John Trevor Kelly (1914 – 24 August 1939) was an Australian convicted murderer. He had a history of criminal behaviour in the Lismore district from about 1935, mainly involving cheque fraud (often associated with alcohol consumption). In September 1937, Kelly was convicted of the abduction of a young girl, whom he had planned to molest, and served a sentence of about a year in a prison farm. In early February 1939, he was working as a farmhand at 'Hillcrest' farm near Tenterfield, where he brutally murdered Marjorie Constance Sommerlad, the sister of the farm's owner. Kelly was executed for the crime at Long Bay Penitentiary in August 1939. He was the last person to be judicially executed in the state of New South Wales.
Early years
John Trevor Kelly was born in 1914 at Tenterfield, a regional township in north-east New South Wales (close to the border with Queensland). He was the son and youngest child of Michael Kelly and Johanna (née Larracy).New South Wales birth registration: John T. Kelly; district: Tenterfield; reg. no.: 24010/1914. John had an older sister, Maureen, born in June 1910 in Queensland.Family records, Ancestry.com. Soon after John's birth, the Kelly family moved to Lismore.Young Lismore Man Gaoled, Northern Star (Lismore), 24 September 1937, page 11. The family lived at 71 Union-street in South Lismore, and from the early 1920s, John's father, M. A. ('Mick') Kelly, worked as a livestock agent for Barnes' Bacon Co. (based at Homebush Bay in Sydney).Swine-Breeding, The Farmer and Settler (Sydney), 7 October 1921, page 9; Section III. - Pigs, Northern Star (Lismore), 4 October 1922, page 7; Lost, strayed, or taken..., Northern Star, 30 November 1922, page 1.
Kelly's older sister Maureen died at her parents' residence in Union-street, Lismore, on 3 March 1927, aged 17 years.Miss M. E. Kelly, Northern Star (Lismore), 10 March 1927, page 4.
A respectable young man
John Trevor ('Jack') Kelly worked as a motor mechanic. In 1934, when he was aged about 20, Kelly was injured in a motor vehicle accident.
In the early evening of 26 December 1934, Kelly was stopped by the police for driving a motor car without lights at Coraki, a small township near Lismore. Kelly told the policeman the headlights need to be fixed; he gave his name as 'John Stewart' and said his driver's license "was at home". After being dealt with by the police, Kelly got into the car, switched on the headlights and drove away. Subsequent enquiries revealed the driver's actual name was John Trevor Kelly. At the Coraki Police Court in February 1935, Kelly did not appear but sent a letter pleading guilty of the charges of driving without lights and giving a false name; he was fined two pounds (with eight shillings costs) for each offence.Traffic Breaches, Northern Star (Lismore), 18 February 1935, page 4; Police Court, Richmond River Herald and Northern Districts Advertiser, 19 February 1935, page 4.
At about ten minutes after ten o'clock at night on 19 January 1935, Kelly went to the Royal Hotel in Lismore and asked the licensee, Charles Spillane, for a drink. As it was after hours and Kelly was known to be a local, Spillane refused to serve him. While the publican was distracted, Kelly opened the bar door and took 14 shillings off the ledge of the till. He was seen and Spillane detained the young man and called the police. Two days later, Kelly faced the Police Magistrate. In outlining the details of the case, Constable Hunt commented that Kelly "was a respectable young man". He was fined one pound (in default two days' imprisonment) for being on licensed premises after hours and three pounds on the charge of stealing the money (in default six days' imprisonment). In view of Kelly's previous good character, the Police Magistrate allowed him a month to pay the fines.Theft in Bar, Northern Star (Lismore), 23 January 1935, page 7.
Criminal record
Police evidence at Kelly's trial in September 1937 stated that prior to 1935, Kelly "was regarded as a respectable lad, but since then he had been going downhill". The young man was "addicted to drink and associated with young men of the larrikin type". His parents were regarded as highly respected members of the Lismore community "and had done everything in their power to put him on the right road".
On 22 February 1936, Kelly was stopped by the police while driving a motor lorry in Lismore. When asked for his license, he said it had expired in November and he had misplaced the renewal notice "and did not bother about it". He was fined one pound (with eight shillings costs).Unlicensed Driver, Northern Star (Lismore), 28 April 1936, page 12.
Shortly after midnight on 16 May 1936, Kelly was stopped by the Lismore police and was found to be under the influence of alcohol. A leather overcoat was found in the car which had been reported as stolen from the Federalette hall earlier in the evening. A day or so later, Kelly stole a blank cheque from a cheque book belonging to the partnership of Black & Black, garage proprietors in Lismore. On May 18, he falsely claimed to Mervyn Jones, a barman at the Hotel Gollan, that the cheque was a genuine order for £20 10s, purporting to be signed by 'J. Black'.Four Charges, Northern Star (Lismore), 26 May 1936, page 9.
On 21 May 1936, Kelly appeared before the Lismore Police Court, charged with fraudulently passing the cheque three days earlier and obtaining drinks to the value of five shillings and £20.5s in cash. He was remanded to a later date to face charges from May 16, with bail set at £20 (with sureties of a like amount).Man Remanded, Northern Star (Lismore), 22 May 1936, page 8. The four charges were dealt with on May 25. Kelly pleaded guilty to each charge. His solicitor, Thomas Rummery, said that his client's "lapse was due to unemployment". His "inability to obtain work had caused fits of despondency, during which he drank heavily". Rummery claimed "it was only while under the influence of liquor that he was guilty of dishonesty". During the hearing Mr. Starkey, a local contractor, offered to give Kelly permanent employment. The Police Magistrate, Henry Hawkins, said that "he did not think the defendant was worthy of much consideration, but that he did not feel disposed to put the gaol brand on him at present". He imposed fines amounting to £11 15s and bound Kelly to a bond of £40 (with sureties of a like amount) to be of good behaviour for two years (in default, imprisonment for three months). Hawkins also strongly advised Kelly to undertake not to drink liquor.
On 22 February 1937, Kelly fraudulently passed a cheque to a storekeeper in Lismore, obtaining cigarettes and cash. Soon afterwards, he was arrested in Coolangatta, supposedly "heading for North Queensland".False Pretences charge, Tweed Daily (Murwillumbah), 2 March 1937, page 4. After appearing in the Coolangatta Police Court, Kelly was returned to Lismore. On March 8, he again faced Police Magistrate Hawkins in the Lismore Police Court, where it was revealed that in recent months Kelly had "passed several valueless cheques in the district" which his father had "made good" for his son "to avoid trouble". Hawkins reminded Kelly: "Last time you were here I gave you an opportunity to show that you had manhood enough to stick to your father and behave yourself for two years". The Police Magistrate told him "you have made a very fine start towards a career of crime", before sentencing the young man to fourteen days' imprisonment with hard labour, to be served at Lismore.Sentence Imposed, Northern Star (Lismore), 9 March 1937, page 11.
At the Lismore Quarter Sessions in April 1937, Kelly was charged with abduction, accused of having "fraudulently allured a girl, aged 14 years and five months, from out of the possession of and against the will of her mother, with intent to commit a serious offence". He was also charged with carnal knowledge of the girl. Kelly was remanded on bail of £80 to stand trial at the next sitting of the court.Serious Charge: Lismore Man Before Court, Daily Examiner (Grafton), 23 March 1937, page 4; Lismore Quarter Sessions, The Courier-Mail (Brisbane), 14 April 1937, page 17.Criminal Depositions (Deposition Books) Index 1849-1949 - Series: NRS 849; Item No: 17; Page No: 91; Entries No: 175-176, Museums of History New South Wales website; accessed 8 February 2023. At the following Quarter Sessions in Lismore in August 1937, Kelly failed to appear to answer the charges. A warrant was issued for his arrest.Manager Sent to Gaol: Lismore Quarter Sessions, The Courier-Mail (Brisbane), 18 August 1937, page 13. Kelly subsequently appeared before Judge Sheridan and was remanded without bail to answer the charges at the Lismore sittings of the Supreme Court in September.Supreme Court, Northern Star (Lismore), 15 September 1937, page 6.
On 23 September 1937, Kelly was found guilty of abduction and not guilty of the second charge of carnal knowledge.Guilty of Abduction, The Labor Daily (Sydney), 23 September 1937, page 10. Kelly's defence counsel claimed that his client's "irresponsible tendencies" had only developed after his motor accident in 1934 and "it might possibly benefit him if he were placed under medical observation". The following day, a sentence of 18 months' imprisonment was imposed on Kelly by Justice Halse Rogers. The judge recommended that he serve the sentence on a prison farm and that the prisoner "be placed under medical observation to ascertain if the injuries he sustained in a motor accident some time ago had had any permanent mental effect".Abduction Charge, Daily Examiner (Grafton), 24 September 1937, page 4.
Jack Kelly's mother had begun to develop mental problems. Prior to 1939, she was admitted to the Broughton Hall Psychiatric Clinic at Callan Park in Sydney's Inner West, "definitely out of her mind".Tenterfield Murder, Glenn Innes Examiner, 4 May 1939, page 6.
Murder
During his incarceration, towards the end of 1937, Kelly received treatment at Long Bay Penitentiary in Sydney for a "venereal disorder".
Kelly was released from the prison farm in November 1938. He worked for Stanley Huckerby of Tenterfield from 29 December 1938 until 9 January 1939.Kelly Committed for Trial, Northern Star (Lismore), 9 March 1939, page 7. Soon afterwards, 'Jack' Kelly was employed by Eric Sommerlad to work on 'Hillcrest' farm, a dairy and orchard farm four-and-a-half miles (7.2 km) from Tenterfield on the Warwick Road. It was later reported that Eric considered Kelly to be "a good worker on the farm, and easy to get on with". During his employment at 'Hillcrest', Kelly had his meals at the house and slept on the verandah.Woman Tells of Finding Sister's Body, Northern Star (Lismore), 8 March 1939, page 7.
On Saturday morning, 4 February 1939, Miss Dulcie Sommerlad discovered the body of her 35-year-old sister, Marjorie Constance Sommerlad (known to the family as 'Connie'), at her home at 'Hillcrest'. Miss Sommerlad's body, dressed in her night attire, was lying in the hallway near the entrance to her bedroom, "her head fearfully battered". Dulcie Sommerlad then discovered her brother Eric unconscious in his bed on the verandah; he was bleeding from wounds in his head and neck, including "a deep gash in the back of his head".Tenterfield Tragedy. Inverell Times, 6 February 1939, page 4.