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After escaping, she was sent between mental hospitals and reformatories, until her biological father contacted her, inviting her to live with him in
Brisbane. She later found out he was an alcoholic too and he pressured her into having sex with him. Soon after she ran away and was put into a mental
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On the day of the murder, Brenda was packing her belongings to leave. Peter began taunting her and yelling. In her book, she states her memory of the incident is blurred, and only remembering aiming the gun at him and firing. She states she does not know what was on her mind nor why she did it and
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In August 1984, she was found guilty of wilful murder and was sentenced to death by
Justice Pidgeon. On being sentenced to hang she recalls "(I felt)... Numb, detached. I felt nothing. I believe I am not the only person to have had that experience. Many people thought
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After the state of
Western Australia abolished the death penalty Hodge's sentence was commuted to life in prison. She recalls "It didn't mean anything to me at the time; I still had this vague idea my life was already over, almost as though I was already dead..."
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in 1951 to Beryl
Nanette MacKenzie. Her childhood was unhappy. She was frequently the victim of beatings by her alcoholic mother. Her brother Danny constantly bullied her and she grew up with many of her mother's partners. Brenda says she was
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After numerous appeals, she was paroled on 20 October 1995. She was contacted by her half-sisters in 2003 for the first time ever, not knowing she had any more family. She still keeps in close contact with them to this day.
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her, telling her that her mother had allowed him to have sex with her in exchange for alcohol money. After being sent to court, she was charged with being a 'neglected child' and placed into a reformatory in
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250:. Brenda got a job, but her mother began spending most of the money on alcohol. Brenda took a job working on a farm, where she was happy at first, but left due to a dispute with the owner.
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that there are moments of blackness in her memory. After being shot, Peter retreated to the shed, where Brenda followed, shooting him twice more, killing him.
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when she was as young as four, by a babysitter who would continue to sexually abuse her for nine more years. As a child she began skipping school.
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trade apprenticeship in cooking. Becoming a model prisoner, she became friendly with a parish priest and converted to
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hospital. She was eventually released into a charity worker's care. She started working in various places throughout
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Shortly after Hodge's sentence, Western
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One night her mother sent her off with one of her male friends to the pub. After taking her to a park, he
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her de facto partner in 1984 and was sentenced to death. Her sentence was commuted to
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WALK ON: The remarkable true story of the last person sentenced to death in
Australia
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WALK ON: The remarkable true story of the last person sentenced to death in
Australia
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WALK ON: The remarkable true story of the last person sentenced to death in
Australia
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In 1965, her mother left her stepfather and brother, Edd, and took her to live in
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489:"New South Wales Council of Civil Liberites — Death Penalty in Australia"
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She became involved with a police officer, Peter
Rafferty, while working in
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144:(born 1951) is an Australian who is notable as the last person to be
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was guilty simply because she 'showed no emotion' at her trial".
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from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially
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in 2005 talking about her life for the first time in public.
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where she remained until 1988, when she was transferred to
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Prisoners sentenced to death by
Australian jurisdictions
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Australian people convicted of murdering police officers
375:police station where she confessed to the crime.
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590:People convicted of murder by Western Australia
327:. Unsourced material may be challenged and
202:. Unsourced material may be challenged and
58:about living persons that is unsourced or
347:Learn how and when to remove this message
222:Learn how and when to remove this message
129:Learn how and when to remove this message
234:Brenda was born Dorothy Brenda White in
570:Australian prisoners sentenced to death
426:was published in 2005. She appeared on
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363:After the incident, she stopped at a
325:adding citations to reliable sources
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200:adding citations to reliable sources
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462:Australian Broadcasting Corporation
457:"ABC — Enough Rope Episode 20"
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585:20th-century Australian criminals
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429:Enough Rope with Andrew Denton
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560:Converts to Roman Catholicism
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160:and she was paroled in 1995.
16:Australian convicted murderer
550:People from Victoria (state)
420:Geraldton, Western Australia
36:biography of a living person
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575:Australian female murderers
63:must be removed immediately
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565:Crime in Western Australia
555:Australian Roman Catholics
152:. She was found guilty of
401:Greenough Regional Prison
600:Women sentenced to death
418:She currently lives in
520:Hodge, Brenda (2005).
491:. 2009. Archived from
465:. 2005. Archived from
50:Please help by adding
422:. Her autobiography,
321:improve this section
196:improve this section
56:Contentious material
469:on 10 November 2011
411:while imprisoned.
146:sentenced to death
409:Roman Catholicism
386:Lindy Chamberlain
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276:Western Australia
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540:1951 births
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379:Sentencing
373:Kalgoorlie
289:The murder
268:Queensland
164:Early life
89:newspapers
499:21 August
473:21 August
308:does not
285:in 1983.
260:Melbourne
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154:murdering
150:Australia
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236:Victoria
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283:Leonora
248:Carlton
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