One of Adelaide’s saddest and most notorious crimes occurred here on 11 April 1953 when John Balaban, a young man from Romania, committed a triple murder and attacked a young woman. The victims were his 30 year old wife Thelma Joyce Balaban; 6 year old Phillip Cadd, Thelma’s son from a previous marriage; Mrs Susan Ackland, 66, Thelma's mother and Verna Maine, 24, a waitress from the Sunshine café.
The Sunshine café was the home of John and Thelma Balaban, who had been married for about 6 months. Thelma owned the café and the family lived in rooms upstairs. On the night of 11 April, John entered the building after a violent drinking spree and brutally attacked his sleeping family before turning on Verna Maine.
A newspaper photograph shows the path of the 20 foot jump that Maine took when she escaped through the upper story window. Witnesses thought that the woman had been pushed from the window and called the police. With Maine lying critically injured on the footpath, the police entered the building and found that Mrs. Balaban had been killed in her bed. Her mother and her son were found critically injured and taken to hospital where they later died.
After his arrest Balaban also confessed to the murder of Kora Kusic, 29, who was found dead inside a house in December 1952.
Balaban was executed for the death of Kusic. A man with a history of instability and violence, in an unsworn statement he admitted responsibility for all of the murders, saying that they “deserved to die” (The Advertiser, 25 July, 1953, p. 15). The sentence was appealed on the grounds of insanity but the appeal was dismissed and Balaban was hanged at the Adelaide Gaol on 27 August 1953.
The Sunshine café building was eventually demolished.
- State Library of Australia
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BALABAN HANGED
ADELAIDE, Wed.: John Balaban, 29-year-old Rumanian industrial chemist, was hanged in the Adelaide gaol at 8 a.m. today. Only a few gaol officials were present when Balaban was executed. He was sentenced to death for the murder of Zora Kusic, whose mutilated body was found in her shack at Torrensville on December 5 last year. In a statement at his trial, Balaban said he escaped from Romania and went to France In October, 1941. He admitted that during February, 1948, he murdered a women in Paris and also said he had murdered three other people. Balaban came to Australia on July 11, 1951, and after working at various jobs married in September last year. He unsuccessfully appealed against his sentence to the Full Court, and the State Executive Council on Monday decided not to Interfere with the court's finding. Police today cordoned off roads around the gaol during the execution.
- Daily Advertiser (Wagga Wagga), Thursday 27 August 1953, page 1
The Sunshine café was the home of John and Thelma Balaban, who had been married for about 6 months. Thelma owned the café and the family lived in rooms upstairs. On the night of 11 April, John entered the building after a violent drinking spree and brutally attacked his sleeping family before turning on Verna Maine.
A newspaper photograph shows the path of the 20 foot jump that Maine took when she escaped through the upper story window. Witnesses thought that the woman had been pushed from the window and called the police. With Maine lying critically injured on the footpath, the police entered the building and found that Mrs. Balaban had been killed in her bed. Her mother and her son were found critically injured and taken to hospital where they later died.
After his arrest Balaban also confessed to the murder of Kora Kusic, 29, who was found dead inside a house in December 1952.
Balaban was executed for the death of Kusic. A man with a history of instability and violence, in an unsworn statement he admitted responsibility for all of the murders, saying that they “deserved to die” (The Advertiser, 25 July, 1953, p. 15). The sentence was appealed on the grounds of insanity but the appeal was dismissed and Balaban was hanged at the Adelaide Gaol on 27 August 1953.
The Sunshine café building was eventually demolished.
- State Library of Australia
-----
BALABAN HANGED
ADELAIDE, Wed.: John Balaban, 29-year-old Rumanian industrial chemist, was hanged in the Adelaide gaol at 8 a.m. today. Only a few gaol officials were present when Balaban was executed. He was sentenced to death for the murder of Zora Kusic, whose mutilated body was found in her shack at Torrensville on December 5 last year. In a statement at his trial, Balaban said he escaped from Romania and went to France In October, 1941. He admitted that during February, 1948, he murdered a women in Paris and also said he had murdered three other people. Balaban came to Australia on July 11, 1951, and after working at various jobs married in September last year. He unsuccessfully appealed against his sentence to the Full Court, and the State Executive Council on Monday decided not to Interfere with the court's finding. Police today cordoned off roads around the gaol during the execution.
- Daily Advertiser (Wagga Wagga), Thursday 27 August 1953, page 1
One of Adelaide’s saddest and most notorious crimes occurred here on 11 April 1953 when John Balaban, a young man from Romania, committed a triple murder and attacked a young woman. The victims were his 30 year old wife Thelma Joyce Balaban; 6 year old Phillip Cadd, Thelma’s son from a previous marriage; Mrs Susan Ackland, 66, Thelma's mother and Verna Maine, 24, a waitress from the Sunshine café.
The Sunshine café was the home of John and Thelma Balaban, who had been married for about 6 months. Thelma owned the café and the family lived in rooms upstairs. On the night of 11 April, John entered the building after a violent drinking spree and brutally attacked his sleeping family before turning on Verna Maine.
A newspaper photograph shows the path of the 20 foot jump that Maine took when she escaped through the upper story window. Witnesses thought that the woman had been pushed from the window and called the police. With Maine lying critically injured on the footpath, the police entered the building and found that Mrs. Balaban had been killed in her bed. Her mother and her son were found critically injured and taken to hospital where they later died.
After his arrest Balaban also confessed to the murder of Kora Kusic, 29, who was found dead inside a house in December 1952.
Balaban was executed for the death of Kusic. A man with a history of instability and violence, in an unsworn statement he admitted responsibility for all of the murders, saying that they “deserved to die” (The Advertiser, 25 July, 1953, p. 15). The sentence was appealed on the grounds of insanity but the appeal was dismissed and Balaban was hanged at the Adelaide Gaol on 27 August 1953.
The Sunshine café building was eventually demolished.
- State Library of Australia
-----
BALABAN HANGED
ADELAIDE, Wed.: John Balaban, 29-year-old Rumanian industrial chemist, was hanged in the Adelaide gaol at 8 a.m. today. Only a few gaol officials were present when Balaban was executed. He was sentenced to death for the murder of Zora Kusic, whose mutilated body was found in her shack at Torrensville on December 5 last year. In a statement at his trial, Balaban said he escaped from Romania and went to France In October, 1941. He admitted that during February, 1948, he murdered a women in Paris and also said he had murdered three other people. Balaban came to Australia on July 11, 1951, and after working at various jobs married in September last year. He unsuccessfully appealed against his sentence to the Full Court, and the State Executive Council on Monday decided not to Interfere with the court's finding. Police today cordoned off roads around the gaol during the execution.
- Daily Advertiser (Wagga Wagga), Thursday 27 August 1953, page 1
The Sunshine café was the home of John and Thelma Balaban, who had been married for about 6 months. Thelma owned the café and the family lived in rooms upstairs. On the night of 11 April, John entered the building after a violent drinking spree and brutally attacked his sleeping family before turning on Verna Maine.
A newspaper photograph shows the path of the 20 foot jump that Maine took when she escaped through the upper story window. Witnesses thought that the woman had been pushed from the window and called the police. With Maine lying critically injured on the footpath, the police entered the building and found that Mrs. Balaban had been killed in her bed. Her mother and her son were found critically injured and taken to hospital where they later died.
After his arrest Balaban also confessed to the murder of Kora Kusic, 29, who was found dead inside a house in December 1952.
Balaban was executed for the death of Kusic. A man with a history of instability and violence, in an unsworn statement he admitted responsibility for all of the murders, saying that they “deserved to die” (The Advertiser, 25 July, 1953, p. 15). The sentence was appealed on the grounds of insanity but the appeal was dismissed and Balaban was hanged at the Adelaide Gaol on 27 August 1953.
The Sunshine café building was eventually demolished.
- State Library of Australia
-----
BALABAN HANGED
ADELAIDE, Wed.: John Balaban, 29-year-old Rumanian industrial chemist, was hanged in the Adelaide gaol at 8 a.m. today. Only a few gaol officials were present when Balaban was executed. He was sentenced to death for the murder of Zora Kusic, whose mutilated body was found in her shack at Torrensville on December 5 last year. In a statement at his trial, Balaban said he escaped from Romania and went to France In October, 1941. He admitted that during February, 1948, he murdered a women in Paris and also said he had murdered three other people. Balaban came to Australia on July 11, 1951, and after working at various jobs married in September last year. He unsuccessfully appealed against his sentence to the Full Court, and the State Executive Council on Monday decided not to Interfere with the court's finding. Police today cordoned off roads around the gaol during the execution.
- Daily Advertiser (Wagga Wagga), Thursday 27 August 1953, page 1
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