Ten
years ago on this date, 29 November 2003, a convicted rapist and murderer,
Leonard Keith Lawson died in his cell at the Grafton
Correctional Centre in New South Wales, Australia. I will post information
about him from Wikipedia and Murderpedia and some quotes from Paul B. Kidd’s
book, before giving my comments and thoughts. His case was very similar to
Barry Gordon Hadlow.
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Convicted murderer Leonard Lawson
arrested and arraigned, Central Police Court, Sydney (Photo by Jack Mulligan)
(PHOTO SOURCE: http://murderpedia.org/male.L/l/lawson-leonard-keith.htm)
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INTERNET
SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Len_Lawson
Leonard Keith Lawson (1927 - 29 November 2003), better known as Len Lawson
or Lennie Lawson, was a bestselling Australian comic book creator,
successful commercial artist and photographer, and a convicted rapist and
murderer.
Lawson
first came to prominence as the creator of The Lone Avenger, an
Australian comic book hero, whose first appearance was in the second issue of Action
Comics in 1946, running for thirteen years, eventually taking over the
entire comic and selling up to 70,000 copies. Lawson also created another
masked Western vigilante hero The Hooded Rider, as well as Diana,
Queen of the Apes and Peter Fury.
In
1954, however, Lawson kidnapped, assaulted and raped five models. He was
sentenced to death but had his sentence commuted to 14 years in prison. After
his release in 1961, he raped and killed another model on 7 November 1962 and
on the next day, took several hostages at the Sydney Church of England Girls'
Grammar School, killing a 15-year old girl in the ensuing siege. Sentenced to
life imprisonment, Lawson died in prison in November 2003.
INTERNET
SOURCE: http://murderpedia.org/male.L/l/lawson-leonard-keith.htm
Classification: Murderer
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Characteristics: Convicted rapist - Siege at a
private girls’ school
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Number of victims: 2
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Date of murders: November 7-8, 1961
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Date of arrest: November 8, 1961
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Date of birth: August 16, 1927
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Victims profile: Jane Bower, 16 / Wendy Sue
Luscombe, 15
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Method of murder: Stabbing with knife / Shooting
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Location: Sydney, New South Wales,
Australia
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Status: Sentenced to death on 25 June 1954.
Commuted to 14 years imprisonment. Paroled in May 1961. Sentenced to life in
prison, 1962. Died in prison on November 29, 2003
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An
artist, Lawson was convicted of the rape of two teenage girls in 1952.
Originally sentenced to death it was later commuted to life imprisonment.
He
was released on parole in 1961, whereupon he stabbed a 16 year-old girl and the
next day strangled a 15 year-old girl in Sydney.
Again
sentenced to life imprisonment for the murders, he is now eligible to apply to
the Supreme Court for a fixed sentence. While in prison he tried to kill
another female in 1972.
Leonard Keith Lawson
Leonard
Keith Lawson, a convicted rapist and murderer, died on Nov. 29, 2003, in his
cell at the Grafton Correctional Centre in New South Wales. Authorities say he
probably suffered a heart attack. He was 76.
Lawson
worked as a successful commercial artist and photographer before he became a
violent criminal. In 1954, he kidnapped five models, took them into the Terrey
Hills bush in north Sydney and raped two of them at gunpoint; he also sexually
assaulted the others. Originally sentenced to be executed, Lawson received a
14-year prison sentence after the death penalty was commuted. When he was
released, Lawson used his artistic background to lure new victims.
On
Nov. 7, 1961, while painting a portrait of 16-year-old Jane Bower, Lawson tied
her up, sexually assaulted her then stabbed her to death. The next day, he
carried a gun into the Sydney Church of England Girls' Grammar School and took
several students hostage. Fifteen-year-old Wendy Sue Luscombe, who was sitting
in the chapel pews, was shot and killed during the siege. This time, Lawson
received a life sentence.
Imprisonment
didn't curb Lawson's violent tendencies. Ten years into his second
incarceration, a group of dancers gave a concert for the inmates at his prison.
At the end of the performance, Lawson jumped on stage and threatened to kill
one of the dancers, Sharon Hamilton, with a knife. Although Hamilton was
released unharmed, she committed suicide six years after the attack.
One
of the oldest prisoners in Australia, Lawson spent 48 years in prison, and has
been behind bars continuously since 1962. Several of his paintings currently
hang at the prison where he died.
Leonard Keith Lawson (b. 16 August 1927), creator of The Lone Avenger
and The Hooded Rider comic books, drove five female models on a photo
shoot to bushland in the Terrey Hills area on 7 May 1954. After binding and
gagging them at gunpoint, he raped three of them, and indecently assaulted the
other two women.
He
was apprehended by police and was initially sentenced to death on 25 June 1954,
but this was later commuted to 14 years imprisonment. A model prisoner, Lawson
was paroled in May 1961 after just serving seven years.
On
6 November 1961, he raped and murdered a teenage girl, Jane Bower, and was
apprehended by police the following day during a siege at a private girls’
school where, while struggling with a teacher, Lawson’s gun went off, killing a
student, Wendy Luscombe. Lawson was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1962 and
died at the Grafton Correctional Centre on 29 November 2003.
Killer Lawson dies after 50 years in jail
By Candace Sutton - The Sun-Herald
November 30, 2003
One of NSW's most notorious criminals, Leonard
Keith Lawson, 76, died in Grafton jail yesterday after being imprisoned for the
better part of 50 years.
Lennie Lawson, as he was known, became a successful
commercial artist and photographer before committing multiple rape and murder.
In his teens, he created a highly popular comic
book character, The Lone Avenger, a masked lawman who saved women from
kidnappers and brought murderers to task.
In 1954, at the age of 26, he took five June
Dally-Watkins photographic models into the Terrey Hills bush in north Sydney
and, at gunpoint, raped two and sexually assaulted the others.
He was condemned to death, but his sentence was
commuted to 14 years' jail and he was released after serving only half the
term.
On November 7, 1962, while painting a portrait of
16-year-old Manly girl, Jane Bower, in his flat at Collaroy, Lawson bound her
arms, sexually assaulted her and stabbed her to death. The next day, he burst
into the chapel of the Sydney Church of England Girls' Grammar School at Moss
Vale, taking schoolgirls hostage.
(A few weeks earlier he had dined with the SCEGGS
pupils and staff as an honoured "author", after convincing the headmistress
he was researching a novel set in a girls' school.)
In the siege, a struggle ensued and his gun
discharged, killing 15-year-old Wendy Sue Luscombe, who was sitting in the
pews.
Lawson was sentenced to life imprisonment.
On December 15, 1972, a group of dancers arrived at
Parramatta jail to give a concert for the inmates.
Lawson, on privileges, was in the audience. At the
end of the performance, he whipped out a knife and jumped to the stage, holding
the blade to the throat of dancer Sharon Hamilton in what prison warders
believe was an escape attempt.
Hamilton later sought extensive psychiatric
treatment and became a patient at the now notorious Chelmsford Hospital. Six
years after the attack, Hamilton committed suicide.
Residing in Grafton jail, Lawson applied for day
leave and, in 1994, for a determinant sentence.
He told a reporter that he believed he deserved
some freedom and he wasn't a threat, although "the rhythms of the city and
its women" got to him.
His application was rejected.
Lawson continued his painting throughout his life
in jail, producing many canvases which hang in Grafton.
COMMENTS:
In
Paul B. Kidd’s book, ‘Never to be released’, Lenny Keith Lawson won his parole
for the two rapes he committed not only because of just escaping the death
sentence, but also because he was a model prisoner, good artist and a devout
Roman Catholic. Just like Barry Hadlow, Lenny played Christian to get out of
prison.
Lenny’s
case is a great embarrassment to Sister Helen Prejean who always insists that
murderers should be allowed to keep their lives. I suggest anybody showing to
her and see how she will freak out for sure! Three innocent lives were lost and
Sister Helen Prejean will keep silent for sure!
Since
Lenny died in prison already, Thank God that no one can free him or write any
letters to him. I encourage people to destroy his artworks, such a disgrace to
buy artwork from a rapist murderer. This is a perfect example of how flawed
restorative Justice is.
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