Gideon Haigh charts the extraordinary story of John Bryan Kerr who was sentenced to death in 1950

JOHN Bryan Kerr, a handsome and charming Melbourne radio announcer, was sentenced to death for killing a 20-year-old typist in 1949. Did he do it?

Spotlight on mysterious murder

A RENOWNED cricket writer has turned to true crime for his latest book.

Gideon Haigh has charted the extraordinary story of Melbourne radio announcer John Bryan Kerr, who was sentenced to death for a 1949 murder.

Haigh, who has written 20 books, said Certain Admissions: A Beach, A Body and a Lifetime of Secrets took him on a storytelling journey like no other — and he hopes readers will be equally interested.

The handsome and charming Kerr, who attended Scotch College, was tried three times for the strangling murder of Elizabeth Maureen Williams, a 20-year-old typist, at Albert Park beach.

Certain Admissions by Gideon Haigh. Picture: Supplied

There were three trials because capital crimes needed unanimous decisions from the jury.

Haigh, who lives in Carlton, said the case was circumstantial against Kerr, who maintained his innocence throughout the trials.

Controversially, an unsigned confession was entered into evidence.

However Kerr’s death sentence was commuted and he was released in the mid 1960s.

If readers are as fascinated with this story as I was, they will have a great time,” Haigh said.

“Every time I thought I had the story nailed down it would skitter sideways.”

Haigh learnt about the case when he was writing his 2008 book called The Racket about how abortion became legal in Australia.

One of the men Haigh interviewed extensively for The Racket was prominent Melbourne barrister Brian Bourke who got to know Kerr at programs he ran for inmates at Pentridge Prison.

“Brian told me the most interesting man he ever knew was John Bryan Kerr,” Haigh said.

Haigh said the research for the book was an adventure in itself.

He said when Kerr, who died in 2001, was released from prison he found it difficult to hold down jobs and no one knew of the incident that defined his life.

“He changed his identity and invented a story around himself with a fake CV and references,” Haigh said.

Gideon Haigh. Picture: John Appleyard

Kerr changed his name to John Wallace and eventually married and had a family.

Haigh spoke to Kerr’s widow, and people who knew him before and after the crime as well as gaining unprecedented access to closed case files held at the Public Record Office Victoria.

“It was a case of finding out who was alive and who was prepared to talk,” Haigh said.

“It was one of those stories I didn’t know how on earth it was going to end.”

Haigh said in 2004 another man, in declining health, confessed to the murder of Elizabeth Williams, as well as two other women including teenager Shirley Collins.

The confession has not yet been verified by police.

“The man confided in a carer he had been responsible for three murders,” Haigh said.

“The carer didn’t do anything for a number of years.

“They couldn’t quite believe a man as benign as this could be confessing to such heinous crimes.”

Certain Admissions: A Beach, A Body and a Lifetime of Secrets is published by Penguin Books Australia.