HOW TWO MURDERERS MET DEATH

NZ Truth, Issue 1094, 18 November 1926, Page 9

HOW TWO MURDERERS MET DEATH

■i ; •:.. . .-. ■■ ■• '■■ ■ ■ ■■ . ..-. — •-— ■ I ;. . . .. ■ ;. Coulter and Treffene Faced Fate Without Flinching GRAPHIC STORY OF LAsThOURS IN PRISON CELL ' ' ■ . ' . -. ■ ■ __^_____ - • ■ . . ' _ • ■ . ■ . . _ /■

\' " ' (From "N.Z. [Truth's" Special Perth ,(W.A.) Representative.)- . .< TWO murdered detectives — and two g-old traffickers who had paid the price the law demands. That was the final position at four minutes past eight one Monday morning when the law had cried quits with lawlessness after the most horrible and poignant of criminal episodes m Australia's 150 years of history. \

WAS the gold worth it after all ? "Ashes to Ashes, Dust to € Dust." -With these last words uttered over the mortal remains of William •■"Coulter, . ' who was buried after Treffene,.'; the curtain -was- rung' 'down on a tragedy, the whole circumsiances o£ which have left unmoved not xme person m Australia.

Ad it not been for llxls™is (Wi M ffold aII fol1 '" dead HIH stll W : '\ W men woul^ naye X liiL_t_«il hap d y ftinong &HI their friends and beautiful da w n SjpsSfiSMSgPjg^^Sa broke east of IJllJj^gilig—- Fremantle Gao 1 i™" ._««rtn|-.— — . __j on recent Mon- : day morning. At five minutes to eight, beautiful spring sunlight shone on the roof of a shed m the gaol yard. . . and (here, beneath, was a rude, brutal-looking scaffold from which were hanging, three feet apart, two ropes. , In the vicinity of the lonely hill. such work as had begun was suspended. Some workmen came out of . a ' little factory just before the eight .bells echoed from the gaol tower. • "They'll be going off now," said the foreman. . Half-way up the hill, beside the gaol, a ' tipcart had pulled up and the driver from his board seat was gazing with fascinated eyes at the stone Avails. •! Outside the main gates on the summit of the liill was a^ crowd of about 100 men, women and. children, who had lifted their hats. . \ Why they had come there pro- . bably they could not explain themselves. And then the first chime of the eight bells soundad, and a •'■ man near the fence lifted his hat,

O — : — — — and so did all the other men m the gathering. All that the bareheaded crowd saw half an hour later were some dozen -men — *a doctor, two spiritual advisers and half a dozen or. so warders, one swinging a small milk can— emerge through the heavy gates with tense, set faces and silent lips. Everybody knew then that it was all over with the Kalgoorlie murder case. Slept Well But what had happened behind those walls since the bright sun rose, will now be told by "Truth" as faithfully as it is indelibly imprinted upon the memories of those who witnessed,, it. • The two men slept well until daybreak. By seven o'clock they were up and dressed for the .- last time. Each had a light breakfast, but nothing else. ' It is popularly supposed that conI demned men, whose hour glass is fast running out, are given some potent .drug to steel their hearts for the worst ■ordeal.- that any human being 'could ever have to face. That was not so m this case. Condemned men are, at the mercy of the servants of the State. "Truth" is informed that from the governor down, all the prison authorities treated the condemned men with whatever kindly humanitarianism their duties allowed. Still Innocent Coulter was first out of his cell, accompanied by his spiritual .-adviser, and thirty seconds after, Treffene was standing at the door of the stone cage to which he was never to return. Before they left the of their cells, they were asked by the superintendent of the gaol, had they anj'thing to say before the supreme penalty inflicted by human law should be carried out. . Coulter replied m a steady voice that he was not there at the time the murders were committed, and was not . guilty of the crime. Just that and no more. Treffene s.aid that he was innocentjust that. ; The unhappy pair then walked steadily along to the scaffold, which was erected m a little shed a few yard's away from their cells, and on the Vam'e level. Coulter and his minister led the way, with T re ffene and his priest following three or four yards away. Calmly they walked up the two wooden steps with the same firm tread with which many a time they had walked up the many steps into the dock lat the cx-iminal court from the cells

>_ _____ , * . . * ; below during the long weary month of their trial. They how walked up the two short steps on to the wooden platform divided m the middle, where the two bolts go through. At the side is a lever such as a signalman m a railway box uses to alter the course of a train. In this case the signalman of death pulled it. The white caps were pulled down over the" set faces of the two men. Neither their hands nor their legs were bound, and before those caps, were pulled down neither said anything, nor was iiiyited to say anything. There was nothing said on the gallows at all by Coujter, and nothing excepting prayers said by Treffene, who stood' with his left hand raised praying continuously, while Coulter stood there irhpas r : sive, waiting for the bolts to be drawn. . * It was all over m two minutes, from the time they left their. cells. The hangman stood at the side with his hands on the lever ready to release the bolts when' the order was given. -He was a short, stocky man, apparently between 50 and 60 years of age, clean shaven, dressed m a slate- colored suit. . - -,-■.. Their Last Moments And he did not wear 'a mask, which led those present to suppose that he was brought from the Eastern States to do the job, and that once departed from here, may seturn no more, While Treffene was still praying with his hand upraised, the order came: "Executionel\ do your duty.'* And the elderly signalman, standing at the side of the scaffold, switched the points. : ; The platform- fell away from beneath their feet,, and then went into the pit below. ■ N ' ■ '■ • Immediately after they fell, the . doctor, m attendance went down ' 'the stairs to the pit and felt, 1 for the pulses of those dark shapes spinning slowly on the end of the ropes. He came back and said that life was extinct. , . Over 100 people from the fields paid their last tribute to their old friend Phillip Treffene. When they dropped their bunches of freshly-cut flowers on his freshly-dug grave. "A white man," was the title _that Treffene had earned for himself, after 20 years' association with the goldfields. A friend, m need is a friend indeed, and that is what Treffene was to many a down and out worker, whom he took into his little home during those years. ' « Many a man who had come into Kalgooiiie from far out m the stony waste owed his fresh start m life to Phillip Treffenej and many a miner whose health was broken owed his recovery to the same man, and it was just this great generosity of the man which caused his untimely end. "Greater love hath no man." The words were softly ' spoken as the cor-

O—^ — — tege moved slowly through the gates of the East Fremantle Cemetery. "He has laid down his life fjpr his friend." His simple walnut coffin bore the inscription: "Phillip John Treffene, ' aged 52 years. Died October 25." And on the side of a simple nickel- , plated mount, "R.I.P;", Hoping tiU the last that the law would stay its hand m. this case, the relatives and friends of Treffene had not made the necessary arrangements for his interment, and it was not until 10.30 a.m. that it was made known that the funeral would take place th^t morning, leaving the Roman. Catholic Presbytery at 11.15. " i "Truth" had been told that no strangers would be welcome at the Presbytery, and it respected that request, and understood it. At the mortuary chapel the cortege . was met by friends and relatives of the dead man who walked with solemn Lvead to the graveside. At the Cemetery „ The- service was conducted by the Rev. Father Neville, whose trembling hand showed how deeply he was moved. He was a tower of strength and consolation to Treffene m his last dreadful days. \ I The chief • mourner's ' -we're the two sons, Harry "and Jack Treffene. The funeral of . Coulter .was carried out m the Presbyterian section of the East Fremantle Cemetery at 3.30 p.m. , on Monday, many: of the Kalgoorlie people who had attended the earlier funeral remaining for the second servipe, and although the greatest secrecy had been observed as to the arrangements a number of cemetery visitors 1 and strangers were present. The remains of Coulter, covered with clusters of white lilies m a gilded hearse, passed the sleeping place of his brother m adversity. : By his grave were his wife and daughter and a number of friends. The service was conducted by the Rev. A. Marshall, of the Scot's Presbyterian Churchj'- fremantle. I,;; !