First man to be executed protested his innocence

The violent and bloody murder of John Miller on December 21, 1869 at Braco, Perthshire, led to the first execution behind prison walls in Scotland under the Capital Punishment Amendment Act 1868.

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Vagrant George Chalmers was found guilty of the murder of the tollbooth keeper and was hanged on October 4, 1870 at Perth Prison.

Chalmers maintained his innocence until the end. Reverend McLaren, in Chalmers' hometown of Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire submitted two petitions with a total of 600 signatures to the Home Secretary pleading for the sentence to be reduced on grounds that the evidence was inconclusive and Chalmers was not of sound mind.