Ronald Ryan
Ronald Joseph Ryan was the last person to be legally executed in Australia. Ryan was found guilty of shooting and killing warder George Hodson during an escape from Pentridge Prison, Victoria, in 1965. Ryan's hanging was met with public protests by those opposed to capital punishment. Capital punishment was abolished in all states by 1985.
Early life
Ronald Edmond Thompson was born at the Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne's inner suburb of Carlton to John Ronald Ryan and Cecilia Thompson. Cecilia had a son with her first husband, George Harry Thompson. George left Cecilia in 1915 to fight in the Great War and they never resumed their relationship. Cecilia met Ryan while working as a nurse in Woods Point where he was suffering from lung disease. They formed a relationship in 1924 and married in 1929, after Thompson's death in 1927 when he fell from a tram and was struck by a car. Ronald then adopted the name Ronald Edmond Ryan. In 1936, Ryan was confirmed in the Roman Catholic Church. He took as his confirmation name Joseph, becoming Ronald Edmond Joseph Ryan. He did not like Edmond and from then on used "Ronald Joseph Ryan".His three sisters were made wards of the state a year later when authorities declared them to be neglected. His sisters were sent to the Good Shepherd Convent in Collingwood. Ryan absconded from Rupertswood in September 1939 and, with his half-brother George Thompson, worked in and around Balranald, New South Wales; spare money earned from sleeper cutting and kangaroo shooting was sent to his mother, who was looking after their sick, alcoholic father.
At the age of 20, Ryan had saved enough money to rent a house in Balranald. He collected his mother and sisters and they lived together in this house. Ryan's father stayed in Melbourne and died a year later, aged 62, after a long battle with miners' disease, phthisis tuberculosis.
Move to Victoria, marriage and children
Aged about 22, Ryan decided to join his brother, who was tomato farming near Tatura, Victoria. He started visiting Melbourne on weekends and during one of these weekend trips he met Dorothy Janet George. On 4 February 1950, Ryan and Dorothy were married at St Stephen's Anglican Church in Richmond, Victoria. He converted from Roman Catholicism to the Church of England to marry her. He converted back to Catholicism shortly before his execution. Dorothy was the daughter of the mayor of the Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn. Ryan and Dorothy had three daughters, Janice, Wendy and Rhonda. A fourth baby was stillborn.Later life
After spending a few months working for his father-in-law as a trainee mechanic, Ryan decided that more money could be made cutting timber near Marysville and Licola. When it was too wet to cut timber, Ryan got a job painting for the State Electricity Commission. By 1952 the Ryan family was living in Noojee.Trouble with the law started when his rented house burnt down. Ryan was away for the weekend in Melbourne when the arsonist struck. The arsonist was caught and claimed that Ryan had put him up to it in order to claim insurance money. His first appearance in court was in Warragul in 1953 when he was acquitted on a charge of arson.
In 1956 Ryan appeared in court for passing bad cheques in Dandenong. He was given a bond. His next appearance in court was after he issued a large number of forged cheques in Warrnambool. His partner was caught with the goods purchased with the bad cheques and handed Ryan over to the police. He received another good-behaviour bond after the arresting detective gave a favourable character reference on Ryan's behalf.
Ryan first served prison time at Bendigo Prison. Here, under Ian Grindlay, he appeared to want to better himself. He was studying for his Matriculation when he was released on parole in August 1963. He was regarded by the authorities as a model prisoner.
After working as a clerk for a couple of months, Ryan went to lunch and never returned to his workplace as he had started robbing butchers' shops and used explosives to blow their safes.
Ryan and two accomplices were caught after a shop robbery on 4 January 1964. He was charged with breaking and entering and theft offences on 6 January 1964. Bailed on 3 February 1964, Ryan fled to New South Wales. He later admitted to nine robberies in New South Wales between 4 April and 11 July 1964. On a visit home on 14 July he was caught by Victoria Police in the early hours the next morning. On 13 November 1964 he received an eight-year prison sentence for breaking and entering. He was sent to Pentridge Prison.
Escape
At Pentridge Prison, Ryan was placed in B Division where he met fellow prisoner Peter John Walker, who was serving a 12-year sentence for bank robbery. When Ryan was informed that his wife was seeking a divorce, he made a plan to escape from prison. Walker decided to go along with him. Ryan planned to take himself and his family and flee to Brazil, which did not have an extradition treaty with Australia.On 19 December 1965, Ryan and Walker scaled the prison wall and ran along the top of the wall to a prison watchtower, where they disarmed prison officer Helmut Lange hostage, threatened him with his own M1 rifle and ordeered him to open the gate. Lange agreed, but deliberately pulled the wrong lever. Ryan and Walker proceeded downstairs with their hostage only to find that the gate would not open. At the bottom of the stairs was the night officers' lodge. Warder Fred Brown was returning from lunch to relieve Lange when he was confronted by the escapees. Brown did not resist. When Ryan realised Lange had tricked him, he jabbed the rifle into Lange's back and marched him back up the stairs so Lange could pull the correct lever to open the tower gate. The two escapees then exited through the gate into the prison car park. To their dismay there were only six cars in the car park and five had flat tyres.
However, they did encounter the prison chaplain, Brigadier James Hewitt of the Salvation Army, in the car park. The escapees grabbed Hewitt and used him as a shield. Ryan, armed with the rifle, pointed it at Hewitt and demanded his car. Prison Officer Bennett in Tower 2 saw the prisoners. Ryan called to Bennett to throw down his rifle. Bennett ducked out of sight and then got his rifle.
When Hewitt told Ryan he did not have his car that day, Ryan rifle-butted him in the head causing serious injuries. Les Watt, a petrol attendant who watched the escape from a petrol station on Sydney Rd, witnessed Ryan hitting Hewitt with the rifle. The escapees then left the badly injured chaplain and Ryan ran out to Champ Street, directly in front of the south-west corner of the prison.
Walker went south across Church Street toward the adjacent Roman Catholic church in Sydney Road. Prison officer Bennett aimed his rifle at Walker and ordered him to halt or he would shoot. Walker took cover behind a small wall that bordered the church. The prison alarm was raised by Warder Lange, and it began to blow loudly, indicating a prison escape. Unarmed warders, Wallis, Mitchinson and Paterson, came running out of the prison's main gate and onto the street.
Prison officer George Hodson responded to the whistle and was told by Bennett that he had Walker pinned down. Hodson ran over to Walker and disarmed him, but Walker managed to get free and both men ran towards the armed Ryan.
Meanwhile, confusion and noise were increasing around the busy intersection of Sydney Road and O'Hea Street and across to the Champ Street intersection, with Ryan waving the rifle around trying to get cars to stop so he could commandeer them, and people ducking for cover between cars.
Frank and Pauline Jeziorski were travelling south on Champ Street and had slowed to give way to traffic on Sydney Road when Ryan armed with the rifle appeared in front of their car. Ryan threatened the driver and his passenger wife to get out of their car. The driver, Frank Jeziorski, turned his car off, put it in neutral then got out of his vehicle. Ryan got in via the driver's door. Surprisingly, Pauline Jeziorski refused to get out of the car. She was persuaded by Ryan to get out, only to go back in the car to get her handbag. Paterson, realising Ryan was armed, returned inside the prison to get a rifle.
Warder William Mitchinson was first to reach the car and grabbed Ryan through the driver's window, he told Ryan "the game's up". Warder Thomas Wallis who was following, ran to Pauline Jeziorski's side of the car. He grabbed her and pulled her away from the car.
In frustration, Ryan forced Mitchinson to back off, then got out of the passenger's side door and noticed Walker running towards him, being chased by Hodson who was holding the pipe in his hand. Walker was shouting frantically to Ryan that prison guard William Bennett, standing on the Number 2 prison tower, had his rifle aimed at them. At this time, Hodson was chasing Walker; Ryan took a couple of steps forward, raised his rifle, aimed at Hodson, and allegedly fired.
George Hodson fell to the ground. He had been struck by a single bullet that exited through Hodson's back, about an inch lower than the point of entry in his right chest. Hodson died in the middle of Sydney Road. Warder Robert Paterson, now with a rifle, ran back outside and onto Champ Street.
Ryan and Walker ran past the critically wounded Hodson and commandeered a blue Standard Vanguard sedan on Sydney Road from its driver, Brian Mullins. With Walker driving and Ryan a passenger, the car travelled through an adjacent service station and then west along O'Hea Street.
On the run
Ryan and Walker successfully eluded their pursuers outside Pentridge Prison and drove away before changing cars. They then made their way south following the Moonee Ponds Creek to change cars again before hiding in a safe house in Kensington provided by Norman Harold Murray. The following day the men moved into Christine Aitken's flat in Ormond Road, Elwood.The prison escape dominated newspapers and other media. One newspaper reported that, "Ronald Ryan, serving time for burglary, seized a prison officer and shot him three times, twice in the chest and once in the back." Reports of their activities caused widespread anxiety.
On 24 December, Ryan and Walker robbed an ANZ bank in North Road, Ormond. The bank manager and a customer were ordered out of his office with a revolver. Ryan herded 13 people into the bank's strongroom and stole A£4500. A witness, June Crawford, told reporters, "a bandit told me 'This gun shot a man a few days ago. Ryan and Walker escaped in a 1952 Holden sedan.
On the same day, the Victorian Government announced a £6,000 reward for information leading to the capture of Ryan and Walker. It was reported in The Age that the Chief Secretary and Attorney General, Arthur Rylah, had issued a warning to the escapees that the killing of Hodson during the prison escape was the worst Victoria had known and that the "Hanging Act was still in force."
On 24 December there was a party at the flat. A petty criminal, John Fisher, who knew Ryan, and Arthur Henderson were there. After all their beer had been consumed, Walker and Henderson left to find sly-grog in Albert Park for more drinks. An hour later Walker returned alone to the flat. He had killed Henderson in a Middle Park toilet block, having shot him in the back of the head. The escapees left the flat and returned to Kensington. On 26 December, Aitken and another woman were charged with harbouring the criminals. They came forward after Henderson was killed and the escapees had left. The charges were later dropped. The pair returned to hiding in the basement of the house in Kensington. Murray was given money to buy a car in Sydney and return with it. Murray returned with the car with Queensland plates on 31December. Ryan and Walker left for Sydney on 1 January 1966 and arrived on 2 January.