The executions - Maungatapu murders

The executions, 5 October 1866

Members of the Nelson Volunteers surrounded the gaol on the morning of the execution to ensure 'good order was maintained' by the public. Burgess declared that 'he had no more fear of death than he had of going to a wedding,' before bounding up the scaffold steps. He selected the central noose and kissed it as 'a prelude to heaven'. Kelly had to be carried up. Levy calmly protested his innocence. The hangman pulled the lever shortly before 8.30am and a black flag was raised to indicate that the executions had been carried out.

The unfortunate Kelly did not die instantly. The hangman had to jump to the ground and swing on Kelly's legs until his 'struggles ceased'. After 30 minutes — the time required by law — the bodies were taken down and a coroner's examination was carried out. Two doctors declared the cause of death to be strangulation and not dislocation of the spine. Moulds for casts of the three heads were taken — according to a newspaper report, 'the faces of Burgess and Levy bore a placid expression, that of Kelly was disturbed a little, as he was speaking when the drop fell'. The bodies were then buried in the prison yard.