At the inquest on the body of Aaron Sherritt, held at the Vine Hotel, Beechworth, before Mr. W.H. Foster, P.M., the jury having been empanelled, the following evidence was heard:—
John Sherritt, father of deceased, deposed that he had seen the body of the deceased, and identified it as that of his son Aaron, aged twenty-five years. He did not know from his personal knowledge how his son came by his death.
William Sherritt, brother of the deceased, identified the body as that of his brother, but did not know from personal knowledge how he came by his death.
Ellen Barry stated—"I am deceased's mother-in-law, and identify the body as that of my late son-in-law. I was at Aaron Sherritt's house on Saturday last, and was present at his death. I was at the house between six and seven o'clock, half an hour before the outlaws arrived. There were also my daughter and the deceased present. I was sitting at the fire when we heard a knock at the door. The deceased and his wife were having tea. There was a candle alight in the room in which I was sitting. An ordinary knock was given at the back-door, that being the first sign we got of any one being about. Aaron answered the knock, and said, 'Who's there?' and he heard Antone Wicks reply, 'I have lost my road, Sherritt; come and put me on the road.' I heard no other noise at the time. The deceased then opened the door and put his head out. I heard something said outside, but could not say what. The deceased appeared to be inclined to step back into the room, but before he could retreat a shot was fired from outside—by whom I do not know. The shot was fired very close to the door, and as soon as deceased was struck he stepped backwards into the centre of the room. After the first shot, Joe Byrne stepped up to the door and fired a second shot at the deceased, who was still standing in the centre of the room. Deceased then fell back to the ground. Byrne remained at the door for a short time. My daughter then asked, 'Joe, why did you shoot Aaron?' and Byrne replied, 'If I did not, he would shoot me.' Byrne, who had a gun in his hand, was in sight during the whole of the conversation. Byrne then told me to open the door opposite the one at which he stood. I did so, and saw Dan Kelly outside with a gun in his hand. I was then allowed to go outside. When outside Byrne asked me, 'Is there a window in front of the house?' I said, 'Yes,' and Byrne called out, 'Look out, Dan; there is a window in the front of the house.' Dan Kelly then joined me and Byrne, and I recognized him. He afterwards returned to the front of the house. About five or ten minutes elapsed from the time I heard the knock until I saw Dan Kelly. Two shots had been fired by Byrne before I went outside, and he afterwards fired two shots at the bedroom. Byrne was directly in front of the house when he fired at the bedroom."
The Outlaws' Plans—Execution of Ned Kelly—Habits and Customs of the Gang—Katie Kelly's behaviour—Kelly's distrust of Hart—The Cost of the Destruction of the Gang.
It was noticed by the constables who surrounded the hotel that a number of horses, saddled and bridled, were ready to be used by the outlaws; some of them were horses recently reported as stolen, and others were those which we had frequently seen ridden by Kelly's sisters. The constables shot some of them so as to prevent the escape of the outlaws. The prisoners were allowed out soon after daylight, and when the last of them came away, only Steve Hart and Dan Kelly were alive in the hotel. The police say Hart and Dan Kelly kept firing out of the windows up to one or two o'clock in the day, but having the armour on they were unable to take accurate aim. I have no hesitation in saying that had they been without armour when we first attacked them at the hotel, and could have taken proper aim at us, not one of us could have escaped being shot. They were obliged to hold the rifle at arm's-length to get anything of a sight. When I was hit I had my arm under my gun and was running towards them; they were on my right front, the butt of my gun was under my elbow with the left hand under the barrels, ready to be used in a moment. Had it been an inch higher or lower it would have missed me.
The outlaws had provided themselves with another set of horses on the opposite side of the railway, so that had they been obliged to cross the line in a hurry, they would have been able to mount their horses and get off in a moment. The plan they arranged was as follows:—
Joe Byrne and Dan Kelly went to Woolshed to shoot Aaron Sherritt on Saturday night, whilst Ned and Steve Hart were to go to Glenrowan and pull up the rails. They knew it was our habit, whenever they showed themselves in any part of the district, immediately to get a special train and go to the spot and start on their tracks. They knew, therefore, directly the news reached Benalla that Sherritt was shot, I should start off with a party of police and black trackers to pick up their trail. No trains ran on that line on Sundays; therefore, the only one likely to come along would be a "special," with a party of police. There was no telegraph station at Glenrowan, and the special would not stop there. They thought that the train would get up great speed going down the incline after passing Glenrowan, and it would be smashed up and most of the party killed. They were then to jump on to their horses and go to the spot, and finish off those who had escaped.