THE LIBERATION OF SULLIVAN.
(From our Dunedin Cm-respondent)
In the year 1866, the inhabitants of every province -in this colony were thrown into a state of "the greatest excitement, and thenindignation and horror aroused at the discovery that a number of barbarous murders had been committed on the West Coast of the province by a gang of the blackest; Villains that were ever permitted to draw the breath of life. ' The news was flashed by telegram to every town in the colony, and probably no crimes' that were ever committed — not .even excepting -the blackest deeds of Burke and Hare in the old country — were •looked upon with such loathing, and the perpetrators so detested and hated, as were those crimes and those fiends, in the shape of men,, ■of which I now write. People could hardly re•alize the fact that such dreadful deeds were ; being perpetrated almost in their, own midst, •fend the names ' of Burgess, Sullivan, Kelly, fend Levy were in- everybody's mouth, as being those of men who 1 deserved no-consideration fct the. hands of their fellows, and for whom no punishment that could be inflicted would "be too severe. The capture of these scoundrels was hailed with the very utmost satisfaction, and when at their trial, sentence of death was passed on all with the exception of Sullivan, who turned Queen's evidence, it '•was admitted that the ignominious death %o •jffcbith tl ©/ we.c sentenced was never rnovs deserved. Burgess, Kelly, and Levy* ■were executed in the Nelson Gaol, on Friday, the 28th October, 1866 ; and Sullivan, in consequence of the services he rendered as approver, was spared tbe ignominy of perishing on the scaffold, and sentenced to penal servitude for life. That he deserved any coneideration, few indeed at the time could be found to admit, notwithstanding his state* ment that he was not guilty of the actual murder bf any of the unfortunate viotims vho lost their lives by the hands of the gang. BSs asseveration to this effect met with very little belief by the general public. His life -was at stake, and it is but natural to suppose that he would have no scruples as to what he ■aid in the hope of saving his neck. The statement of Burgess,' who made free and «pen confession of the horrible crimes of ■which he and his partners in villany had been convicted, seemed to be given in all penitence, And he deliberately stated that Sullivan and "he -we're the worst of the whole gang. He detailed with minuteness the murder of pcor Dobeon by Sullivan, and stated that Sullivan Afterwards told him what a nice young fellow Dobeon was, tfnd that he (Sullivan) stopped him by mistake, and having done so, dared not let* him go again, but took him into the "bush "and " burked* him. Further on in confession, Burgees referred to the 'murder of _the pooir old man Jamie Battle, stating that after he (Burgess) and Sullivan had had some conversation with him, they made him sit down on the ground, and when "he drew his sheath knife and resisted them, tow he was seized by him (Burgess) by the throat, and thus held till he was almost at the last gasp, when Sullivan drew his fist, and gave him a fearful blow in the abdomen, xrhich completed the horrible deed. They Jthen, according to Burgess, raked a hole, and 'tftioteti the poor victim into it with his face .'downward. Next day (to continue Bur'gessV confession) they fell in with a party 'for whom they were watching, knowing that the men had a good deal of money and gold 'on them. All the murderers seem to have had a finger, in the pie this time, but as usual the vtwo arch : flends, Sullivan and Burgess, ■%«*» the ringleaders. Bailing up the travellers, tying their, hands behind their backs, and separating them. - According to Burgess, JgulHvan took off his *ash, tied it round the 'i&M. of one of the pfcrty l named Dudley, and f £kn» Be and Burgess strangled the poor fellow They then returned to where the others tuber*, and BurgeM took Matthieu to one side,
and shot him with a revolver, and then immediately afterwards shot Kempthorne (who had risen to his feet) with a gun ; Sullivan, in the meantime, having shot De Pontius, the fourth one of the party. , Burgess then directed Sullivan's attention to Matthieu, showing him where he lay ; and Sullivan went over 'to' him, saying, on coming back, " I had to ' chir ' that fellow, as he was not quite dead." As the result of this horrible butchery, they secured about £60 in money, and about 46 ozs. of gold, belonging to poor Kempthorne.This was all told in Burgess's confession, and if any reliance is to be placed on it, it clearly proves Sullivan to have been quite Burgess's equal in villany. However, that is neither here nor there. Sullivan was dealt leniently with, and as a result of his turning approver, the inhabitants of this city have had his honorable company within the four walls of Her Majesty's Gaol. Latterly, rumors have been abroad that it was the intention of the Government shortly to liberate him ; what for I cannot tell, as any information on the subject was . confined to that obtained from rumors. Most people put it down as an idle tale. I certainly never, for one moment, imagined that such a monstrous iniquity would be perpetrated ; and yet there were certain circumstances which gave some slight color of truth to the rumor, notably amongst them being the fact that the prison authorities had allowed Sullivan's hair and whiskers to grow of late — an unusual proceeding, as the prisoners are regularly shaved and cropped. And now comes the sequel that this terror of — this worse than wild beast 7ias actnliberated. The proceeding has of course been kept a strict secret by the authorities, and but for the fact of an eye-witness of Sullivan's departure by the Mikado, having told me of the circumstances, I should not now be in a position to send you the news. You may rely on it, however, as being thoroughly correct ; the facts of the case being that he has gone up in charge of a warder to Auckland by the steamer I have mentioned, en route for America. What on earth the liberating of "this man means, I cannot fathom. I suppose, however, that we shall now have some explanation of it ; and certainly the public are entitled to it. It is no palliation of the extraordinary proceeding to say that he has been sent out of the colony. Notliing can justify the sending of so dangerous and crime-stained a man as this to another country ; and it seems to me that the Sari Francisco authorities will not allow such a proceeding to pass over without demanding some explanation. I only hope that those in authority here will be able to justify their strange conduct.'
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Tuapeka Times, Volume VII, Issue 331, 18 February 1874, Page 3
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1,165THE LIBERATION OF SULLIVAN. Tuapeka Times, Volume VII, Issue 331, 18 February 1874, Page 3
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