The Gun Alley Murder was the rape and murder of 12-year-old Alma Tirtschke in Melbourne, Australia, in 1921. She was a schoolgirl who attended Hawthorn West High School and had last been seen alive close to a drinking establishment, the Australian Wine Saloon; under these circumstances her murder caused a sensation.
Victim Alma Tirtschke
Colin Campbell Eadie Ross was an Australian wine-bar owner who was wrongfully convicted and executed for the murder of a child, which became known as the Gun Alley Murder, despite evidence of his innocence. Following his execution, efforts were made to clear his name, but it was not until the 1990s that the key evidence was re-examined using modern forensic techniques, in which the results confirmed Ross's innocence. As a result, an appeal for mercy was made to Victoria's Chief Justice in 2006, and on 27 May 2008 the Governor of Victoria pardoned Ross in what is believed to be an Australian legal first.
Ross in 1922