Murder of Evelyn Mary Maughan

Mug Shot of Fredrick Thompson

On the morning of 8 July 1945, 8-year-old Evelyn Maughan left her home On Goulburn Street Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. She was walking alone was supposed to go to church like she did most Sundays. She never was seen again after this. Her family worried reported the girl missing and searches for the girl was done, but she wasn't found until three months later.

On 5 October by  Edmund Charles Mead at the Queensborough Cemetery Sandy Bay. He was looking for his father's grave when he found Evelyn's body covered with sticks. He automatically went to the nearest public phone box and called the police. Eveleyn's uncle Jack was sent to identify the body, and it was her.


Evelyn had been bound and fully clothed. It wasn't for sure what her cause of death was or if she had been sexually assaulted. Strips of a blanket were found wrapped around the girl, and her hands had been tied, a khaki handkerchief was tightly tied around the girl's neck and is believed to be what killed her.

Mrs. Dorothy Adele Lewis claimed to have been looking out her window on July 8. She said she saw a young man cross Collins-Street with a bath on his shoulder with what looked like a child covered with a blanket inside. A Few minutes later he returned walking in a hurry and it appeared that a wooden toy was in the bath. He was later identified to be Fredrick Thompson.

A few days after Evelyn's body was discovered 31-year-old Fredrick Thompson was arrested and charged with her murder. In his home, they found strips of blanket similar to what tied Evelyn up. Fredrick's wife also suspected him asking him and his friend if they had heard of the missing girl. Another woman saw Fredrick at the cemetery gate that Evelyn was found in.

Fredrick maintained his innocence throughout the trial and never seemed upset during it. It took less than two hours to get a guilty verdict. He was hanged at 6 a.m. on 14 Feb. 1946 and was the last man executed in Tasmania. It's never been revealed what had happened to Evelyn and some suspected that Fredrick didn't kill the girl on his own and had an accomplice.

SOURCES:
Find a Grave (Evelyn Mary Maughan)
Find A Grave (Fredrick Henry Thompson)
ABC
The Mercury
The Age (08 October 1945)
The Age (12 December 1945)
The Age (18 December 1945)