In 1993 a school teacher named Kevin Morgan became aware of Alma Tirtschke's murder after seeing a haunting set of paintings created by Charles Blackman based on the Gun Alley tragedy. Kevin Morgan began researching the case and was extremely skeptical of the arrest, trial and execution of Colin Campbell Ross.
Morgan was disturbed to find there were six independent witnesses providing an unshakeable alibi for Ross that were ignored and that a cab driver reported hearing a girl's screams at a time when Ross was serving customers at the saloon was not allowed to tell it to the jury. In 1995, in an archive box at the Office of Public Prosecutions, Morgan found 3 cards with samples of hair taken from Alma Tirtschke, Ross's girlfriend and the blanket removed from Ross's house. He won permission to remove one strand of hair from each card and have it evaluated. It paid off in 1998 when experts agreed that the hairs from Alma Tirtschke and the blanket did NOT come from the same scalp.
In 2005, the families of Alma Tirtschke and Colin Campbell Ross both submitted a petition of mercy. On May 27 th 2008, Colin Campbell Ross was posthumously pardoned. This was the first posthumous pardon in Victoria's history and the only granted to date.
With Colin Campbell Ross exonerated, the question remains who did kill Alma Tirtschke?
Kevin Morgan interviewed Alma's sister, Viola just before she died who seems to have been convinced the whole time that they had executed the wrong man. Viola suspected that a relative, George Murphy was Alma's true killer. Murphy allegedly took every opportunity he could to try sexually assault both girls when visiting their grandmother's house. Viola tried to tell her grandmother but she was not believed.
The theory is that Alma, after she left the butchers, realized that George Murphy was following her. Alma would have been in a difficult situation knowing that no one was going to be at the house that she was supposed to drop the parcel off at giving Murphy a perfect opportunity to assault her. Alma dallied in the street distressed as she knew she was expected back at her grandmother's house for lunch. All witnesses who saw her at this time remarked on how distressed she was and constantly looking over her shoulder. She was last seen at 3 o'clock not far from where her body was found. Around the same time, the cab driver Joseph Graham heard screams of terror from a young girl that sounded like she was being dragged away.
It is also w
... keep reading on reddit ➡Hi, I ran a search and couldn't find any mention of this unresolved case on this sub. It is a long and complicated story so I will be breaking it up into parts to do the story justice.
On the afternoon of the 30th of December 1921, 12 year Alma Tirtschke was given an errand by her grandmother. She was to travel from her grandmother's house in Jolimont to the Swanston street butchers in the city, pick up a parcel of meat and deliver it to her aunt's house on Collins Street and return to her Grandmother's house. To look presentable Alma donned her neatest clothes which was her school uniform and a white straw school hat. She chose to save her tram fare and walk the 1.5km into the city.
When Alma failed to return that afternoon, her grandmother became alarmed. Alma was such reliable young girl and this was out of character for her. She was reported missing and the family assisted by police began searching for her that night.
Early the next morning, a father and daughter collecting bottles discovered Alma's little body naked in the alley behind the Australian Wine Saloon. Alma's autopsy revealed she had been raped and strangled. Her right eye was blackened and there were numerous abrasions on her body. There was no evidence of semen but it appeared from the watery stain on the girl's leg that her killer had taken the time to wash her body. It was thought that Alma was killed around 6pm on the day she disappeared.
The case very quickly became a major sensation. Melbourne Press convinced their readers that there was a madman on the loose. A large reward was offered. There was massive public pressure on the police to make an arrest and the police were criticized as time passed with no real progess.
The butcher confirmed that Alma had picked up the parcel. Witnesses who saw Alma that afternoon told police that Alma appeared to be dawdling, looked apprehensive and very afraid. Some witnesses told police a man appeared to be following her. The manager of the Australian Wine Saloon Colin Campbell Ross told police he saw a girl matching Alma's description outside his saloon. She was last seen around 3 o'clock that afternoon on the corner of Alfred Place and Little Collins Street.
Colin Campbell Ross was known to police, having recently been acquitted on the charge relating to his alleged involvement in the shooting and robbing of one of his customers. Despite Ross cooperating, police began to take an interest in Colin Campbell Ross and interviewed him furth
... keep reading on reddit ➡Colin Campbell Ross quickly became the most hated man in Australia after being arrested for the murder of Melbourne school girl Alma Tirtschke. Ross remained optimistic though, he was sure he was going to be vindicated. He was emphatic that he could never commit such abominable crime. Ross also had a strong alibi for pretty much the whole day. His defence lawyers even believed him from the start due to his obvious sincerity and the police had no evidence of substance against Ross.
The trial began on 20 February 1922. The first witness for the prosecution was a convicted thief and proven perjurer who testified that Ross confessed to him while he was incarcerated awaiting his trial. Ivy Matthews (a former employee who had a grudge against Ross for implicating her in a crime), Olive Maddox, a prostitute, and Julia Gibson, who worked as a fortune-teller under the name "Madame Gurkha", also testified in court that Ross had confessed the crime to them.
The prosecution case was that 12-year-old Alma had chosen to have a drink in Ross' wine bar instead of collecting the package for her aunty and had remained there from 3:00pm until 6:00pm drinking wine, at which time Ross had raped and murdered her.
The prosecution also offered forensic evidence in the form of several strands of hair they had obtained from Alma Tirtschke shortly before her funeral. A detective testified that on the day of Ross's arrest he had noticed several strands of "golden hair" on a blanket in Ross's house, which were later removed and examined by the state government analyst, Charles Price, who was a trained chemist, but had little previous experience in the new field of forensic science. Price testified that he compared the hairs under a microscope, and concluded that the hair found in Ross's house was a light auburn colour, while Alma's hair was a dark red. He measured the diameter of the hairs and concluded that they were of a different thickness. At one point in his testimony he commented that the hairs on Ross' blanket had most likely fallen from the head of a regular visitor, such as Ross's girlfriend, but after a long testimony, he stated that he believed the hairs were "derived from the scalp of one and same person," Alma Tirtschke. His contradictory evidence was accepted by the judge without comment.
Ross's barrister, Thomas Brennan, protested, requesting that a further examination be carried out by a more qualified person, but the judge refused. The jury found Ross guilty of
... keep reading on reddit ➡
Frances McGraph, 10, of Dorchester, daughter of former Boston City councilor John H McGraph, was last seen on Saturday June 10th 1944 as she left a Scituate, Massachusetts bowling alley through a side exit. Frances left her home on Peggotty Beach at around 7 p.m. to meet her two older sisters Eleanor 16, and Nancy 14 at St Mary's church for confession. After the trio finished confession, they left the church setting off along the marshland at around 7:45 p.m. hoping to grab a scoop of ice cream from one of the town's three convenience stores. A few minutes after they girls began walking their father drove past them in the family Automobile. Frances entered the store alone as her sisters waited outside to talk to friends. She got an Ice cream and left telling her sisters that she intended to meet her father, whose car was parked on the main street, while he shopped only 50 yards away. Her sisters saw her leave the store at around 8 p.m. heading to find her father. However by 8:15 she has been unable to find her father and has not made her way back to her sisters. She is spotted in the Bowling Alley next door sometime before 8:30. Frances was wearing a wool suit and skull cap, both of chartreuse yellow, brown stockings, and brown loafers. She had blue eyes with light brown hair that she wore down to her shoulders in pigtails.
Sometime between 9-9:15 she is seen leaving the bowling alley by a side exit. The side door of the alley gave access to a rather dark alley, one end of which leads to a parking lot and the other leading towards the main street. Frances would never be seen alive again.
Frances' body was discovered 6 days later on June 16th by James “Jack” Lopes as he drove his truck down Winter St in the town of Norwell (about 6 miles away from the family's Scituate home). He stopped his truck at the entrance to the road and took a shortcut through the woods toward his home on stockbridge road. He had gone about 100 feet along the road until he spotted the body. Slowly coming upon the body, he came to the realization that there had been a search for a missing child. He returned to his truck and quickly informed Scituate police chief Michael Stewart. The child was found lying on her back with her coat and dress pulled over her head. Her hat and shoes were nearby. The girl had clearly been attacked and strangled.
Though it is noted that police verified that he had been working the night Frances was murdered, suspicions began to fall upon Lopes. Upon fur
... keep reading on reddit ➡
The game was a shooter but it was set up to be a buddy cop action movie dynamic. One side of the cabinet had a driving set up which one player would drive, and the second player had a gun to simulate the passenger cop shooting at bad guys. I believe the picture on the cabinet was a white cop and a black cop, Lethal Weapon style. It for sure isn't Virtua Cop, and pretty sure it isn't a Time Crisis game. The game was in first person I believe.
Unless the point is using shame to control people, then please carry on.
Could a digital billboard campaign help find her murderer nearly 30 years later?
Melissa Witt was a hardworking and ambitious, 19-year-old college student. Also known as Missy, she was an honors student at Westark Community College in Fort Smith, Arkansas where she lived with her mother, Mary Ann. Missy kept very busy with classes and her part-time job at a local dental clinic where she worked as a dental assistant. Her friends say she was friendly, kind-hearted, and a hard worker, which would serve her well as she dreamed of and was working toward her goal of becoming a dental hygienist.
The day Missy went missing. December 1, 1994, was a typical day for Missy. But as she got ready to go to campus for class, she had a small disagreement with her Mom after asking her if she could borrow money. Her mother said no and before she left the house, she left Missy a note explaining that she loved her and that she would be at a local bowling alley later that afternoon if she wanted to come by and get something to eat.
Between 6:30-7 pm, after class and work, Missy went to the same bowling alley that her mother had mentioned in her note. She parked her car, and before she would even make it inside the bowling alley, investigators believe Missy was abducted from the parking lot. They made this determination based on evidence of a struggle around her car, including blood found in the parking lot, as well as Missy's keys and an earring found nearby.
When she was discovered. Six weeks after the abduction, two hunters in the Ozark National Forest discovered Missy's body on January 13, 1995—45 miles from her home in Fort Smith. Missy's body was nude and placed near a headstone-shaped rock. However, Missy's clothes and personal belongings were missing from the scene and were never found.
Larry Swearingen was looked at as a person of interest in this case. He was convicted of the murder of Melissa Trotter who was killed in a very similar manner as Missy. Both girls were 19 at the time of their death, and both were murdered and found in large forests in
... keep reading on reddit ➡Just wondering really.
For some background information: last night, a mass shooting occurred in a residential area of Plymouth, UK. Five people were killed, including a young child, and the gunman took his own life.
It has since been revealed that the shooter was involved with the incel movement and had a fascination with America, particularly the far-right.
Shootings, especially mass shootings of this nature, are incredibly rare in the UK (approximately one a decade, if that) so understandably there is a lot of discussion about the circumstances surrounding this tragedy.
Unfortunately, and rather predictably, a few people have some choice words about the situation.
On mass murder and mental health:
And now for some textbook bad-faithery on the subject of gun control:
"Ave you got a loisance for that bu'rknife?"
Miscellaneous:
[Something about Covid deaths for some reason](https://www.reddit.com/r/unitedkingdom/comments/p36tri/mass_shooting_in_plymouth_tonight_12aug/h8pm43p?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&contex
... keep reading on reddit ➡Frances McGraph, 10, of Dorchester, daughter of former Boston City councilor John H McGraph, was last seen on Saturday June 10th 1944 as she left a Scituate, Massachusetts bowling alley through a side exit. Frances left her home on Peggotty Beach at around 7 p.m. to meet her two older sisters Eleanor 16, and Nancy 14 at St Mary's church for confession. After the trio finished confession, they left the church setting off along the marshland at around 7:45 p.m. hoping to grab a scoop of ice cream from one of the town's three convenience stores. A few minutes after they girls began walking their father drove past them in the family Automobile. Frances entered the store alone as her sisters waited outside to talk to friends. She got an Ice cream and left telling her sisters that she intended to meet her father, whose car was parked on the main street, while he shopped only 50 yards away. Her sisters saw her leave the store at around 8 p.m. heading to find her father. However by 8:15 she has been unable to find her father and has not made her way back to her sisters. She is spotted in the Bowling Alley next door sometime before 8:30. Frances was wearing a wool suit and skull cap, both of chartreuse yellow, brown stockings, and brown loafers. She had blue eyes with light brown hair that she wore down to her shoulders in pigtails.
Sometime between 9-9:15 she is seen leaving the bowling alley by a side exit. The side door of the alley gave access to a rather dark alley, one end of which leads to a parking lot and the other leading towards the main street. Frances would never be seen alive again.
Frances' body was discovered 6 days later on June 16th by James “Jack” Lopes as he drove his truck down Winter St in the town of Norwell (about 6 miles away from the family's Scituate home). He stopped his truck at the entrance to the road and took a shortcut through the woods toward his home on stockbridge road. He had gone about 100 feet along the road until he spotted the body. Slowly coming upon the body, he came to the realization that there had been a search for a missing child. He returned to his truck and quickly informed Scituate police chief Michael Stewart. The child was found lying on her back with her coat and dress pulled over her head. Her hat and shoes were nearby. The girl had clearly been attacked and strangled.
Though it is noted that police verified that he had been working the night Frances was murdered, suspicions began to fall upon Lopes. Upon fur
... keep reading on reddit ➡