Cold case blows hot
On 26 March 1908, labourer William Riley was tried at the Roma Circuit Court for the willful murder of Ernest Henry Martyr almost thirteen years before, on 14 July 1895. Martyr’s disappearance from Cunnumulla, where his common-law wife and children lived, was not thought suspicious until 1907 when Riley allegedly spontaneously confessed to killing Martyr and burning his body. Several motivations were suggested for the murder. In 1894 Riley had been charged with arson but the case was not prosecuted after itinerant shearer Martyr, who was to have been one of the witnesses, failed to appear. Furthermore, Martyr’s son testified that the day after his father was last seen Riley had begun living with them and sleeping in his mother’s bed. Riley was found guilty and sentenced to death.
This trial report is from Western Star and Roma AdvertiserDownload from Trove
