Way We Were: How one of Queensland’s most brutal murders haunts the site of The Gabba

A derelict house on the site where The Gabba now stands was the scene of one of Queensland’s most remarkable murders, with a woman bashed to death and a man claiming his innocence for decades, writes Dot Whittington.

Marie Bruno was a hopeless alcoholic with a long criminal record, but despite her dubious connections, her brutal murder in a doss house triggered a sensational case that captivated Queensland even as war was brewing in 1939.

Said to be a well-known member of the Brisbane underworld, 39-year-old Bruno, whose real name was Miriam Walters, was beaten with a broken bottle in what became known as the “empty house murder”.

The unoccupied house in Stanley St where the Gabba now stands was a regular drinking spot for what police called the city’s “unfortunate class” – drunks and prostitutes.

Leonard Ryan claimed he was framed for the murder of Marie Bruno in 1939 in an empty house where the Gabba now stands. Picture: Supplied

Within hours of the murder on the afternoon of Saturday, February 28, Leonard Ernest Ryan was arrested and charged.

And that could have been that – except the 25-year-old labourer wouldn’t stop protesting his innocence.

“I’m being Ned Kellied, I am,” he shrieked from the dock at his committal hearing in March, likely in reference to Kelly’s claim that Constable Fitzpatrick had lied in 1878.

Ryan accused Detective Sgt M. J. Cullen of coaching Ethel Wendell, a key witness, during cross-examination.

“Cullen’s giving her the nod. I’m here fighting for my life. I’m not here charged with stealing kids’ two penny dummies or something,” he yelled across the court.

His solicitor William Elson-Green added, “In fairness to my client, I must say that I have noticed the witness looking in that direction and smiling after an answer.”

The Gabba was formerly an area where drunks and prostitutes congregated. Picture: Jono Searle/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

A suave young fellow, Ryan was no saint. As a teenager he had been jailed in Melbourne for housebreaking. On his release in 1938, he found himself with a £117 inheritance and set off to live it up in Sydney and then Brisbane.

And so it was that on the morning of February 18, 1939, in the company of convicted criminal James Johnson, Ryan entered The Plough Inn Hotel where he would meet Marie Bruno and Ethel Wendell, 38, who also had a long criminal record.

When Bruno was ordered to leave the hotel, the group ended up at the empty house with a quart bottle of wine. At about 3.40pm, Bruno went into a small room on the veranda.

Stories vary after that. Johnson claimed Ryan left and he went to sleep in the kitchen. Wendell claimed Ryan followed Bruno into the small room. Either way Bruno was found dead and Johnson slept through everything.

Ryan, who raised the alarm, told police the blood on his clothing was the result of lifting Bruno to see if she was alive, which she was when police arrived. Her face was gashed, her jaw broken and there were bruises on her body.

Ryan’s solicitor described it as one of the most remarkable murder cases heard in Queensland, accusing detectives of combining to present the charge, suppression of evidence and perjury.

Clarence Corner and Stanley Street. Picture: Supplied

The police prosecutor said any omission of evidence was due only to the inexperience of officers. Detectives said they knew Wendell to be a prostitute and a drunk, but they would be prepared to take her word.

Elson-Green said Wendell’s evidence could not reasonably be believed and if withdrawn, there was nothing to connect Ryan with the crime.

“She was an interested party and a criminal, and some suspicion must be attached to her,” he said.

Wendell had blood on her shoe and there were marks of a woman’s shoe on Bruno’s body.

To add further sensation to the trial, the pathologist was called to reconduct his microscopic tests in court and he also produced a female human skull to demonstrate the injuries.

When found guilty and sentenced to life, Ryan went berserk with “as amazing a show of rage and passion as the Brisbane Criminal Court has ever seen.”

Again, he invoked Ned Kelly.

“I’ve been Ned Kellied into this,” he cried. “Think I’m a raw-boned mug?”

He accused the judge of misdirecting the jury, refused to leave the dock, and was dragged, shrieking and cursing from the court.

At Ryan’s appeal for a new trial four months later, Boggo Road prisoner, William Floyd, alleged that Johnson, who described Wendell as “my girl”, had told him that the two women were arguing and Wendell hit Bruno in the face with a bottle, and kicked her.

The judge ruled the statement perfectly ridiculous and the case was dismissed, as was another in November and again in February 1940. Four years later, the High Court also refused an appeal.

Ryan was released on parole in 1958 and continued to claim innocence. The matter was raised in parliament with a call to establish a public committee of inquiry but that too was rejected.

Ryan was last heard of in north Queensland in 1963.