The hangman and the electric chair - Part 1

As well as the numerous stab wounds on the body, investigators found frenzied stab marks in the ground, where Osborne's knife had missed its target, indicating the ferocity of the attack, Shortly after the Frost murder, West Australian Police detained Osborne as he tried to flee the state aboard an interstate bus.

Osborne pleaded guilty to murder and abduction before West Australian Supreme Court Judge, Mr Justice Smith, who sentenced him to life imprisonment with the added direction: "You are sentenced to prison with strict security for the rest of your life. You should never be released until senility overtakes you." Osborne subsequently died inside the WA prison system.

The cases of Hadlow, Lawson and Osborne reinforce the argument that the death penalty stops killers re-offending. But capital punishment is also an irrevocable step within any legal system. And legal systems are not infallible.

Proponents of the death penalty point to child murder as a crime worthy of capital punishment, but as unpalatable as this crime may be, there is no guarantee a miscarriage of justice cannot occur.

After the disappearance of 10-year-old South Australian schoolgirl, Louise Bell, from her parents' home in the Adelaide suburb of Hackham West in January 1983, concerned parents demanded immediate action from the South Australian police.

A South Australian prisoner, Raymond John Geesing, was serving time in Adelaide Jail for an unrelated crime when he was charged with the abduction and murder of Louise Bell. The Crown case rested largely on evidence from four prisoner informants who had been in prison with Geesing and alleged he had confessed to them. Based on their evidence, Geesing was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.

On April 12, 1985, the South Australian Court of Criminal Appeal unanimously upheld an appeal by Geesing. South Australian Chief Justice, Mr Len King, ruled that Geesing's 1983 trial had miscarried and the guilty verdict for the murder and abduction of Louise Bell was set aside. Chief Justice King said the prisoner informants were unreliable and untrustworthy witnesses.

One prisoner retracted his original statement. The evidence of another prisoner informant was declared inadmissible. The Court of Criminal Appeal ordered there be no retrial and Geesing walked to freedom after serving 17 months for a crime he had not committed.

The reintroduction of the death penalty in the US during 1976 also revealed a significant number of prisoners who suffered miscarriages of justice before being freed from prison. Twelve death row prisoners were exonerated, with DNA a significant factor in establishing their innocence:

• Earl Washington, of Virginia, sentenced to death in 1984, came within nine days of being strapped into the electric chair and executed for the rape and murder of Rebecca Williams, three years earlier. Washington was reprieved and served 16 years, 91/2 of them on death row, before DNA established his innocence. He was released from prison in 2000 and granted an absolute pardon.
• Kirk Bloodsworth, from Maryland, sentenced to death in 1984, served nine years before DNA established his innocence. He was released from prison in 1993.
• Rolando Cruz, Illinois, sentenced to death in 1985, served 10 years before DNA established his innocence. Released from prison in 1995.
• Alejandro Hernandez, Illinois, also sentenced to death in 1985, served 10 years before DNA established his innocence. Released from prison in 1995.
• Verneal Jimerson, Illinois, sentenced to death in 1985, served 11 years before DNA established his innocence. Released from prison in 1996.
• Dennis Williams, Illinois, sentenced to death in 1979, served 17 years before DNA established his innocence. Released from prison in 1996.
• Robert Lee Miller, Jr Oklahoma, sentenced to death in 1988, served 10 years before DNA established his innocence. Released from prison in 1998.
• Ronald Williamson, Oklahoma, sentenced to death in 1988, served 11 years before DNA established his innocence. Released from prison in 1999.
• Ronald Jones, Illinois, sentenced to death in 1989, served 10 years before DNA established his innocence. Released from prison in 1999.
• Ray Krone, Arizona, sentenced to death in 1992, served 10 years before DNA established his innocence. Released from prison in 2002.
• Charles Fain, Idaho, sentenced to death in 1983, served 18 years before DNA established his innocence. Released from prison in 2001.
• Frank Lee Smith, Florida, sentenced to death in 1986, served 14 years before DNA established his innocence. Smith died in prison before he was exonerated.

Part 2 of this article examines whether the death penalty is effective as a deterrent.