Hang Jean Lee - By Dr Auke ‘JJ’ Steensma

Hang Jean Lee

DR AUKE ‘JJ’ STEENSMA, BARRISTER & SOLICITOR, STEENSMA LAWYERS

Itold them it was me that did the kill, you know I love you, I always will. And the papers say it was all due to me, everybody wants to hang Jean Lee. - Hang Jean Lee, Ed Kuepper & Judi Dransfield-Kuepper, Sep 2007

THE PROTAGONISTS OF THIS STORY

Jean Lee

Robert David Clayton

Norman Thomas Andrews (Photographs courtesy of Australia’s Dark Heart website: https://australiasdarkheart.weebly.com/ jean-lee.html)

BOB ASCENDS HEAVENLY STAIRS/ BIG ROAD BLUES

At 8am on Monday, 19 February, 1951, on a ‘grey drizzling sky’, 1 Jean Lee, born Marjorie Jean Maude Wright was executed at Melbourne’s HM Prison Pentridge for the murder of William George ‘Pop’ Kent. No other woman had been executed in Victoria since the execution of Emma Williams on Monday, 4 November, 1895, some 56 years earlier. 2 Jean Lee was the 191st person executed in Victoria, 3 the fifth woman hanged in Victoria, 4 and has the dubious honour of being the last woman executed in Australia.

Lee would leave no last words, for she had collapsed to the floor when the Executioner 5 and his assistant entered her cell. The Executioner and assistant were both “wearing steel-rimmed welders goggles and soft felt caps pulled well down”. 6 Lee would be carried to the gallows, on “the first level of a dim-lined corridor’ in the remand section of the gaol. 7 The Mirror newspaper reported that:

an extra-large trapdoor was built between two narrow catwalks which join cells on the first floor. The three condemned with taken from cells only a few yards away. The hanging ropes were tied to a heavy white wooden being about 35 feet from the ground level. 8

Barely conscious, she was strapped to a chair that was facing sideways on the scaffold. 9

The 31-year-old single mother would leave behind a daughter, who she had left with her mother, Florence Wright, who had successfully gained the legal custody of her grandchild, some years earlier. 10

Two hours later, at 10am, her accomplices Norman Thomas Andrews and Robert David Clayton met the same fate. As they both stood at the scaffold, Clayton quietly bid farewell to Andrews, saying simply; “Goodbye Charlie.” 11 , to which Andrews replied; “Goodbye Robert.” 12

Following the executions, the Government Medical Officer, Dr JD Whiteside, signed the certificates stating; “that the sentences of the law had been properly carried out”. 13 The Governor of the Gaol; declared that an inquest would be held that afternoon at 4pm on the bodies of Lee, Clayton, and Andrews.

Lee, Clayton, and Andrews were buried at the HM Prison Pentridge Cemetery.

DADDY’S GIRL

Jean Maude Wright was born on Wednesday, 10 December, 1919, at Dubbo in New South Wales. 14 She was the youngest of five children born to Florence and Charles Wright, a railway ganger. When Jean was eight years old, the family moved to Sydney. She went to school at Chatswood Public School, a Convent in North Sydney, and Willoughby Central Domestic High School. 15 She was considered intelligent but had a rebellious nature. 16 She left school without finishing her intermediate certificate. The Herald newspaper wrote that:

Jean didn’t like school very much. But, of course, there are tens of thousands of boys and girls who dislike school, yet grow into welldisciplined men and women. Jean was a trifle rebellious; she felt that she didn’t get on well with the teachers.

But if this childish resentment of authority was the first suggestion of a shadow, that is all it was. In other ways, Jean Wright’s girlhood progressed normally. 17

Jean was in and out of jobs. She worked in a can goods factory, waitress and even tried a hand at being a milliner. 18 While at Chatswood Public School, Jean had learnt typing and shorthand and was employed as an office junior at a William Street motor firm. 19

And Ed Kuepper sings; “Can’t you see she is Daddy’s Girl, I tell ya she’s my darling”. 20

SKINNY JEAN

On Saturday, 19 March, 1938, life would then to change for 18-year-old Jean, Jean Maude Wright married Raymond Thomas Brees, a house painter, at the Methodist Church in South Chatswood. 21 She had known Brees since she was a young woman at school. In April 1939, Jean gave birth to a daughter. The marriage lasted only about nine years. Brees was often out of work and began to drink heavily. Jean did not drink nor even smoke.

When World War II broke out, Jean moved to Brisbane where she worked in service canteens. It was at this time that her life began to change. She began to drink which increased; “in that town of hotels beleaguered by thousands Allied

servicemen”. 22

As Demousi would write; Increasingly she became caught in a cycle of poverty, petty crime and prostitution in Sydney and Brisbane, using numerous aliases, among them ‘Jean Lee’. 23 By 1943, Jean had fallen into prostitution, being ‘pimped’ by a small-time criminal named Morris Dias.

In 1944, Jean left Dias and returned to Sydney. The Herald observed that; “in that year (she) passed through the hands of the Sydney police, not once but often”. 24

Despite this spiral in her life, the Molong Express and Western District Advertiser noted that; “she helped to look after an American servicemen who had lost both his legs fighting the Japanese north of Australia”. 25 Jean would work as a waitress at a small café in Pitt Street and live in a small room near the disabled American servicemen.

In 1946, she met Robert David Clayton. Clayton was born in Sydney, NSW in 1917. Clayton was discharged from both the Royal Australian Air Force and the Army. The reason for his discharge was described as ‘anxiety neurosis’. He was a hard drinker, gambler and con man, and would spend six months in goal for stealing and false pretences. 26 Clayton and Lee developed what Damousi describes as; ‘an enduring if violent, relationship’. 27 Lee fell madly in love with Clayton, and it would appear that Clayton was very fond of Lee.

The relationship would lead to Lee becoming a prostitute, and also other criminal activities. Between May ,1945 and July, 1948, Jean Lee would appear before the Central Police Court on 23 occasions. 28 One of the main pursuits that they both became involved with was the ‘Badger game’. The ‘Badger game’ involved the attractive Jean Lee picking up men, enticing them to a hotel, where once they were in an exposed position, Clayton would emerge and lay the role of the ‘outraged husband’. In the insuring moments of fear, or embarrassment for being caught in a compromising position; Clayton would demand money from the hapless victims, or Clayton would subject them to a beating. Most would pay up, as it was easier than having to explain to the wives of their seduction.

In April, 1949 she divorced Brees. Later in October, 1949, Lee would move to Melbourne on Clayton’s behest.

And Ed Kuepper sings; “he looks me up and, he tells me I’m a real good soul. He calls me Skinny Jean, I sit on his knee”. 29

YELLOW DOG

It was in Melbourne that Clayton met up with Norman Thomas Andrews. Clayton had met Andrews while serving in the Middle East during World War II. Andrews had been decorated for bravery, but in an interesting juxtaposition had been charged and convicted for desertion. 30 Later Clayton and Andrews met again while both serving in the notorious Long Bay Goal, south of Sydney.

Lee, Clayton, and Andrews began to commit minor offences, and continued with the ‘Badger game’. On Monday, 7 November, 1949, their world would turn to undertake a far more severe crime.

That evening, Lee, Clayton, and Andrews attended the University Hotel in Carlton. It is here that they meet 73-yearold part-time SP Bookie, William George ‘Pop’ Kent. He invited the trio back to the boarding-house where he lived for a few drinks. The boarding-house was located in Dorrit Street in Carlton. The trio considered that ‘Pop’ Kent would be a soft target, having seen him with a roll of cash and heard that he might have kept more money in his room. Jean had tried to pick the pockets of ‘Pop’ Kent.

And Ed Kuepper sings; “I am the yellow dog, I turned her for the crime”. 31

JEAN BRINGS HIM GASOLINE

When no more money was forthcoming, ‘Pop’ Kent was tied to a chair, by Jean Lee. Over the next several hours, ‘Pop’ Kent was tortured and beaten and had been stabbed several times. Eventually, Andrews strangled ‘Pop’ Kent. The next-door neighbours heard the screams emanating from the room of ‘Pop’ Kent, and called the police. The trio fled. When the Carlton Police arrived, they found that the room of ‘Pop’ Kent had been ransacked and his body was found under some clothing and loose sheets. The thumbs of ‘Pop’ Kent had been tied behind his back by a bootlace.

Later, a post-mortem was conducted on his body. The post-mortem found that the cause of ‘Pop’ Kent’s death was strangulation. The post-mortem noted that his nose had been broken and that his throat displayed deep fingernail marks.

At 4am on Wednesday, 9 November, 1949, the trio were arrested at their hotel room at the Great Southern Hotel, in Spencer Street, where the police found bloodstained clothing belonging to both Lee and Andrews. They were taken to the Police Headquarters and interrogated. Initially; Jean Lee confessed to the murder of ‘Pop’ Kent, and she alone had committed the act, stating that Clayton was not there.

Lee, Clayton, and Andrews were charged with murder.

The police accepted that Jean Lee had not stabbed the victim, nor had she strangled him. However; Jean Lee had been charged under the principle of ‘common purpose’, 32 and despite not having taken part in the murder, she was in the eyes of the law; equally culpable. 33

The trial was set.

And Tommy Johnson sings, and Ed Kuepper plays; “I asked for water, and she gave me gasoline”. 34

EVERYBODY WANTS TO HANG JEAN LEE

By the time the trial began, Lee, Clayton, and Andrews started to turn on each other. Each was shifting the blame for the crime onto the other two.

Jean continued to plead her innocence throughout the trial and stated that she was merely a bystander, and did not partake in the torture and murder of ‘Pop’ Kent.

The trial of Lee, Clayton, and Andrews lasted until Monday 20 March, 1950. All three were found guilty by the jury, and they were sentenced to death. Lee was said to have become hysterical when the

sentence of death was passed.

Lee, Clayton, and Andrews applied for leave to appeal to the Full Court of Victoria under Part the of the Crimes Act 1928 (Vic). 35 On Friday, 19 May, 1950, the Full Court of Victoria, and held that the confessions had been improperly obtained. The Full Court of Victoria:

gave leave to appeal, allowed the appeal, quashed the convictions and ordered that a new trial of the three accused be had. The court consisted of O’Bryan, Barry and Smith JJ., and the decision was that of the majority of the court, O’Bryan J. dissenting. 36

The case moved to the High Court of Australia and was heard by the honourable quorum of Latham CJ, McTiernan, Webb, Fullagar, and Kitto JJ. 37 On Friday 23 June, 1950, the honourable quorum held:

The duty of police officers to be scrupulously careful and fair is not, of course, confined to such cases. But, where intelligent persons are being questioned with regard to a murder, the position cannot properly be approached from quite the same point of view. A minuteness of scrutiny, which in the one case may be entirely appropriate, may in the other be entirely misplaced and tend only to a perversion of justice. Each case must, of course, depend upon its own circumstances considered in their entirety. No better guidance is, we think, to be found than in the passages from the judgment of Street J. in R. v. Jeffries (1947) 47 SR (NSW), at p 312; 64 WN 71 which we have quoted above. 38

The honourable quorum overturned the decision:

35. In our opinion the appeal should be allowed in the case of all three respondents, the order of the Full Court of Victoria should be discharged, and the convictions and sentences restored. 39

The trio sought to appeal to the Privy Council and pursued financial aid from the State of Victoria. Cabinet refused. On Monday, 17 July, 1950, the Attorney General declared that the decision made by the High Court would stand, as that decision was unanimous by the honourable quorum.

On Friday, 15 December, 1950, the Argus newspaper of Melbourne reported that; “a senior cabinet minister said last night that he would ask State Cabinet on Monday to Approve Jean Lee… Inter-alia.. .on the grounds of mercy because she is a woman… Inter-alia… It is terribly hard to condemn a woman on the gallows”. 40

On Monday 18 December, 1950, the Barrier Daily Truth newspaper reported that; “from street poles and letters to the newspapers there is little public sympathy for 29-year-old Jean the who’s hanging the State Government has set down for 8 January”. 41 The Barrier Daily Truth newspaper also reported that; “according to a Gallup poll in January, 1948, 67% of Australians favoured the death penalty for brutal murder”. 42

Five days later, the Daily News Newspaper of Western Australia, in its “Opinion on Many Things’ column, printed a comment made by Nix of Claremont, where Nix stated:

EYE FOR AN EYE: THE CASE OF JEAN LEE

Why all the fuss over the intended hanging of murderous Jean Lee? A person who breaks the law must be prepared to take the consequences. The fact that no woman has been hanged in Victoria for 50 years or that a political party doesn’t approve should be no deterrent to the course of justice. Let’s not be squeamish; she must take a punishment. 43

Some, however, felt it prudent to show some mercy. On Tuesday 26 December, 1950, the Reverend Dr C. Irving Benson, a clergyman of the Wesley Church in Melbourne, paid a visit to Jean Lee; ‘out of a spirit of Christian humility’, 44 stating; “I feel extremely sorry for the condemned woman in this Christmas time”. 45

The Armadale Express and the New England General Advertiser both reported that:

Melbourne: The State Governments decision to hang Andrew Robert (sic), David Clayton and Jean Lee at Pentridge Goal next Monday will stand. The Premier (Mr McDonald) announced this today after a meeting of State Cabinet. He said the decision would be reviewed only if definite evidence was forthcoming that appeal proceedings have been instituted in the Privy Council. 46

During this time; telegrams protesting the execution, representations to the Premier, Mr John McDonald (later Sir John MacDonald), but to no avail, all legal appeals lodged by the trio failed. The dates continued to be pushed back, on Thursday, 15 February, 1951, an ‘11th hour bid was made to the State Cabinet to reprieve Jean Lee; however, Cabinet had already decided that the sentences will stand’. 47

Jean Lee was said to have aged considerably due to the pressure and fear put on her. She became angry and would suffer from aggressive mood swings. The Mirror newspaper reported that:

Wardresses became scared to enter her cell. When one entered Jean Lee threw the dinner pail at her, spat and tried to claw her, and at the end, male warders were brought on in an effort to control her. 48

Jean Lee continued to claim that she was not involved in the brutal murder, and believed that they would not execute a woman. However; the Government of Victoria, the Courts, the majority of people of Victoria, and probably all of Australia, wished to see the ‘Demolition’ of Jean Lee.

And Ed Kuepper sings; “Everybody wants to hang Jean Lee”. 49

DEMOLITION

The day before the executions were to take place, Clayton confessed that he alone was accountable for the murder of ‘Pop’ Kent, and begged that the other two exonerated. The confession was given to government officials but fell on deaf ears. 50 Jean Lee was weighed, which was recorded at seven stone six lbs, and her height was recorded as 5’7”. 51 The Executioner determined that the drop for Jean Lee was to be set at 8 feet exactly. 52

Lee, Clayton, and Andrews were moved from their cells, into separate cells on the first level of the remand section of the goal.

That evening, Jean Lee was given a sedative to help her with her sleep.

Just before 8am on the morning of Monday, 19 February, 1951, Jean Lee was taken to the execution chambers some metres from her cell. The Melbourne based representative of the Mirror reported that; “Lee was dressed in a pale

yellow skirt and jumper. Her hands had been handcuffed in front of her, both legs bound together, and her head and face were concealed by a large white hood”. 53 The Illawarra Daily Mercury newspaper reported that Jean Lee was wearing neatly pressed khaki slacks rolled to the knees and a white shirt’. 54 Who knows which paper was right, it doesn’t matter…

The Governor asked if she had anything to say? She gave no response. It has been often speculated that Jean Lee may have been unconscious.

At 8an, Jean Lee all was strapped to the seat. The noose was placed over her head, with the knot on the left side of her face, then pulled tightly. The lever which was pushed and Jean Lee fell the full 8 feet. 55 The chair upon which she was sitting on fell away from Jean Lee but had been tied off to prevent it falling the 35 feet to the floor below.

The Barrier Daily Truth Newspaper reported that; “Bells began to toll signifying that the execution had taken place, but the sound of the bells was drowned outside the jail by the sound of planes passing overhead”.

In accordance with the death sentence, her body was left suspended for half an hour before it was taken down. 56 At 8:05am, while the body remained suspended for the mandatory half an hour, the prison doctor found Jean Lee had no heartbeat. He signed the death certificate at 8:20am.

The autopsy report on Jean Lee read: Autopsy Performed at 11 AM

Moderate bruising of the neck tissues at level hyoid cartilage and occurring posterically. No Life. No PM staining. No cyanosis. All internal organs normal. Skull normal at death. Brain Normal at death Cervical Vertebrae dislocation between the first and second vertebrae. Cause of Death (Coroner’s finding) Dislocation of the neck caused by hanging. 57

And Ed Kuepper sings; “it’s gonna be your demolition, it’s gonna be your demolition, it’s gonna be your demolition baby”. 58

Just before 10am, both Clayton and Andrews were taken by the Executioner and his assistant, from the awaiting cells to the gallows. Andrews was led first. The Mirror newspaper reported that Andrews was; “wearing a white shirt, white trousers, a navy blue jacket, and ordinary dark shoes”. 59 Clayton was wearing the same, except the colour of his shirt was a faded blue. 60

Both men remained calm instead fast, though the Barrier Miner newspaper stated that when the Executioner tried to place the noose over Clayton’s head; ‘[Clayton] kept his chin down and the official had to force it up three times before he could tie the knot properly’. 61

“Goodbye, Robert,” “Goodbye, Charlie.”

The executions were witnessed by:

the Supreme Court Sheriff, Mr W. Daly, the Assistant Sheriff, the gaol Governor, Mr Edwards, the Government Medical Officer, Dr D. J. Whiteside, two clergymen, the chief warder of Pentridge, about 12 other warders, and seven Pressmen. 62

At the formal inquest; Mr Tingate SM found that; “each of the three persons had been executed in conformity with the sentence of the Supreme Court”. 63 The Coroner noted that Jean Lee and Norman Andrews had died instantaneously.

Clayton was not so lucky. The Coroner found that his death was caused by; “Cerebral contusion, shock and asphyxia caused by hanging” rather than a broken neck. 64

And Ed Kuepper sings; “some things never last very long at all isn’t that a shame. Wish I could have seen the way that this would end…”. Endnotes 65 B

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3 The Mirror, ‘He saw Jean Lee, Clayton and Andrews hang’, The Mirror, (Perth WA, Saturday, 3 March 1951), 9. < https://trove.nla. gov.au/newspaper/article/75701882>. Emma William’s was executed on 4 November 1895, at the Melbourne Goal, for the murder of her two year old son John Williams, at Port Melbourne on 11 August 1895. Trevor Poultney, Victims of the Rope - Executions in Port Philip & Victoria 1842-1967 (Trevor Poultney, 2016), 197. Of note; Poultney lists Jean Lee as the 193rd person executed in Victoria. Poultney lists Andrews and Clayton as 191 and 192 respectively. Jean Lee was executed at 8 AM, two hours before Andrews and Clayton were executed. Jean Lee is in fact the 191 st person executed in Victoria. 4

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20 The Mirror, ‘Jean Lee never awoke from a drugged sleep’, The Mirror, (Perth WA, Saturday, 24 February 1951),9. < https://trove.nla.gov.au/ newspaper/article/75706998/7363410>. The name of the Executioner and his assistant remain anonymous to this day. Trevor Poultney, Victims of the Rope - Executions in Port Philip & Victoria 1842-1967 (Trevor Poultney, 2016), 193. The Mirror, ‘Jean Lee never awoke from a drugged sleep’, The Mirror, (Perth WA, Saturday, 24 February 1951), 9. < https://trove.nla.gov.au/ newspaper/article/75706998/7363410>. The Mirror, ‘He saw Jean Lee, Clayton and Andrews hang’, The Mirror, (Perth WA, Saturday, 3 March 1951), 9. < https://trove.nla. gov.au/newspaper/article/75701882>. Daily Mecury, ‘Jean Lee carried to scaffold unconscious’, Daily Mecury Newspaper (Illawarra, Tuesday, 20 February 1951), 2. < https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/ article/133996736?searchTerm=Jean%20 Lee&searchLimits=>. Murderpedia, Jean Lee, <https://murderpedia. org/female.L/l/lee-jean.htm>. Ibid 192. Trevor Poultney, Victims of the Rope - Executions in Port Philip & Victoria 1842-1967 (Trevor Poultney, 2016), 191. The Northern Miner, ‘Jean Lee carried to the scaffold’, The Northern Miner Newspaper, (Charters Towers, QLD, Tuesday 23 February 1951), 1. <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/ article/81594227?searchTerm=Jean%20 Lee&searchLimits=>. Joy Damousi, ‘Lee, Jean (1919–1951)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/leejean-10804/text19161, < http://adb.anu.edu.au/ biography/lee-jean-10804>. Ibid. Capital punishment UK, ‘Jean Lee-the last woman to hang in Australia’, <http://www. capitalpunishmentuk.org/lee.html>. The Herald, ‘Portrait of a Murderess - Two chapters in the life of Jean Lee’, The Herald, (Melbourne, Victoria Tuesday, 13 February 1951). 7. <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/ article/143797957?searchTerm=Jean%20 Lee&searchLimits=>. Joy Damousi, ‘Lee, Jean (1919–1951)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/leejean-10804/text19161, < http://adb.anu.edu.au/ biography/lee-jean-10804>. The Herald, ‘Portrait of a Murderess - Two chapters in the life of Jean Lee’, The Herald, (Melbourne, Victoria Tuesday, 13 February 1951). 7. <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/ article/143797957?searchTerm=Jean%20 Lee&searchLimits=>. Ed Kuepper, Judi Dransfield-Kuepper, ‘Daddy’s Girl’, Ed Kuepper and the Kowalski Collective, (Jean Lee and the Yellow Dog, (Directors Cut), September 2007). Track 4.

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33 34 Joy Damousi, ‘Lee, Jean (1919–1951)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/leejean-10804/text19161, < http://adb.anu.edu.au/ biography/lee-jean-10804>. The Molong Express and Western District Advertiser, ‘Tragic story of Jean Lee - thee murder of bookmaker William Kent’, The Molong Express and Western District Advertiser, (NSW, Friday, 19 January 1951), 5. <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/ article/134115435?searchTerm=Jean%20 Lee&searchLimits=>. Joy Damousi, ‘Lee, Jean (1919–1951)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/leejean-10804/text19161, <http://adb.anu.edu.au/ biography/lee-jean-10804>. The Herald, ‘Portrait of a Murderess - Two chapters in the life of Jean Lee’, The Herald, (Melbourne, Victoria Tuesday, 13 February 1951). 7. <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/ article/143797957?searchTerm=Jean%20 Lee&searchLimits=>. The Molong Express and Western District Advertiser, ‘Tragic story of Jean Lee - thee murder of bookmaker William Kent’, The Molong Express and Western District Advertiser, (NSW, Friday, 19 January 1951), 5. <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/ article/134115435?searchTerm=Jean%20 Lee&searchLimits=>. Trevor Poultney, Victims of the Rope - Executions in Port Philip & Victoria 1842-1967 (Trevor Poultney, 2016), 192. Joy Damousi, ‘Lee, Jean (1919–1951)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/leejean-10804/text19161, <http://adb.anu.edu.au/ biography/lee-jean-10804>. Joy Damousi, ‘Lee, Jean (1919–1951)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/leejean-10804/text19161, < http://adb.anu.edu.au/ biography/lee-jean-10804>. Damousi state that most of the charges brought against Jean Lee were for offensive behaviour. Ed Kuepper, Judi Dransfield-Kuepper, ‘Skinny Jean’, Ed Kuepper and the Kowalski Collective, (Jean Lee and the Yellow Dog, (Directors Cut), September 2007). Track 5. Trevor Poultney, Victims of the Rope - Executions in Port Philip & Victoria 1842-1967 (Trevor Poultney, 2016), 191. Ed Kuepper, Judi Dransfield-Kuepper, ‘Yellow Dog’, Ed Kuepper and the Kowalski Collective, (Jean Lee and the Yellow Dog, (Directors Cut), September 2007). Track 6. Wikipedia, ‘Jean Lee (murderer) ’, (website, 11 October 2019). <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Jean_Lee_(murderer)>. Ibid. Tommy Johnson, Ed Kuepper, Judi DransfieldKuepper, ‘Jean brings him gasoline’, Ed Kuepper 35

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51 and the Kowalski Collective, (Jean Lee and the Yellow Dog, (Directors Cut), September 2007). Track 15. Ed Kuepper integrated the recording of the 1928 classic blues song by Tommy Johnson; ‘Cool drink of water blues’, to create ‘Jean brings him gasoline’. Tommy Johnson (1896 to 1 November 1956), born Terry, Mississippi. Johnson was a blues musician ‘known for his eerie falsetto which are prevalent in his songs. <https://genius.com/artists/Tommy-johnson>. R v Lee [1950] HCA 25; (1950) 82 CLR 133, 1. A full decision can be found at: <http://www6. austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/cth/ HCA/1950/25.html> Ibid. Ibid. Ibid, 34. Ibid, 35. The Argus, ‘Minister to plead for Jean Lee’s life’, The Argus newspaper, (Melbourne, VIC, Friday 15 December 1950), 1. Barrier Daily Truth, ‘Victorians endorse Jean Lee’s fate’, Barrier Daily Truth, (Broken Hill, NSW, Monday 18 December 1950), 1. <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/ article/143797957?searchTerm=Jean%20 Lee&searchLimits=>. Ibid. The Daily News, ‘Eye for an eye: The case of Jean Lee’, The Daily News, (Perth, Western Australia, Friday 22 December 1950), 6. <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/ article/80844875?searchTerm=Jean%20 Lee&searchLimits=>. Barrier Daily Truth, ‘Jean Lee visited by Minister for Xmas’, Barrier Daily Truth, (Broken Hill, NSW, Wednesday, 27 December 1950), 1. <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/ article/143797957?searchTerm=Jean%20 Lee&searchLimits=>. Ibid. The Armadale Express and New England General Advertiser, ‘Jean Lee to hang’, The Armadale Express and New England General Advertiser newspapers, (NSW, Wednesday, 31 January 1951), 2. <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/ article/193955598?searchTerm=Jean%20 Lee&searchLimits=>. The Herald, ‘11th hour bid to save Jean Lee’, The Herald, (Melbourne, Victoria Thursday, 15 February 1951). 1. <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/ article/248316327?searchTerm=Jean%20 Lee&searchLimits=>. The Mirror, ‘He saw Jean Lee, Clayton and Andrews hang’, The Mirror, (Perth WA, Saturday, 3 March 1951), 9. < https://trove.nla. gov.au/newspaper/article/75701882>. Ed Kuepper, Judi Dransfield-Kuepper, ‘Hang Jean Lee’, Ed Kuepper and the Kowalski Collective, (Jean Lee and the Yellow Dog, (Directors Cut), September 2007). Track 1. Trevor Poultney, Victims of the Rope - Executions in Port Philip & Victoria 1842-1967 (Trevor Poultney, 2016), 192. Capital punishment UK, ‘Jean Lee-the last woman to hang in Australia’, <http://www. capitalpunishmentuk.org/lee.html>. 52 Ibid. 53 The Mirror, ‘Jean Lee never awoke from a drugged sleep’, The Mirror, (Perth

WA, Saturday, 24 February 1951), 9. < https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/ article/75706998/7363410>. 54 Illawarra Daily Mercury, ‘Jean Lee carried to scaffold unconscious’, the Illawarra

Daily Mercury newspaper, (Wollongong,

NSW, Tuesday 20 February 1951), 2. <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/ article/133996736?searchTerm=Jean%20

Lee&searchLimits=> 55 UK executioner, Albert Pierrepoint, in his autobiography ‘Executioner Pierrepoint’ stated the routine that was conducted during his training; ‘draw on the white cap, adjusts the noose, whip out the safety pin, push the lever, drop., Noose, pin, push, drop. Push the lever, never pull it. The lever is like a railway signalman’s points lever. When the traps are closed the lever is sloping towards the drop.

You’ve got to be quick, not take time to get to the other side and pull. There is a cotter pin on the lever near the floor, a safety catch, never to be drawn while there are more men than the prisoner on the drop. See Albert Pierrepoint, Executioner Pierrepoint, (Eric

Dobby Publishing Ltd, 2005), 94-5. The set up and manner of execution were the same in Australia as in the UK. 56 The Mirror, ‘He saw Jean Lee, Clayton and

Andrews hang’, The Mirror, (Perth WA,

Saturday, 3 March 1951), 9. < https://trove.nla. gov.au/newspaper/article/75701882>. 57 Always ask EW Wordpress, ‘Launched into

Eternity - The exection of Jean Lee 1951’. (Website, 3 January 2014): <https://alwaysaskew. wordpress.com/2014/01/03/the-execution-ofjean-lee-1951/>. 58 Ed Kuepper, Judi Dransfield-Kuepper,

‘Demolition’, Ed Kuepper and the Kowalski

Collective, (Jean Lee and the Yellow Dog, Part 1,

September 2007). Track 7. 59 Ibid. 60 Ibid. 61 Barrier Miner, ‘Jean Lee carried to scaffold’,

Barrier Miner newspaper, (Broken Hill

NSW, Monday 19 February 1951), 1. <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/ article/48632563?searchTerm=Jean%20

Lee&searchLimits=> 62 Always ask EW Wordpress, ‘Launched into

Eternity - The exection of Jean Lee 1951’. (Website, 3 January 2014): <https://alwaysaskew. wordpress.com/2014/01/03/the-execution-ofjean-lee-1951/>. 63 The Mirror, ‘Jean Lee never awoke from a drugged sleep’, The Mirror, (Perth WA, Saturday, 24 February 1951),9. < https://trove.nla.gov.au/ newspaper/article/75706998/7363410>. 64 Trevor Poultney, Victims of the Rope - Executions in Port Philip & Victoria 1842-1967 (Trevor

Poultney, 2016), 192. 65 Ed Kuepper, Judi Dransfield-Kuepper, ‘Shame’,

Ed Kuepper and the Kowalski Collective, (Jean Lee and the Yellow Dog, (Directors Cut),

September 2007). Track 8.