Last woman executed in Australia confessed to murder, but did she do it?

Young mum Jean Lee confessed and was hanged at Pentridge Prison for murder, but was she just covering for her lover?

Police mugshot of Jean Lee, who was convicted of the murder of SP bookie William Kent in Melbourne and hanged.

As her “guilty” verdict was pronounced in court, Jean Lee collapsed into her lover’s arms and screamed “I didn’t do it, I didn’t do it!”

The 31-year-old mum was telling the truth – but was hanged for murder anyway.

The story of the last woman executed in Australia is told in the free In Black and White podcast on Australia’s forgotten characters, with Pentridge Prison Tours guide Damien Beard:

In 1950, Lee, along with her lover, Robert Clayton, and an accomplice, Norman Andrews, were convicted of the murder of SP bookie Pop Kent, 73, in Carlton after a robbery gone wrong.

Lee “confessed” to police after Clayton turned on his lover and named her as Kent’s killer.

“He is then dragged tearfully into Jean’s cell,” Mr Beard says.

“He’s brought into the interrogation room …. and Jean, apparently, she scoffed, ‘So much for the weaker sex’.

Jean Lee is escorted to the watch-house by detectives in 1949.

“Apparently, she said, ‘Bobby, I still love you, but if that’s the way you want it, you can have it.’

“She turned to the police and she said, ‘I did it, I did it all, everything that he said is true.’”

But later Lee denied the murder and said she confessed after the lengthy interrogation simply “to get some peace and quiet”.

Many believe Lee confessed in order to save her lover.

“If Clayton and Andrews were convicted of the crime, it’s murder – at the time, that’s a death sentence, and they’ll be hanged,” Mr Beard says.

“But she believes that if she signs, if she says no, I’m the one that actually murdered Kent, well, they’ll be much more reluctant to give a woman the death sentence.

“However, on the morning of Saturday, the 25th of March, 1950, the jury retires for 2 1/2 hours before returning a verdict of guilty and the sentence of death is pronounced on all of them.”

Robert Clayton

Norman Andrews

Wild scenes erupted in the courtroom.

“As the guilty verdict is pronounced, Jean collapsed into the arms of Clayton and she starts screaming, ‘I didn’t do it’, over and over again,” Mr Beard says.

Clayton turned to the jury and said, “you idiots, you team of idiots!” and then added “May your next feed choke you, you swine!”

Lee was found guilty of murder for her part in the crime, even though police knew conclusively she did not kill Kent, despite her earlier confession.

All three were hanged in 1951.

To learn more, listen to the interview in the free In Black and White podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or web.

See In Black & White in the Herald Sun newspaper every Friday for more stories and photos from the past.