The Greenough family massacre was the axe murders of Karen MacKenzie and her three children, Daniel, Amara, and Katrina at their remote rural property in Greenough, Western Australia, on 22 February 1993.[1] They were killed by farm hand William Patrick Mitchell, an acquaintance of MacKenzie. Details of the murders were withheld from the public as they were considered too horrific. The case led to calls for the reintroduction of the death penalty.[2]
William Mitchell had spent the evening of 21 February 1993 getting high on a mixture of cannabis, alcohol, and amphetamines.[5] The following morning, at around 3am, sixteen-year-old Daniel, who was still awake, heard the sound of a car approaching the MacKenzie home.[6] His sisters and mother (aged five, seven, and thirty-one, respectively)[7] were all believed to be sleeping at the time. Mitchell parked the vehicle, exited and began walking towards the home. Curious as to who could be visiting at such an unusual hour, Daniel switched a kitchen light on, which Mitchell noted from outside.[6] Daniel walked outside and attempted to greet Mitchell; not receiving any response, nor realising that the man was brandishing a tomahawk-style axe, Mitchell murdered him with the axe.[6]
Mitchell then entered the house, which did not have a front door,[8] and found MacKenzie asleep in the lounge room. He began attacking her in a similar fashion, killing her with multiple blows from the axe. He then went to the bathroom and retrieved a tube of hand lotion and a plastic bag to place over MacKenzie's head, after which he raped her corpse. Amara and Katrina were still likely asleep in their bedrooms when Mitchell murdered them.[9] It was suggested that the younger two children were sleeping when they were killed, and that their lives ended relatively quickly.[2][6] Daniel was the first victim discovered by family friends, face-down on the dirt drive, mid-morning on 22 February.[6]
Investigation and trial
Police and forensic investigators scoured the murder scene and collected evidence. A search party fanned-out in an attempt to locate any evidence or means of identifying those responsible, an effort which lasted seven days.[6] In the meantime, the funeral for the four victims, which was attended by Mitchell, was held on 5 March 1993.[6] It would be a further five weeks before Mitchell, an acquaintance of MacKenzie, was charged with the murders on 27 March.[10] Hand lotion used by the killer at the scene was a key piece of evidence in the investigation.[6] Palm and fingerprints found in the MacKenzie family home were matched to those of Mitchell and chemists "conclusively linked" the oily substance found in fingertip prints to the hand lotion on Karen's body, determining them to be "chemically identical".[6] Mitchell confessed to the crimes and took detectives step-by-step through the murder scene; a detective recalled that Mitchell "went through and methodically and clinically described everything that he had done without showing any emotion, without showing any remorse."[6] Mitchell disposed of the murder weapon in the Greenough River and discarded the hand lotion in a rubbish bin. Police divers recovered the tomahawk five weeks after the murders; human hair still adhering to its blade.[6]
On 8 September 1993, Mitchell pleaded guilty to four counts of wilful murder,[11] three counts of indecently interfering with a corpse and one count of sexual penetration of a child under 13.[1][5][12] Mitchell was convicted of the murders on 14 October 1993 and sentenced to strict security life imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 20 years.[13] Prior to Mitchell's sentencing, a judge ruled that the exact way in which Daniel, Amara, and Katrina were killed was to be sealed.[4][14][15] The judge said that the crimes "almost defy description" and that Mitchell committed "sexual activity of the most depraved kind".[5]
Mitchell is currently incarcerated in Bunbury Regional Prison in Western Australia. Due to a public outcry against the sentence, a Crown appeal ordered the non-parole period to be revoked. There followed a series of Supreme and High Court appeals, including a ruling that Mitchell would never be released.[citation needed] An appeal overturned the non-release ruling and reinstated his 20-year non-parole period, and he consequently became eligible for parole in 2013, with a three-year review in 2016. In September 2013, Mitchell was refused parole. Attorney General Michael Mischin stated that his decision to refuse parole was based upon the gravity of the crime and the safety of the community.[16] He became eligible for parole again in October 2016, and was refused parole again.[17][18] As required by statute, his next review by the board was due in September 2019. In 2018 due to a, at the time new, McGowan government law which delays parole consideration for mass murderers and serial killers for a period of six years, Mitchell was no longer eligible for parole in 2019.[18][needs update]
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "The Greenough Family Massacre". Crime Investigation Australia. Season 1. Episode 12. 31 May 2007. Foxtel. …they are back on duty at 07:00 AM, bringing with them uniformed police and SES volunteers, to comb through the surrounding scrubland. The work will go on for seven long days and nights.
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