The Rhynie Tragedy: Part two

The Rhynie Tragedy Part two

Last week we looked into some of the circumstances that led to the tragic deaths of the Lee family, after Father and husband Alexander Lee killed his Wife and Children. This week we take another look at the case, delving into how he perpetrated his crime, and his eventual hanging in Adelaide Gaol.

  Thursday morning, July 15^th, 1920, convicted murderer, Alexander Newland Lee was taken from his cell on the eastern side of Adelaide Gaol. It was 6:30 in the morning, in less than two hours, Mr Lee, condemned for the murder of his wife and children, would be dead, hung from the gallows inside Adelaide Gaol.

  Weeks earlier, Lee had hurt his hand shearing sheep in a freak accident, and had been receiving treatment at Nuriootpa Hospital. Due to not being able to take on his usual employee, he accepted a job droving cattle. While employed on the cattle run, it is believed Lee purchased a quantity of strychnine & in compliance with regulations, signed his name in the Poison Book.

  Lee was said to have been seen skulking around the small town of Rhynie, the night of his families death. Having returned only a couple of days earlier from the cattle droving job he'd picked up.

 In his testimony to the Police, Lee stated that he had returned home from the cattle run to find his family writhing in agony on their beds. He jumped onto his bicycle and rode 300 meters to awaken the mounted constable and a doctor in the Rhynie Hotel. 

  Lee rode back to his home, and was just in time to see one his little boys drawing his last breath, He then witnessed the death of his daughter, writhing in total agony as the strychnine poison engulfed her body and stopped her heart.

On Easter Sunday, Detectives Nation and Goldsworthy of Adelaide, arrived in Rhynie to conduct a full investigation of the deaths of the Lee family. They concluded that Alexander was the culprit and arrested him on suspicion of murder. 

  Alexander Lee offered one of the weakest explanations for the death of his family, stating that he thought the family had died after drinking milk tainted with mouse poison. The mouse poison in his explanation, had fallen from a high shelf into the milk container, and the family, who were in the custom of having a glass of milk before sleep, all drank from the same bottle.

The inquest and trial did not take long and it was found that Alexander Newland Leewas guilty of the crime of murder.

  Lee, in his final hours, ate a hearty breakfast, and was comforted spiritually by Rev. W.H. Hanton, before being led to the gallows. Even in his final hours he would not make a confession to the crimes, and the details of what happened died with him at 8 am that morning, on the noose.

Murial and Alexander’s two surviving children, the twin girls were fostered by a local family in Rhynie, where they were raised lovingly. They took on their foster parents surnames and lived locally for many years.

Upon burial of Muriel and her children, Murial Lee's parents buried their daughter and grandchildren under her maiden name, in protest of their murder by Lee.

The Rhynie Tragedy: Part One

The Rhynie Tragedy Part One

On April 1st, 1920, tragedy struck the small country town of Rhynie, a little hamlet not far from Riverton in the States Mid-North. The bodies of Mrs Muriel Lee and three of her five children, aged three, five and six years old respectively, were found dead, lying in their beds in their country home, murdered by husband and father, Alexander Lee.

The Argus (Melbourne, Vic.  1848 - 1957), Monday 5 April 1920, page 6

  Alexander had come home a couple of days prior, after being away for a lengthy time shearing sheep at homesteads around the State.
 He had returned home drunk one night and accused his wife of a number of petty things, but had wound himself up, and accused her of having a series of “fancy” men in the house in his absence.

  The night before the murder, Charles Glen, Mrs Lee's brother had visited the house. Alexander was laying on the sofa, smoking a pipe. Glen went to leave saying “I will get away now, as I want to get a pint of beer before 6”, after which Lee said, “A Pint would do me good.”
  Mrs Lee said to her brother “Don't talk to me about beer, I had enough of it last night. He came home drunk and accused me of all sorts of things, and he said I had men in the house when he was away."

  Lee then called his daughter, Amelia into the room and stated "I will keep you and little Alice, and I hope to God the rest of the ------- are dead by the morning." Lee then looked at his wife and said, “You must have riled me to say a thing like that!"

  This was not the first time Alexander Lee had been harsh to his wife. The married couple also had twins babies which at the time of the murders were in a hospital in Adelaide, as they had been unwell with influenza.
 Emily Mellery, a young nurse looking after the young twins, who was later called upon as a witness, reported she had been staying with the Lee family. One evening, Mr Lee arrived home in a bad state of intoxication and began to call his wife all manner of names and curses.

  After a while Lee began to make accusations about the fatherhood of his twins, "I am not responsible for your condition." Lee said, to which his wife answered, "Don't say that to me, Alex You know I don't do that." 

 

Advocate (Burnie, Tas.  1890 - 1954),
 Wednesday 9 June 1920, page 3

  Lee, who had two bottles of brandy and a bottle of wine with him from which he was drinking heavily, then forced his wife to drink several glasses of brandy. After each drink she was sick.
  The following afternoon Mrs Lee was removed to the Riverton Maternity Hospital, and was away from home for about three weeks. On the day she reached home, the twins began to cry, and Lee remarked to his wife, "Chuck the little ----- outside they don't belong to me."   Mrs Lee replied, "Oh, Alex don't say that to me. God put them into the world for something, and we must look after them." Alex replied, "I Wasn't Home, I wasn't home when the twins arrived, I was away shearing. I think your memory has failed you considerably."

There was much speculation that Alexander Lee thought his brother, Leonard, may have been the father of the twin. This, he speculated because, on a day in March, Leonard had been standing at the front gate of the family home when Alexander had returned from work. Alexander said unto him “Hello you F$#@er!” and then had continued to berate his wife inside the home saying “why don't you keep your fancy man in here?”

  Alexander Lee obviously had trust issues and a drinking problem, but also had murder on his mind – next week on The Haunts of Adelaide, we take a closer look at the murders, trial and hanging of Alexander Lee


© 2014 Allen Tiller