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__Ned Kelly__

Some remains that were found at the old Pentridge Prison site in Melbourne were rumored to be those of Ned Kelly's. They were never looked at until now. His remainders were mixed among those of 33 other inmates.The skull was stolen from a glass display in the Old Melbourne Gaol in 1978, this made some people criticize the fact that this may not be the skull of Ned Kelly. "To think a group of scientists could identify the body of a man who was executed more than 130 years ago, moved and buried in a haphazard fashion among 33 other prisoners, most of whom are not identified, is amazing," said Attorney-General Robert Clark. The whole investigation was carried of by the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine, and collaborated with the forensic DNA laboratory EAAF in Argentina. The project included input from historians, pathologists, anthropologists, odontologists, radiologists , and ballistics and DNA experts. The investigation was launched in November 2009 when West Australian farmer Tom Baxter handed a skull to the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine that he claimed was Kelly's. Through a series of CT scans, X-rays, pathology, odontology and anthropology tests plus extensive historical research and DNA analysis, the team was able to identify the remains. Ned Kelly was identified by the VIFM (The Victorian Institute for Forensic Medicine). Various methods were used, but mainly DNA from his great, great nephew Leigh Oliver, and through historical records that support the injuries that the pathologists found on his body. Comparing DNA is very hard and not as easy as it looks on T.V. There are many different types of DNA, and its always difficult to find out if you're related to someone who was alive along time ago. The DNA profile that was obtained from Leigh Oliver is called mitochondrial DNA ( mitDNA ) profile. mitDNA is passed through a maternal line (a mother will pass on her mitDNA to her children, and daughter will pass their DNA to their children, sons will not). If Leigh had any children the forensic scientists would not be able to get the same profile from them. People who are separated by many years may still share the same DNA lineage. Only relatives who can be traced to Ned Kelly's mother Ellen Kelly would have the same mitDNA as the sample obtained from his skull and the other skeletal remains.

__Colin Campbell Ross__

Colin Campbell Ross was a saloon owner who was convicted hanged for the rape and murder of Alma Trischke. In 1993 a man named Kevin Morgan (a former school-teacher) became very interested in the Ross case. He began to research the events thatunfolded that day. Firstly he read the notes in the diary that Ross kept. In it it said that the witnesses were dodgy and the information in court was fake. Morgan also looked at interview records and court transcripts, what he discovered was astounding. The testimony of six reliable witnesses who placed Ross in his saloon at 3pm on the day of the murder were never called to court. Furthermore, a cab driver, Joseph Graham, had heard screams coming from a building in Collins Street at 3.00pm at the exact time of the murder and the time that Ross was in his saloon. His interview was disregarded by the police, he was meant to be called to give evidence but he was never called. Graham even attempted to have his story told through a solicitor, but he was not permitted to present his version of events. A whole two years after Kevin began his investigation Kevin found a file in the Office of the Public Prosecutions, which contained original hair samples. He than began a legal fight to submit the hair sample for DNA testing to the VIFM (Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine). He final won the right to do so in 1998. Dr. Bentley Atchison was the leader of the investigation. He found that the hairs came from different people therefor disproving the most damming piece of evidence. On the 23rd of October 2006 the Victorian Attorney-General Rob Hulls wrote to the Chief of Justice (Marilyn Warren) asking her to consider a plea of mercy for Ross. The pardon was granted on the 27th of May 2008. This was the first posthumous pardon in the history of Victoria.

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