THE ELUSIVE JOHNS ✍🏻

A bandit from Australia named Joseph Johns escaped from prison so many times that the government built a special cell for him. The governor told him, "If you can escape again, I will pardon you." Johns managed to escape from that cell.

For this case, we have to go back to 19th century Australia, to what was then the British penal colony. Joe was sent to Moondyne (an Aboriginal name for the area). Joe, whose real name was Joseph Bolitho Johns, was sent there after a robbery on November 15, 1848. Johns and an associate named William Cross were arrested near Chepstow for stealing three loaves of bread, a piece of bacon, several cheeses, and other goods. He lived his early years in Australia with a low profile until August 1861, when Johns captured an unbranded stallion and branded it with his own mark. This was effectively horse theft, and when the police found out about it, they arrested him at the first opportunity. The horse was taken as evidence, and Johns was placed in the Toodyay jail.

At some point during the night, Johns escaped from his cell and stole the horse once again, taking the magistrate's new saddle and bridle as well. They caught him the next day, but while fleeing, he killed the horse and cut his own mark into the skin, thus destroying the evidence. As a result, he received only a three-year sentence for jailbreak, whereas a typical sentence for horse theft was over ten years.

While Johns served his sentence, there was a wave of convict escapes and escape attempts, but Johns behaved himself. His good behavior earned him a remission of his sentence, and he was released on a ticket of leave in February 1864.

He then found work on Henry Martin's farm in Kelmscott. In January 1865, a bullock named "Bright" belonging to William Wallace (another William Wallace, not the one we all know ❤️) was killed, and Johns was accused of the crime. He was arrested on March 29, found guilty on July 5, and sentenced to ten years of hard labor.

Johns protested his innocence of this crime for the rest of his life. He was determined not to serve what he considered an unjust sentence, and in early November, he and another prisoner escaped from a work party. They were on the run for almost a month, during which they committed a series of petty thefts. It was during this time that Johns first adopted the nickname Moondyne Joe. They were finally caught 37 kilometers east of York by a group of policemen that included Tommy Windich, an Aboriginal tracker.

For the escape and being in possession of a firearm, Johns was sentenced to twelve months with chains and transferred to Fremantle Prison. In April 1866, Johns sent a petition to the Chief Justice and received a four-year reduction in his sentence. This apparently was not satisfactory to him because in July, he received another six months in shackles for attempting to cut the lock on his cell door. In early August, he managed to escape again.

As punishment for the escape and the crimes committed while on the run, Johns received five additional years of hard labor on top of his remaining sentence. Extraordinary measures were taken to ensure that Johns would not escape again.

He was sent to Fremantle Prison and kept in the yard with his neck chained to an iron bar of a window while a special "escape-proof" cell was constructed for him. The stone-walled cell was filled with jarrah sleepers and over a thousand nails, and it was nearly airtight and lightproof.