting into the New South Wales police force. Queensland was then part of the colony of New South Wales, and he was sent to Rockhampton, shortly after the failure of the Canoona Rush, as chief constable. From this position he was promoted to that of chief constable in Brisbane, later becoming acting-clerk of Petty Sessions and then Clerk of Petty Sessions.

  His rapid promotion is said by Mr. W.R.0. Hill in his interesting reminiscences, and by Mr. Bird, to have been obtained through petticoat influence. "He made use of a Crown Minister, whose sister had become infatuated with him, to obtain sudden promotions, on the pretence that they were necessary before he could ask the young lady to be his wife." Mr. Bird says it is probable that, during the course of the flirtation with this influential young lady, a constable who knew of his Melbourne marriage informed her, and she declined to have anything more to do with him.

  Griffin appears to have been, physically, a fine specimen of manhood. Mr. W.R.0. Hill, ex-Police Magistrate and Gold Warden on various goldfields of Queensland, described him as "a tall, well-built, military-looking man, with a long, fair beard, and hard, cruel blue eyes." In an extant photograph Griffin is shown in his laced uniform coat, and trousers with gold braid down the sides; his hand rests on a sword -- and this, with the two Crimean War medals on his breast, and the long full "whiskers" which became fashionable after the troops had returned bearded from the Crimea, made him a very striking figure.

  Mr. Bird's account gives an even more intimate peep into the character of this strange man: "I first saw Griffin at the crossing of the Mackenzie River on November 7, 1863, near Columbra. This was not the crossing where the murder was afterwards committed, but the one higher up, and above the junction of the Mackenzie and the Isaacs. Heavy thunderstorms had brought the river down a banker, and it was quite impossible to cross with safety until the floods had subsided. Griffin and his party had crossed to the western side before the river was flooded, and they were merely 'spelling' for a day or two till the roads were in a better condition. It was characteristic of the reckless daring of the man that he should go to the crossing, strip, and plunge into the rapid stream for a bath. Perhaps the danger was less than it seemed; but still, few would have cared to spring into the strong-running discoloured river, where there was danger of coming in contact with snags and floating timber, and a chance of being carried away by the current.

  "At this time Griffin was over thirty years of age, and of a fine physique. He was five feet ten inches to six feet in height, with a heavy flowing fair beard and moustache. His skin was particularly white, and his body was covered with hard muscle, such as an athlete would present when trained. He was clearly a strong, active man, and a rough customer to encounter.

  "Griffin was an expert swordsman, both with the broadsword and foils, and a ready and accurate shot . . . . . In addition to being physically a fine manly-looking fellow, he had a very suave and attractive manner, and readily gained the favour and friendship of those whom he desired to stand well with. To those under him he was as a rule distant and overbearing; and was by no means well liked. His eyes had a piercing look when annoyed, and seemed to convey an ugly threat. To his friends he was usually courteous to a degree, but at times he was somewhat brusque. He could hardly be mistaken for aught but an Irishman, as what could be seen of his face was decidedly Celtic, and particularly strong and commanding. Ostentation and vanity, with a fondness for display, were leading traits in his character, and were noticeable to all who knew him. The long beard and moustache he wore gave a somewhat dignified expression to his face; but as his mouth, jaws, and chin were completely hidden, a physiognomist had little guide in estimating his character beyond the hard-looking blue eyes.

  "Griffin could hide his emotions with ease, and this faculty caused some persons to think that he was greatly maligned when aught was said against him. His ostentation caused him to spend money freely at times. He was known to be a gambler, and was a frequent visitor to a house in Clermont where heavy gambling was carried on in a room isolated from other parts of the house."

IV

IN 1863 he was appointed Gold Commissioner and Police Magistrate at Clermont, Queensland, at the time when the alluvial gold rushes in the Peak Downs District were at their height. In this small community the dual position was of great importance, and made the holder practically ruler of the district. He was dispenser of justice (sometimes rough and ready), guardian of the public peace and representative of law and order among the unruly elements which gathered on the "rushes."

  Griffin now began to display traits of character which made him unpopular. To quote Mr. Hill again: "He had a very pleasant manner to those he desired to conciliate, but was abrupt and tyrannical with those whom he regarded as inferiors, always a bad symptom in any man or woman. During his four years in Clermont, he was much addicted to gambling, a vice which led him finally to the gallows. His despotic manner, both in private and on the Bench, made him very unpopular with many in Clermont, and his enemies called a public meeting, passed a resolution charging him with 'inefficient and unsatisfactory discharge of his magisterial duties,' and petitioned for his removal. The result was that he was removed to Rockhampton as Assistant Gold Commissioner under Commissioner John Jardine, the father of the well-known John, Alick and Frank Jardine of the present day."

  Although a further charge against him in the petition was that he was "despotic, arbitrary and partial," he received a public send-off from Clermont, showing that he had not altogether failed in his public duty, nor acquired unpopularity with all classes.

  He returned to Rockhampton from Clermont on October 17, 1867. Before he left Clermont, he had been entrusted by six Chinese miners with a quantity of money and gold, valued at about £250, for safe keeping. This he had gambled away; so that, when the Chinese were preparing for a trip to their native country, and made repeated demands for the return of the gold or its value -- even following him to Rockhampton -- he found himself in great difficulties. In due course he did pay them with certain bank-notes; and they departed on their way rejoicing, but only got as far as Sydney when they were recalled to give evidence at the trial.

  Driven into a corner by the Chinese, Griffin appears to have become desperate, and conceived the idea of robbing the gold escort. As the rough gold was brought to Rockhampton from the Clermont field, the value of it in notes -- together with the coined gold, silver, and copper necessary for currency on the goldfield -- was sent back to Clermont in exchange. Sergeant James Julian -- a grave young Irishman called the "Count" -- had escorted a consignment of gold from Clermont, and received instructions from Commissioner Griffin to return to Clermont on October 26. Mr. T.S. Hall, of the well-known banking and millionaire family, was at this time manager of the Australian Joint Stock Bank in Rockhampton; and on October 26 he prepared four packages containing a thousand £1 notes each, two bundles of £5 notes, and £151 in gold, silver and copper. The numbers of the notes were "narrated" -- (recorded) -- and the whole, of a value of £8151, was packed in ten canvas bags.

  Though his presence with the escort was quite unnecessary and not official, Griffin announced that he would go part of the way with it, and give it a start on the road. He told Hall that he would go no further with the escort than Bartholomew's Hotel at Gogango, a few miles out; but other people were given different stories. Julian appears to have been profoundly distrustful of Griffin. Coming from Clermont he had probably heard of Griffin's financial embarrassments, and considered the Commissioner's presence both obtrusive and suspicious. He obtained delivery of the money on the 26th (Saturday); but, finding that Cahill, one of the escort constables, had not turned up at 3 p.m., he promptly returned the money to the bank and rode back to the escort camp, four hundred yards from Rockleigh, the residence of Mrs. Ottley, whose daughter Griffin was courting.

V

ON Sunday, the 27th, a second start was made, the missing trooper having come along. The escort travelled fifteen miles that afternoon, and camped -- going off the road to camp, at Griffin's suggestion. At 3 a.m. next morning, Griffin sent Cahill after the horses, and Julian found himself alone with the man he suspected, who took up his blankets and came nearer to where Julian was lying. Griffin seemed uneasy, and after he lay down, kept watching Julian. He for his part toyed with his revolver and kept a sharp eye on Griffin until the trooper returned to camp. Griffin at this time asked Julian how much money he had received, and if the notes were signed, remarking subsequently that the party was too small to travel such a road with £8000. Julian did not agree. Griffin then said the horses needed shoeing -- he and Cahill would take them to have it done, and Julian must stay where he was with the money. In the end the whole party returned to the camp near Rockleigh, where they found Power and Constable Gildea.

  At this point Julian became so suspicious of the shifts and devices of Griffin, that he resolved to get out of the job if he could. Leaving Gildea in camp, he followed Griffin to Rockleigh and protested against being left alone with so much money. Griffin, furious, returned to camp with him, and found Gildea there -- which he did not expect. Later on Gildea went into Rockhampton for letters, leaving Griffin and Julian alone in the camp. Julian was accustomed to lay his blanket on the canvas treasure bags, and sleep there. This night Griffin took Julian's place on the bags. Open war broke out at this point; Griffin said that Julian did not want to go to Clermont, but that he would force him to go. Julian asked for his discharge, which was refused; and for permission to go to town to see a doctor, as he was ill -- which was also refused.

  Power, Gildea and Cahill then came back to camp, and Griffin went off to Mrs. Ottley's, ostensibly to sleep there. When he had gone, Julian put the bags in a different tent, and spread his blankets over them. Sleeping lightly, in his apprehensive state, he heard Griffin towards the early morning in a low voice call "Julian!" He sprang up and went outside; Griffin asked where his blankets were, and was told that they were in the tent where he had been lying down the day before. This looked as if Griffin had intended to broach the bags that night.

  At daylight on the 29th Griffin went back to Rockleigh, telling the men to be ready for a start after breakfast. At that meal the troopers thought the tea had a bitter taste; and they accused Gildea, who was known jocularly as "The Doctor" (having been formerly a medical student) of putting salts in it instead of sugar. Julian, saying, "There's plenty of milk to drink!" emptied out the tea, and saw a white sediment at the bottom of the billy. He thought, unsuspiciously, that some bitter leaves or bark had given the tea the queer taste.

  When Griffin came over, he told the troopers that he would take them by a short cut across country. He led, but kept looking backward, as if watching for something to happen -- perhaps for the poison to work. Five miles across the swamp, they approached Archer's Gracemere station, and Griffin sprang another surprise on them. He said he remembered he had left behind, at the Club House in Rockhampton, a small parcel of gold which had come down with the last escort by mistake. He ordered Power and Cahill back to Rockleigh camp, and told Julian to go with him; but changed his mind again and sent Julian back to the others, with orders to unload the packhorses when they got to camp.

  Julian was now "fed up," as the phrase now goes, and on coming up to Cahill and Power took them back to Rockhampton and again placed the money in the bank. This precipitated a crisis. Griffin saw the escort returning from the bank, and confronting Julian demanded what he was doing in town, to which Julian replied that he had returned the money to the bank for safe keeping. Griffin, seeing his whole plan frustrated and his chance of paying the Chinese, who were dunning him, gone, in a furious rage suspended Julian and appointed Power in his place. This sealed Power's fate. Julian at once gave up his revolver and rifle to his successor, and Griffin explained to Mr. Hall that the money should be handed to Power. Hall, as Power was new to the responsibility, said he would only send half the money; and the amount was thus reduced to £4000, of which Power took delivery in the afternoon of the 29th. Griffin that same afternoon met the Chinese, and promised to pay them at the Club House next morning.

  When Power returned to camp Griffin said he would take charge of the money, so that the boys could get a good night's sleep, and took the parcels to Mrs. Ottley's. That night he stole £270 in notes, and next morning went in to Rockhampton and paid the Chinese. He returned the remainder on the 31st to Trooper Power, who, on replacing the parcel in the saddle-bag, thought he could detect gaps where the bundle of notes had been removed. He noticed, too, that the parcel was done up in a new covering -- "for more careful conveyance," explained Griffin. "Mr. Griffin," said Power, "as this is the first time I have been entrusted with such a serious responsibility, I would like to see the parcel in the same condition as I got it from the bank. Will you please remove the outside cover?"

  Griffin replied, "I assure you it is all right. It has not been out of my possession since you gave it to me."

  Power now seems to have become suspicious, and in order to gain time, drew Griffin's attention to the fact that one of the horses was lame. Griffin told Cahill to bring up the other horses, but Power warned Cahill in Gaelic (which they both understood) not to do so, but to drive them further off. Cahill did this, and, on returning to the camp, told Griffin that he could not find the horses. By this time Griffin must have thought that the Fates were exceedingly unkind. Power was allowed to take the lame horse back to Rockhampton, where he saw Mr. Hall, and asked him to come out to the camp and see that the parcel was all right. Next day, therefore, Hall and his accountant, Zouch, came to the camp; Hall asked Griffin to seal the bags, but Griffin said it would be useless, as the seals would break through the friction on the horses' backs. But when Hall was gone, Power demanded that Griffin seal the bags or he would not take charge of them. Griffin yielded, and sealed the parcel from which the notes had been abstracted. On this Mr. Bird comments shrewdly:

  "This sealed the fate of Power or Griffin, as on the arrival at Clermont the notes would be found missing, and, if Griffin's seals were found intact, suspicion would of course fall upon him, as he had taken the money away from Power after it was brought out of the bank, and kept it in his own room."

VI

THE escort started in earnest on November 1, after nearly a week's delay. On November 4, they reached a wayside accommodation house at a place called The Dam. The troopers went into camp, and Griffin went to the house and ordered lunch of Mrs. Ashcroft, the landlady. When he came to lunch, he "flashed" his revolver, and asked some questions about the "Snob," a well-known criminal. The troopers came up to lunch, and afterwards there was a lot of drinking -- Griffin "shouting."

  About this time, Constable Moynihan, stationed at Dawson, arrived, and Power, greatly relieved, asked him to accompany them to Clermont. Power said to Griffin: "Here's Moynihan, Mr. Griffin, looking for police horses. Might he not come on to Clermont, and save you the trouble of going any further?"

  Griffin replied, "Oh, certainly. How are you, Moynihan? It is lucky I met you; but you will have to make an early start to-morrow."

  After which he proceeded to drug Moynihan's drink. The result was that the escort, which made an early start, could not wake him up, and he slept peacefully till ten o'clock, four hours after they had started. Possibly it was lucky for him.

  The escort arrived at the Mackenzie River crossing, 130 miles from Rockhampton, early in the morning of November 5. Griffin left the troopers in the camp, and went to Bedford's for breakfast. He told Bedford that he was parting with the escort there, and going back to Rockhampton. He had only come that far to try and make Mrs. Ashcroft prosecute the "Snob" who had fired at her. As Bedford was also going, it was agreed that he and Griffin should travel back in company, while the escort went on to Clermont. At Bedford's, Griffin endeavoured to get a supply of laudanum, making an excuse that he was suffering from diarrhoea.

  All that day, it would appear, the escort party came and went between the camp and Bedford's, and there was probably a good deal of drinking. Once Power, when he went for a bath, fired off one chamber of his revolver, though why is a mystery. The troopers went off at half-past eight to the camp with a couple of bottles of beer or porter, and Griffin, after purchasing a pint of brandy, followed them.

  In the small hours of the morning, Bedford was awakened by the sound of revolver shots. One was heard about 2 a.m., and another at 3.30 (he looked at his watch to fix the time). Half an hour or an hour later Griffin returned to the hotel; he looked tired, and said he had missed his way, "but was guided by the crowing of Bedford's cocks." Bedford asked him what the shots were. Griffin replied that Power had gone out to look for the horses and had lost himself, and had fired off his revolver to attract attention at the camp.

  It is believed that Griffin drugged the liquor which the troopers drank, and they vomited it up; but the events of the night are wrapped in mystery. Mr. Hill says: "The probability is that Griffin had drugged both men, that Power was unexpectedly awake when Griffin went to remove the money, and fired at him, and Griffin had to shoot both men, so that they could 'tell no tales.'"

VII

WHILE the two men were lying dead in the bush, Griffin and Bedford started on the morning of the 6th to ride to Rockhampton. Griffin kept Bedford in front of him all the way. About twenty miles from Bedford's hotel he halted, and rode off the track, leaving Bedford on the road. He had with him a parcel described as "a big awkward swag," probably containing the stolen money; and while in the bush away from Bedford's observation, he readjusted the swag. The evidence for this is that a £1 note, identified by the number as one belonging to the bundle sent by Mr. Hall, was found near this spot later by a man named Pitt, and this must have been dropped by Griffin in his repacking operations.

  On returning to Rockhampton, Griffin entered the Commercial Hotel and "shouted" for some of his friends, tendering a tattered £1 note, No. 1440. Both the landlady and the barmaid remembered this note, in consequence of a dispute whether they ought to change it in its mutilated condition. This was also one of the stolen notes. Later on Griffin hid a valise containing £3730 in a hollow stump. The exact locality he afterwards described to the two warders in attendance on him in the condemned cell, on condition that they should help him to escape, or furnish him with poison by which he could cheat the gallows. But they were unable to help him.

  He was duly committed for trial. The trial took place in Rockhampton before Mr. Justice Lutwyche and a jury of twelve, and caused unprecedented interest in Queensland. The Crown was represented by the Attorney-General, the Hon. R. Pring, Q.C. (afterwards Mr. Justice Pring) and Mr. Charles Lilley, Q.C., afterwards Chief justice of Queensland. For the defence were Mr. E.0. McDevitt, a clever Irish barrister, newly arrived, Mr. H.L. Hely, and Mr. S.W. Griffith. Mr. Hill says that this was the beginning of Sir Samuel Griffith's career, just as the Bertrand case was the beginning of that of Sir Julian Salomons. Mr. Griffith had only been called to the bar a year before.

  The facts above narrated were proved -- those of them, at least, that were admissible; and a clear case of circumstantial proof was built up, in spite of heroic exertions by prisoner's counsel. Black trackers described tracks from the camp to a log, where a person had sat down: these subsequently led to Bedford's, and were measured and found identical in size with those Griffin made. Sub-Inspector Uhr narrated a conversation on the subject of poisons with Griffin before his arrest, in which Griffin laid it down that, though mineral poisons were easily detected in the human stomach, vegetable poisons, such as morphia, were difficult to trace. He seems to have acted upon this knowledge; and his object in endeavouring to injure Dr. Salmond on the road was to give time, before the bodies were examined, for the morphia which he had administered to the troopers to become untraceable. Griffin, it may be added, did not know that the numbers of the notes had been recorded; further, he owed Power £20, and had paid him by a valueless cheque on a Clermont bank from which he had withdrawn every penny -- this cheque was found in Power's pocket after the murder. Griffin suggested to Uhr that the only man whom he could suggest as having committed the murder was Julian.

VIII

THROUGHOUT the trial Griffin appears to have shown the greatest fortitude. He is only known to have broken down once when, in the custody of Uhr, he burst out crying and said: "I do not care for myself, as I have no friends in the colony. It is the disgrace I have brought on Mrs. Ottley."

  The defence was ably conducted, and the summing up by Justice Lutwyche was impartial; the jury, after sixty-two minutes' consideration, returned into Court with a verdict of "Guilty." When asked to say why sentence of death should not be pronounced, Griffin made "a long, disconnected statement," in which he referred to his connections at "Home," his Crimean War service and the honourable positions he had occupied for seventeen and half years. He declared himself innocent, and said some day it would be proved. Had he wished to murder the troopers, he said, he "had abundant opportunities on the journey to the Mackenzie, at places where he could have thrown their bodies into a waterhole."

  The judge then passed sentence of death, remarking that he "never heard circumstantial evidence more satisfactory or more conclusive."

  The records show that Griffin behaved well in the condemned cell. He ate and slept well, and read novels (he surely found nothing in fiction stranger than his own life). He constantly asserted that he was innocent. The night before his execution two local residents (at the suggestion of the Sheriff, it is said) tried to get him to confess his crime. Such proceedings would not be permitted nowadays, as busybodies and morbid persons are now kept away from condemned prisoners. But these outsiders were allowed to go into the Rockhampton condemned cell and wrangle with the condemned man. When Griffin was pointing out inconsistencies in the evidence, one of them said harshly: "It's no use your saying that, Griffin. You have only a short time to make your peace with God, and you had better attend to that than keep pointing out inaccuracies in the evidence." He did not seem to see the grim humour of the fact that he himself was interrupting the condemned man's chance to make his peace.

  On the morning of his execution Griffin dressed with great care, saying to his spiritual attendant -- "This is my last toilet!" At the foot of the scaffold, he knelt and prayed; as he stood up, the clergyman said:

  "I shall meet you at the judgment seat of God. You have but a few minutes to live; and in the sight of God, who is to judge between us, I ask you, will you not acknowledge your guilt?"

  Griffin said resolutely -- "No!"

  He went up the steps lightly, and stood firmly on the gallows. But even on the drop the confession seekers pursued him. The hangman said: "Have you anything to confess?"

  Griffin replied firmly "I have nothing to confess."

  Mr. Hill says that Griffin on the scaffold "lifted his long, fair beard to let the hangman put the rope under his chin"; but this picturesque statement is probably wrong, as prisoners' arms are usually pinioned before they leave the condemned cell.

  After the white cap was drawn over his face, Griffin, impatient at a fancied delay, exclaimed "Go on. I am ready!"

  Death was instantaneous.

IX

IT has been mentioned that Griffin trafficked with two warders with a view to escaping his doom. To them he made the following confession which was placed on record in the following form:

  "When Power brought out the money from the bank to Ottley's on October 29, Griffin took it away and broke the seal, taking out the *1 notes, with which he paid the Chinamen. The parcel was then sealed on November 1 and given into Power's charge, and the party proceeded on their journey. On the night of November 5, the troopers had gone to their camp on the bank of the Mackenzie River from Bedford's hotel, but did not expect Griffin would camp with them.

  "However, about eleven o'clock he went across, but did not go in the usual direction, but came up from the opposite side of the camp. When he was within about twenty yards of the camp, Power sprang up and fired at him without challenging. The bullet cut through Griffin's beard, and carried away some of it, so that he afterwards combed it straight down so as to hide the place, instead of parting it in the middle, as he usually did. Before Power could shoot again Griffin fired, and the bullet entered Power's eye, and went through his brain. Meanwhile, Cahill had attempted to fire at Griffin but the pistol missed fire, and Griffin fired, hitting Cahill in the stomach, but did not kill him. Cahill still tried to shoot, but Griffin rushed forward, crying -- "What, you ---- would you shoot met" Cahill till tried to shoot, but Griffin knocked his arm up, and in the struggle Cahill pulled the trigger again, and the bullet went through his own brain."

  Of course this story will not bear examination. The fact that both the murdered men had been shot from behind is a clear refutation of the fantastic tale. The bullet which killed Power entered the back of his head, and came out of the eye. In Cahill's case, the bullet went in behind the left ear. There were no signs of a struggle at the camp.

  The murderer's version continues: "He became mentally distracted, and wandered about in the bush and got lost. Eventually, he returned to the camp and lay down on his blanket. He planned suicide, but the thought of his "affianced wife" restrained him, and he resolved to make a fight of it. He shifted the men into the position in which they were found, opened the parcel with the bank notes, and burned the coverings. He placed the notes in his blanket, and strapped the parcel on to his saddle. He carried his saddle to Bedford's, woke him up, and they started for Rockhampton.

  "On the journey down, Bedford was made to ride in front of Griffin, so that he would not notice the trouble he had with his swag. At one time, a bundle of notes fell out of the swag, and the wind blew them about. This accounted for the note found by Pitt. Having bound the notes more securely, he got them safely to Rockhampton, and went to the Club House, where he made a more secure bundle, and planted the bundle in a hollow tree near the old camp at Ottley's. As he was planting the notes, Gildea passed close to him. He pulled the saddle off his horse, and lay down in the long grass, and so escaped notice."

  Gildea went to England shortly after this; and Griffin told the warders that he feared Gildea really had seen him plant the bundle, and had taken it and gone to England.

  Griffin also, when he learned for the first time that Elliott had suspected him on the day the party left for the Mackenzie crossing, said that if he had known he would have shot Elliott, Abbott, Uhr, and Julian, and, if he could not then escape he would have shot himself. He made the warders promise to send £500 out of the swag to his sister in Ireland.

  While Griffin was still in the condemned cell, the warders tried to find the swag but could not, though he had given them a plan of the place. This plan was used with success after his execution.

X

A GRISLY episode must be recorded to complete the story of this crime. Mr. Hill shows that an idea spread in Rockhampton that there would be an attempt made to get Griffin's head from the coffin, which was buried in the Rockhampton cemetery. To make assurance doubly sure against the desecration, a sailor from the steamer Tinonee (some say a Chinese) was buried above Griffin in the same grave. But nevertheless "two enterprising Rockhamptonites got down to Griffin's coffin, cut his head off, and took it away. . . . . . . . The skull is still in Rockhampton."

  It is now known that Dr. Salmond was one of the "enterprising Rockhamptonites", and that he had this grisly exhibit among his curios for many years. A writer, signing himself "Berserker" in the Brisbane Daily Mail in an interesting article published in September, 1920, and evidently writing from first-hand knowledge, thus describes the episode of the murderer's head:

  "Another exciting circumstance was in connection with the removal of Griffin's head, after he had been buried. There was great consternation in Rockhampton when the report was made known, and it came out that a Chinaman had been buried on top of Griffin's coffin, and it was presumed it was the Celestial's head that had been removed. That was not correct, however, for it seems the men who beheaded the dead murderer -- a well-known Rockhampton doctor and a seafaring man -- knew about the Chinaman, and removed the coffin. A curious circumstance in connection with the removal of Griffin's head was that the Government unsuccessfully offered a reward for the discovery of the perpetrators of the deed, and yet quite a number of persons knew who the delinquent was. It was kept a secret from the authorities. The doctor kept the skull in his surgery and, to those whom he knew well, quite readily described all the gruesome circumstances, and showed the skull. The writer was one of those who was told by the doctor, and to whom the skull of the murderer was shown. The intrepid doctor has now been dead some years, but what became of the skull is not known to the writer."

  Another item of gossip given by Mr. Hill is that Sub-Inspector Elliott got Griffin's sword, and Mr. Milford, a well-known solicitor, who was attorney for the defence, got his gold watch. "The rope with which he was hanged was cut in small pieces, which were sold at one shilling each. The genuineness of this rope was doubted, but the buyers were satisfied."

XI

JUDGE Lutwyche, at the trial, declared that Griffin's crime was unparalleled in Australian annals. It probably is unique. That a man occupying such high and important positions of trust in a new colony should murder men whom he had placed in charge of a gold escort, was surely unparalleled. The circumstances surrounding this crime have been woven by Miss King, a Queenslander, into a novel, entitled "Lost for Gold." Certainly no more dramatic scenes are to be found in literature than this tragedy of pioneering life in Australia.

  Both of Griffin's victims were men of good family in Ireland.

(End)

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