Michael Barry

Michael Barry (10 September 1843 – 2 June 1890) was a convicted Australian murderer.

Barry was found guilty of murdering his wife, Mary Barry (née McNertney), in Rockhampton, Queensland on 26 February 1890.

He was sentenced to death

Murder The murder took place at the couple's family home in a semi-private lane, off West Street between Archer and Cambridge Streets in the suburb now known as The Range.

It was alleged Barry had begun his relentless, drunken attack on his wife during a prolonged argument regarding a missing purse the afternoon prior to the murder, in which he dragged her by the hair around the house. The murder was witnessed by one of their four children, who were all subsequently sent to Meteor Park Orphanage near Stanwell, west of Rockhampton to live.

After murdering his wife, he gave a full confession to police.

Barry was committed for a trial commencing on 23 April 1890.

Trial Barry's trial began at the Rockhampton Supreme Court on 23 April 1890 before Justice Charles Mein. Barry was represented by Robert Lyons. Barry pleaded not guilty.

Following his sentence, a petition bearing 1,427 signatures along with the 12 men who served on the jury, was presented to the Executive Council urging clemency and a commutation of Barry's death sentence. The Executive Council refused and stated that the course of the law should not be interfered with.

The day before he was hanged, a committee was formed to correspond with William Pattison in Brisbane, in an eleventh-hour bid to spare Barry from the death penalty, citing a doctor's belief that Barry was insane when he committed the murder. Pattison said that while the premier Boyd Dunlop Morehead would arrange a meeting to discuss the case, it wasn't likely the previous decision would be altered.

Execution Michael Barry was hanged at 8am on 2 June 1890 at the Rockhampton Gaol.

It was the only one to take place at the second Rockhampton gaol in Wandal, which had replaced the original gaol in 1884. The gaol where Barry's execution took place was demolished in 1948, when it was decided the site would be redeveloped for the proposed Eventide Nursing Home.

His execution was also the last in regional Queensland.

Attempts at sparing Barry from the death penalty prompted discussion about capital punishment in the press.

Burial site Both Michael Barry and the woman he murdered, Mary Barry are buried in the South Rockhampton Cemetery.

Mary Barry's funeral was held the day after her murder, when a procession departed her brother-in-law's residence at 10am and arrived at the South Rockhampton Cemetery a short time later where she was buried on 27 February 1890.