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Experts 'find Ned Kelly's grave' | Experts 'find Ned Kelly's grave' |
(about 2 hours later) | |
Scientists in Australia believe they have found the grave of 19th Century outlaw and national icon Ned Kelly. | Scientists in Australia believe they have found the grave of 19th Century outlaw and national icon Ned Kelly. |
His remains are thought to be among those of executed prisoners found on the site of an abandoned prison in the southern city of Melbourne. | His remains are thought to be among those of executed prisoners found on the site of an abandoned prison in the southern city of Melbourne. |
Kelly was a bank robber who was hanged in 1880 for murdering three policemen. | Kelly was a bank robber who was hanged in 1880 for murdering three policemen. |
After evading arrest for several years, he used home-made armour in a final shoot-out with police; his exploits have been the subject of several films. | After evading arrest for several years, he used home-made armour in a final shoot-out with police; his exploits have been the subject of several films. |
The scene of his last stand has also been designated a national heritage site. | The scene of his last stand has also been designated a national heritage site. |
Kelly's story divides modern Australians, says the BBC's Phil Mercer in Sydney. Some see him as a folk hero, who fought the colonial British establishment, others simply as a violent criminal. | |
Either way, the Irish convict's son's daring bank robberies and escapes made him a legend. | |
Guns blazing | |
After two years on the run, police finally caught up with Kelly and his gang. | |
The outlaw made his own armour by beating plough blades into shape and walked towards police with guns blazing. He was shot 20 times but survived. | |
He was hanged for his crimes in 1880 and buried in a mass grave at the old Melbourne Gaol, but the whereabouts of his body has remained a mystery. | |
His remains, and those of others, were thought to have been reburied half a century later at Pentridge prison in Melbourne. | |
Archaeologists say they have now found the remains of 32 bodies in coffins in various states of decomposition. The bodies will now be subject to forensic tests. | |
"We believe we have conclusively found the burial site, but that is very different from finding the remains," Jeremy Smith, senior archaeologist with Heritage Victoria, told Reuters. | |
"If the remains exist, then we will have found them." |
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