The Last Man Hanged (1993)
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There was/is no scientific ballistic forensic evidence to prove the rifle in Ryan's possession fired a shot at all. Why?
Why had Ryan's hidden in the boot of a police car where it had been subjected to dirt and dust? There were serious ambiguities in the case, mysterious missing pieces of vital evidence that might have cleared Ryan, dire inconsistencies of all fourteen eyewitness' evidence for the prosecution, and the fact that all persons heard only one single shot fired (prison officer Robert Paterson admitted and testified he fired one single shot). If Ryan had also fired a shot at least one of the many persons at the scene of the crime would have heard two shots. Nobody heard two shots fired. Then there was the downward trajectory angle of the fatal bullet that had been fired from a distance, which ballistic evidence suggested that Ryan could not have possibly fired in that manner. And finally, jury members pleading with Premier Bolte not to hang Ryan - that they never would have convicted him had they known he would in fact be executed. I have never heard of any jury member asking the government for mercy on a person they had found guilty of murder. Ryan was convicted, sentenced to death based solely on unproven unrecorded unsigned allegations of verbals/confessions, said to have been made by Ryan. Under Australian law, police must record all interviews in connection with a crime and have the offender sign statements. Ryan only signed documents saying he would not be making any comments and he always denied making such verbals/confessions to any person. Ryan was hanged by the neck less than one year later and SEVEN days before his final appeal to The Privy Council had made its decision. How can anybody seriously believe that Ryan was guilty beyond all reasonable doubt? It's a scandal!!!
#1 from ACADP – 14 years, 1 month ago.
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