To this day, her ghost is said to haunt the brutal place she died, declaring “I still love you, Bobby”.
According to a former guard at Pentridge Prison – one of many staff, criminals and historians quoted in a new book on the notorious institution for Australia’s worst killers and gangsters – Jean Lee has never truly left the terrifying Melbourne penitentiary.
She was hanged there, aged 31, on the basis of a “confession” that raised as many questions as it delivered answers, refusing opportunities to save herself until it was too late.
In this exclusive extract from Australia’s Most Infamous Jail: Inside the walls of Pentridge Prison, author JAMES PHELPS re-examines the fascinating and tragic story of the last woman judicially executed in this country.
And they call women the weaker sex.”
Former Pentridge inmate Jean Lee
1949. The detective stubbed out his cigarette in the full-to-the-brim ashtray. This had gone on for long enough. Dishevelled, tired and out of patience, he stood up, straightened himself and stared, hard, across the table.
‘You did him in,’ he shouted. ‘You killed this poor old man.’
The woman sitting opposite leaned back and folded her arms. ‘I’m not saying anything,’ she said. ‘I’m not answering any questions.’