Per State Library Victoria, many related to Kelly’s version of events, becoming sympathizers to his plight. He was viewed as the underdog fighting against corrupt powers.

Regardless, you can’t just go around killing cops and robbing banks. In June 1880, police caught up with Kelly and his gang of three other men — Dan Kelly, Joseph Byrne, and Steve Hart. By then, Ned Kelly and his gang had fashioned now-infamous armor made mostly from “thick metal parts of a farmer’s plow,” per State Library Victoria, which were meant to protect them from bullets. 

According to the Herald-Sun, a shoot-out between the armored Kelly gang and police lasted for nearly half a day. In the end, a wounded Kelly was the only survivor. He was put on trial and sentenced to death by hanging, which took place at the Old Melbourne Gaol in November 1880. 

There are two legends of Kelly’s last words. Australia’s National Geographic noted that some reports claim he said, “Ah well, I suppose it has come to this.” Others claim he said the words “such is life” as the rope was tightened around his neck. 

Per the Victoria National Trust, Kelly was left hanging for half an hour after to make sure he was dead, which was the law at the time. Next, he was wheeled to the “dead-house” where his death mask would be made. Per the National Trust, Kelly died with a “placid expression and his eyes remained bright.”