An early morning cup of tea turned into a man hunt at Carpentaria Downs Station in September 1908. The station manager, his horseman, and a man-servant were all considered suspects when governess Nellie Duffy was found deceased in her double bed. Theft was not a motive; she still wore her gold jewellery. Assault was not a motive; her clothes and blankets, although saturated with blood, were undisturbed. The suggestion Miss Duffy had committed suicide by piercing her own neck were quickly quashed by the unusually undisturbed bedding, smoothed neatly across her body.
Every possible detail of the scene and the crime was gathered; the position of the body in bed, blood splatter on a bedside clock, the door to the bedroom being open, whether particular lighting was on or off, the location of a writing desk and chair, bedroom window dressings and mosquito netting, the usual routine of family members and station staff and their actions on the morning of the murder. Witnesses were cross examined by Chief Inspector Frederic Urquhart and other police, and a record by Pugh’s Almanac of the time of sunrise on the date of the murder was checked against other evidence.
Chief Inspector Frederic Urquhart, July 1 1905. Image cropped from PM0785 and courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum.
A post mortem examination by Doctor Riccardo Moni from Georgetown was conducted with Sub Inspector Byrne and Constable Reynolds present, concluding the deep wound in the neck of the victim was caused whilst alive, as were two small facial bruises, consistent with being smothered by the offender’s hand grip.
Police commenced questioning all persons in the vicinity of the home, and anyone associated with Nellie and the Wilson family, managers of the cattle station. Chief Inspector Urquhart interviewed station-hand for Henry and Fanny Wilson, Billy Wilson, who confirmed he knew the victim, and told police he had seen Mrs Wilson carrying a clutch of eggs in a milking tin when she spoke to him and said “I want to kill Miss Duffy”. Upon the instruction of the station manager’s wife, and fearing severe reprisal if he did not assist, station hand Billy attended the bedroom of Miss Duffy early in the morning in the company of Mrs Wilson. She attempted to stage Miss Duffy’s suicide by writing a note, then asked Billy to hold the sleeping young woman down whilst she stabbed Nellie once in the neck with a pocket-knife. The knife pieced the jugular vein causing Nellie’s death.
The evidence for a murder conviction quickly mounted. Billy Wilson proved the most reliable witness, voluntarily admitting he was also responsible for the death because he had assisted Mrs Wilson with her plan by restraining the sleeping Nellie. In Mrs Wilson’s statement, she claimed innocence, suggesting the first she knew of the murder was when Mr Frost attempted to serve the victim her usual morning cup of tea.
The main street of Georgetown, 1908. Image PM2932 courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum
The case was referred to the Townsville Supreme Court with the all-male jury unable to agree on a verdict, both for the accusation of murder against Fanny Wilson, steadfastly maintaining her innocence, and the accusation as an accessory against Billy Wilson. In sensational developments the Judge entered a nolle prosequi against Mrs Wilson, and the jury entered a ‘Not Guilty’ verdict upon Billy.
There are several books available telling this crime in more detail. You may wish to search for them using the Trove website.
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This article was written by Museum Assistant Georgia Grier from the best resources available within the Queensland Police Museum. The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane. Contact: E: museum@police.qld.gov.au
“FROM the VAULT- Sensational Developments in 1908” by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/legalcode