An Australian man is posthumously pardoned 86 years after he was hanged for
murder after forensic evidence was found to be flawed. 

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA (MAY 27, 2008) NETWORK NINE -
 A man hanged in 1922 for the murder and rape of a young girl in the
southern Australian city of Melbourne was posthumously pardoned for the crime
on Tuesday (May 27) after new tests found crucial evidence against him was
flawed. 
    Authorities in the Victorian state pardoned Colin Campbell Ross, who
was hanged for raping and murdering a 12-year old girl and dumping her body in
an alley in 1921. 
    Ross' niece Betty Everett and the niece of the murder victim Bettye
Arthur joined forces to get the pardon, and Everett said she was glad to know
her uncle was not a killer.
    "That perhaps I carried the genes of a murderer. That shadow has
gone now, a wiping away forever of the sadness we have carried in our
hearts," said Everett after receiving the pardon plaques.
    Both Everett and Arthur said it was a relief to receive justice.
    "It's a relief I suppose it would be more relief," said
Arthur.
    "I wish there was a better word than relief because it's more than
relief," added Everett. 
    Arthur and Everett also agreed that Ross' case was a warning to take
more care in future criminal cases. 
    "Make sure of facts," said Arthur.
    "Let's hope it will never happen again," said Everett. 
    The decision was announced in Victorian State Parliament where
Victoria's Attorney General Rob Hulls said the pardon was repairing a wrong in
the state's history. 
    "I hope that the pardon does go some way in making amends for the
tragedy that befell both families," he said. 
    Australia is a strong opponent of the death penalty, with the last
hanging taking place in Melbourne in 1967 when petty criminal Ronald Ryan was
executed for his involvement in a prison escape, during which a prison guard
was shot dead. 
    Hulls said the case was a warning to anyone who believed Australia
should re-introduce the death penalty, which was formally abolished in
Victoria in 1975. 
    The Ross case has been controversial since he was executed 115 days
after his arrest, with witnesses saying he was at work at the time of the
crime and with Ross going to the gallows protesting his innocence. 
    The prosecutors relied on hairs found on a blanket at Ross's home,
which experts at the time said came from the murdered girl Alma Tirtschke, and
from a jailhouse confession, reported by a fellow inmate who had convictions
for perjury. 
    But a researcher found the hairs used as evidence against Ross in an
archive in 1995, and new tests proved they did not come from the murdered
girl. 
    Hulls asked for the case to be reviewed two years ago, resulting in a
panel of judges finding the case against Ross was flawed.