The Brown Out Murders

In May 1942, the murder of three Melbourne women by an American soldier shocked the country, at the height of the Second World War. The crimes were dubbed the Brown-Out Murders, because they were committed when Melbourne was in the grip of strict regulations that required all windows to be covered, and street and car lights dimmed. Although there was enough evidence to suggest that the murderer, 24-year-old Private Edward Joseph Leonski, was insane, and should never have stood trial, the US Military took charge of the case and dealt with it expediently. For the first and only time in Australian criminal history, a military tribunal was conducted by a foreign power on Australian soil. Leonski was never charged under Australian law for the offences he committed against Australian citizens, and was executed at Melbourne’s Pentridge Prison in November 1942.