Leith McDonald Ratten was a convicted murderer from Echuca, Australia whose case ignited controversy and national interest in the 1970s.
During interview Ratten said he was cleaning an old rusty double-barrelled shotgun brought in from the garage when it fired, hitting his wife under the left armpit while she was in the kitchen at lunchtime.
Subsequent investigations revealed that Ratten was having an affair with Jennifer Kemp, the wife of a family friend, and had spoken to her on the morning of the shooting.
Ratten was committed to trial for murder and the hearing took place in August, 1970 in the nearby town of Shepparton, Victoria.
Despite the failure of his appeals there was considerable doubt about Ratten's conviction, many believing he was found guilty for the questionable morality of his marital infidelity rather than concrete evidence.
In 1978, the Free Leith Ratten Committee was founded by Monash University law undergraduate, Mark Cowie.
The program was researched and scripted by Tom Molomby who later organised a campaign lobbying politicians on Ratten's behalf.