• I am now face to face with my Maker, and I swear by Almighty God that I am an innocent man!

On April 24, 1922, 29-year-old Australian Colin Campbell Ross began his farewell speech with these words. He had been sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a 12-year-old schoolgirl. With a rope already around his neck, he finished:

- 'I never saw the child. I have never committed a crime, and I don't know who did. I ask God to forgive those who took my life.

The sentence was then carried out.

Melbourne, the second most populous city in the country. In one of the suburbs, in a not-so-wealthy neighborhood, is the Ross brothers' bar. The eldest, Colin Campbell Ross, is hardly a model of integrity. Bully, bully, drinker. He was tried for making public threats with a firearm. He and his brothers opened a drinking establishment where they repeatedly robbed customers who fell asleep. The police had no doubt that the pockets of the boozers are emptied by the owners themselves, but they could not prove anything.

In the early morning hours of December 31, 1921, the body of a local resident, 12-year-old Alma Tirschke, was found near the Ross Brothers' bar. The day before, the girl had left the house to go to the store and did not return. Experts will determine that the death occurred on December 30 at about 18:00.

Under suspicion all residents of the neighborhood houses, although the body could have been delivered from another place. Colin Ross has also been questioned. He, as well as several neighbors, identified Alma. According to them, the girl with fiery red hair the day before at about 3:00 p.m. walked down the street, including past the drinking establishment.

Residents of the suburb took to the streets demanding that the murderer be found. The mayor really feared a social revolt and demanded that the police chief solve the crime as soon as possible. For the capture of the culprit announced, the largest in the history of monetary reward.

On January 12, 1922, Colin Ross was arrested. Local newspapers immediately announced that the murderer had been found and the evidence of his guilt was irrefutable. A month later, the trial began.

The prosecutor argued in the indictment that Alma Tierschke went to the bar by herself to drink wine. Colin Ross bought her a drink and then took her to his office, where he abused and strangled her. This was allegedly told by the defendant himself to his barmaid and cellmate during pre-trial detention.

Ross' subordinate claimed she saw her employer buy the girl a drink. And the next day, the owner bragged to her about how he'd straightened up the kid. Only it was not mentioned at the trial that this person at the first interrogation on January 5 told the police that she had never seen Alma Tirschke, and changed her testimony a few days later, after the Ross brothers fired her for stealing money from the cash register of the establishment.

Also testified that they saw Ross sitting at the table with the girl, gave two other visitors of the bar - one of them is a representative of the oldest profession and a friend of the barmaid, the second is a fortune-teller and con artist.

The main evidence of Ross's guilt was a few strands of hair found in his office in the bar. Despite the fact that the light brown hair seized by the police differed from the bright red hair of the unfortunate girl, the expert recognized them as identical and stated that it was in the office of the accused that the crime was committed.

Unexpectedly, the girl's relatives challenged the prosecutor's claims. According to them, Alma was a modest girl, and would never go into a drinking establishment, and even more so, she would not go into seclusion with a grown man in the office.

But none of the jurors questioned it. Colin Ross was found guilty and not worthy of leniency. The court sentenced him to death by hanging. A packed courtroom met the verdict with applause and curses for the killer. The execution took place two months later.

Residents of the neighborhood could breathe easy - their children are now safe. Police officers received awards. Officials calmed the disgruntled. Justice has prevailed....

In 1993, seven decades later, local journalist Kevin Morgan began researching the Colin Ross story. It turned out that all three female witnesses from the bar, after the trial, received the considerable cash reward promised for the capture of the criminal. And the fourth prosecution witness, a cellmate of the defendant, after testifying against Ross, received a too lenient sentence for his crime.

Thus, all four could not have been reliable witnesses, and most likely incriminated an innocent man under pressure from the police. Law enforcement was demanding results, and Colin Ross, who had problems with the law, was the perfect candidate for the role of the killer. And to persuade the offended thief, prostitute, con artist and criminal to give the necessary testimony - a matter of technique.

Journalist Morgan found in the archives of hair samples that appeared in court - those that were found in Ross's office and those that belonged to the girl. It took him five years to get a DNA test, which was too expensive at the time. The examination confirmed the obvious - the hair samples belonged to different people.

After the publication of Kevin Morgan's book, the relatives of Colin Ross and Alma Tierschke filed a joint petition for a review of the 1922 case in the Supreme Court of Australia. According to Alma's niece, the Tirchke family wanted not only to restore justice and acquit the innocent man, but also to whitewash the name of the girl, who was actually accused by the prosecutor in court of having provoked the criminal by her own inappropriate behavior.

On May 27, 2006, 86 years after his conviction and execution, Colin Campbell Ross was found not guilty. The Australian judicial system acknowledged the mistake and apologized to the relatives of the executed man.

Only the most important question is unanswered - if not Colin Ross, then who?