He was stupid. He was told to keep away. He grabbed Pete [Walker] and hit him with an iron bar. He caused his own death. I didn't want to shoot him. I could have shot a lot more. Detective Senior Constable Harry Morrison told the court that on 7 January 1966 during the flight returning Ryan back to Melbourne Ryan said: "The warder spoilt the whole show. If he had not poked his great head into it he would not have got shot. It was either him or Pete." The Crown also called the two bank officers from the bank that Ryan and Walker robbed. Robert Sipthorpe and George Robertson testified that Ryan said "This is the gun that shot a man the other day!" At trial, Ryan's defence lawyer Philip Opas cross-examined the two witnesses asking if instead they heard "This is the type of gun that shot a man the other day." Both witnesses stuck to their story. John Fisher, who had a long criminal history and had not seen or heard from Ryan for more than two years, testified that he asked Ryan who had shot Hodson. Fisher said Ryan told him he had shot Hodson. None of the verbal confessions were signed by Ryan, who only signed documents saying that he would give no verbal testimony. Ryan testified he had been "verballed" and denied the allegations of verbals/confessions said to have been made by him. Defence's case The main problem for the defence was that Victoria had the Gaols Act of 1958 in which it stated: Every male person lawfully imprisoned for any crime misdemeanour or offence by the sentence of any court of competent jurisdiction, or employed at labour as a criminal on the roads or other public works of Victoria who escapes or attempts to escape from any gaol or from the custody of any member of the police force gaoler or other officer in whose custody he may be, shall be guilty of felony: If a killing occurs by an act of violence in the course of a commission of a felony involving violence or in the furtherance of the purpose of such a felony the accused is guilty of murder even though, there is no actual intention of killing. The defence spent a lot of time arguing about when the time of the felony ended. Did it end after the prisoners had