Captured: Portraits of Crime 1870-1930 - Flipbook - Page 98
sentenced to three years imprisonment and declared a
habitual criminal. In the following month she was again
before the court on ten more housebreaking charges, but her
sentence was not extended.
Her method of operation seems to have stayed the same
throughout her criminal career. She targeted clothing,
jewellery and small items that could be taken to pawn shops
or sold quickly. She was an opportunist when in employment
and quick of hand when it came to shoplifting. Mulholland
targeted houses in wealthier suburbs and dressed like the
locals so as not to stand out.
By 1926 Mulholland had served her time and reconciled
with her husband, Victor. She also gave birth to a baby boy
in Melbourne. Just two weeks later she was arrested under
the name Jessie Hinton, and sentenced to another twelve
months gaol. Victor returned to Sydney with their son.
In 1932 having made two previous but unsuccessful
applications, Victor petitioned for divorce on the grounds
of desertion. Mulholland had been living in Sydney with
their son when she was arrested for shoplifting in the
department store, David Jones. She was gaoled for three
years under the name, Jean Harris, on an old break and enter
charge. The Mulholland’s divorce proceedings were
highlighted in the press and Eileen was referred to as the
‘Notorious Woman Housebreaker’. She was described as a
‘vivacious woman with the flashing eyes and scornful tongue’.
Eileen denied that she had deserted her husband and charged
him with having committed adultery. Victor was eventually
granted his divorce and Eileen returned to gaol. She was
released on 10 May 1934. Eileen went onto marry Oskar Molde
in Sydney in 1944. She died in Melbourne in March 1967.
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