Not Guilty

by Christine Gardner

In 1910 in Bendigo, three children were found dead in their home, brutally murdered with an axe and a knife.Their mother, Camellia McCluskey, was a de facto wife at a time when such a position was not socially acceptable. Her partner, George, was considerably older than her. The two lived together happily for a few years before the relationship deteriorated, putting in place a chain of events that finally resulted in the slaying of Dorothy, Eric and Ida.'Not Guilty' tells the story of those events, and the court proceedings that followed them. A storm of newspaper coverage surrounded Camellia as the Australian media struggled to understand the motivations that led her down the path she took.This story is based on Camellia's letters, court records, newspaper coverage, and other historical documents.