Who: Ronald Ryan
What: Ronald Ryan was convicted of murder of George Hodson and was given a death penalty due to an escape from the Pentridge prison on the 19th of December 1965. This occurred when Ryan heard his wife was seeking a divorce, and decided to plan an escape with fellow imprisoner Peter John Walker, which he met when he was placed into the B division. Before he had been convicted of murder, Ryan was charged with Burglary, Identity theft and several drug crimes. The murder of George Hodson occurred when Hodson had rushed out to the 1st post as he was having “lunch” prior to the first whistle of when Ryan and Walker had escaped onto the Pentridge car park and drove off in a car. Hodson chased after the two men, Ryan and walker, throughout the Sydney Rd intersection, O’hea Street, Champ Street and in-between cars as Ryan was trying to commander them to get around the cars. Ryan had had a rifle with them also, but before he had aimed at Hodson, William Bennet was standing on the second floor aiming his rifle towards Ryan and Walker. At that stage walker was being chased by Hodson, so Ryan had taken a couple of steps forward and shot Hodson, as he fell to the ground... he had been struck by 1 bullet. Ryan and Walker then had continued to be on the run towards the west.
When: December 19th, 1965 @ 2pm (He escaped from prison) Died, 3rd February 1967
How: It started by Ryan’s wife’s decision which tempted him to escape to figure was going on.
Why: After Ryan had found out that his wife was seeking for a divorce, he organised an escape plan with his fellow prisoner friend Peter John Walker, which he met when he was placed in B division. He then also decided a plan to take himself and his family and fly to Brazil where there was no extradition treaty with Australia.
Why was he in jail? He was in jail due to Burglary, Identity theft and Drug crimes.
What is capital punishment? Capital punishment is the legal and authorized killing of a person as a result of a punishment for committing a crime.
When was it abolished in Australia? Capital punishment was abolished in 1975. This was taken into consideration after the Ronald Ryan case in 1967.
Was Ronald Ryan an innocent man? There is an uncertainty if Ronald Ryan had shot him, Or the prison guard Robert Patterson which had fired a shot from the wall of the prison. Patterson had insisted that his rifle was aimed into the air to avoid a bystander. The second guard Doug Pascoe, had also admitted shooting but the police