Ernest Austin was born in 1890 in Victoria, Australia. From a young age, he exhibited criminal behavior, with his first recorded offense at age 11, leading to his placement in the Neglected Children's Department. In 1909, under the alias Ernest Johnston, he was convicted of assault with intent to rape a 12-year-old girl in Victoria, a crime bearing similarities to his later offense. He served a three-year sentence in Melbourne Gaol and Pentridge Prison. After his release, Austin violated his parole and relocated to Queensland, where he found employment as a farm laborer in the Samford area.

On 8 June 1913, 11-year-old Ivy Mitchell disappeared while walking home from a friend's house in the rural community of Samford, Queensland. Her brother, concerned by her absence, retraced her steps and discovered her body in scrubland near Parker State School. She had been raped and her throat slashed. Investigators found footprints and hoof marks at the scene, along with a piece of a riding crop. Witnesses reported seeing local farmhand Ernest Austin in the vicinity around the time of the murder. Further evidence linked Austin to the crime, including matching boot soles and horseshoes, as well as blood traces found at a nearby water tank where he had attempted to wash off the evidence.

Austin was arrested on 10 June 1913. During his trial, his prior conviction for a similar offense in Victoria was presented as evidence. He was found guilty of rape and murder and sentenced to death. On 22 September 1913, Austin was executed by hanging at Boggo Road Gaol in Brisbane. He was the last person to be executed in Queensland before the state abolished capital punishment in 1922.