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Ronald Joesph Ryan (c. 21 February 1926 - 3 February 1967) was the last man to be executed in Australia.
He was a small-time criminal with no recorded history of violence. He was sent to prison in 1964 for shop-breaking and weapons offences. He received a 13 year sentence.
On 19 December 1965, Ronald Ryan and fellow prisoner Peter Walker escaped from Pentridge Prison. Prison guard George Hodson was killed during the escape, after Ryan overpowered a guard and took his rifle. Forensic evidence later indicated that the fatal bullet entered Hodson's body at such an angle, that Ryan would have had to have been 12 feet above where he was, when Hodson was shot. He was standing on the footpath outside the main gate of Pentridge, trying to stop a car to escape in.
Ryan and Walker were captured in Sydney after 19 days on the run, and extradited back to Melbourne. Ryan was charged with the murder of Hodson. He was found guilty, convicted and sentenced to death.
Despite numerous protests and an appeal to the Privy Council, Premier Henry Bolte (later Sir Henry) refused to commute his death sentence and Ryan was hanged at Pentridge Prison at 8 am on Friday 3 February 1967. He was 41 years old.
The hanging produced much protest in Australia. At the time of Ryans execution the Australian Broadcasting Corporation suspended broadcasts of Radio for two minutes in protest. There was doubt about Ryan's guilt in Hodson's death, and shock to find that the death penalty would still be carried out. It is often claimed that the execution was used by then Premier of Victoria Henry Bolte (Liberal Party of Australia) for political gain. At the next State Election, Bolte's govenment was returned to power, with an increased majority, but no more death sentences were carried out.
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