This Week in 1903: Gaslight in Perth – Bella Heckler, the Reverend and the Rape Scandal
In the third week of 1903, Perth was transfixed by one of the most sensational libel cases in Australian history. The legal action had been brought by a popular clergyman, who claimed a newspaper had falsely accused him of being a vile predator, who'd serially raped his young maid, gotten her pregnant, forced her into an abortion, and then conspired to commit her to a lunatic asylum to keep her from spilling her secrets.
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