McLeod’s Bookshop lane - murder scene

Statham House service lane

In July 1944, a US Army court martial sentenced Private Abelardo Fernandez to death for the murder of Brisbane woman Doris May Roberts. This was the first death penalty handed down by a court in Queensland in 31 years. As the death penalty had been abolished in Queensland, the state government would not permit the execution to take place in Queensland.

The US Army had to fly Fernandez to Papua for the death sentence to be carried out. Fernandez was hung on 14 November 1944 for the crime that he had committed in wartime Brisbane.

Place information

Location

109 Elizabeth Street

Brisbane, QLD 4000

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Place type

Incident

History

Apart from being the Headquarters of the General Douglas MacArthur’s South West Pacific Area (SWPA) Command, Brisbane was also a major rest and recuperation centre for US and Australian troops on leave.

Apart from the more innocent entertainment offered by the Red Cross, YMCA or servicemen’s canteens, some troops sought carnal pleasures and prostitution grew in Brisbane. Most of the brothels could be found in the City or across the river in South Brisbane. Such was the shortage of prostitutes in Brisbane during the war that, in September 1942, a trainload of these women was brought from Sydney to reinforce Brisbane’s...

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