Australian Colin Campbell Ross has received a pardon after forensic tests on hair samples cast doubt on his guilt for the rape and murder of 12-year-old Alma Tirtschke.
Prosecutors claimed that Ross gave the girl alcohol before raping and strangling her. While Ross professed his innocence and while witnesses supported his alibi for the time of the murder, he was nevertheless convicted based on hair samples that supposedly matched those of the victim, found on one of Ross’ blankets. Once proper forensic tests showed the hair was not the girl’s, Alma’s relatives petitioned the government for the pardon, which was granted this past Tuesday.
Unfortunately for Ross, the pardon came 86 years too late. He was hanged for the crime in 1922