This is a partial list of unsolved murders in Australia.
Year | Name of victim/s | Location body/ies found | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1902 | Bertha Schippan | Towitta, South Australia | Aged 13, murdered at home while her parents were away overnight |
1931 | Arthur Brennan | North Fitzroy, Victoria | On 12 September 1931, Brennan was shot dead outside his home, at 26 Rowe Street, North Fitzroy, [1] [2] by a burglar, who was trying to get into a neighbour's residence. [3] Brennan confronted a man he saw standing on the neighbour's verandah. [4] When he tried to make his escape, Brennan blocked his path at the garden gate and the pair then grappled. [3] During the struggle, Brennan was shot in the chest by a small automatic pistol that the intruder had managed to draw from his overcoat with a free arm. [3] Brennan died at the scene. [5] The gunman was chased by two other bystanders but was able to get away. [6] An investigation revealed that the gunman, likely aged 25 to 30, had earlier been seen scoping the area, and the police were able to get a good description of his appearance. [3] [7] The police were unable to locate the suspect and after three months had elapsed the City Coroner gave a finding that Brennan had been murdered by a "person unknown". [8] [9] |
1966 | Allen Geoffrey Redston | Canberra, Australian Capital Territory | Redston was kidnapped and murdered on 28 September 1966, having disappeared the previous day. [10] Redston's assailant was never caught, and it remains an infamous cold case in Canberra to this day. Redston headed to a friend's house, planning to spend the day at the Curtin Tip. [11] After waiting for a short period of time, Redston left the area and was not seen again until his body was discovered the next day. The next day, after a search with police dogs, Redston's body was discovered among the reeds in a creek bed in Curtin. He had been bound, strangled, wrapped in carpet, and then moved to the location. [11] On 27 September 1966, Redston was sent by his mother to buy ice cream for himself and his brother from the local shops. Redston however sent his brother away and headed to his friend's house, planning to spend the day at the Curtin Tip. [11] After waiting for a short period of time, Redston left the area and was not seen again until his body was discovered the next day among the reeds in a creek bed in Curtin. He had been bound, strangled, wrapped in carpet, and then moved to the location. [11] A manhunt began and quickly turned up the descriptions of two suspects: "a blond-haired youth, aged 13-15", and a young man. [12] Both men were seen with Redston earlier that day, and both were seen leaving the tip where Redston is believed to have been murdered. [13] No-one was ever officially charged of the crime. [14] |
1967 | Mima Joan McKim-Hill | Biloela, Queensland | McKim-Hill was a 21-year-old Australian woman who was abducted, sexually assaulted and strangled on 9 March 1967. [15] [16] McKim-Hill left Rockhampton at 8:00am on 9 March 1967, and travelled south to Calliope. [16] Her car was found abandoned at 3:00am the following morning on the Gladstone by-pass road, three kilometres north of Benaraby. [16] Her body was found on 26 March 1967 at Collard Creek alongside the Dawson Highway, north-east of Biloela, eighty kilometres from where her car had been found. [16] [17] During the investigation, police followed two lines of enquiry. [18] They searched for four men seen travelling in the local area in a Ford Customline, but they were never located. [19] [20] In 2011, the police said those men were still of interest. [18] A truck driver carting tallow was also of interest to police during the investigation. [18] An inquest into McKim-Hill's murder commenced on 6 November 1967 and concluded on 16 January 1968, during which time 26 witnesses gave evidence and a solicitor for the victim's family named a German truck driver as a likely suspect. [21] |
1972 | George Ian Ogilvie Duncan | Adelaide, South Australia | Duncan was an Australian law lecturer at the University of Adelaide who drowned after being thrown into the River Torrens by a group of men believed to be police officers. Around 11.00 p.m. on 10 May 1972, Duncan and Roger James were both thrown into the river and Duncan drowned. [22] Public debate was so great that Premier Dunstan permitted police commissioner, Harold Salisbury, to call in detectives from New Scotland Yard, London, to investigate the murder. Their report, which has never been made public, led to the crown solicitor announcing on 24 October 1972 that he had decided against proceeding with any prosecution. [23] [24] On 30 July 1985, former Vice Squad officer Mick O'Shea told The Advertiser newspaper that the group involved were Vice Squad officers and that there was a cover-up to protect them. On 5 February 1986 three former Vice Squad officers, Brian Hudson, Francis Cawley and Michael Clayton, were charged with the manslaughter of Duncan. Cawley and Clayton eventually went to trial in 1988 with both being acquitted of the charges on 30 September after refusing to testify. [23] [25] [26] [27] A further allegation was later raised that there had been an attempt to influence a juror to find the two officers charged not guilty. [28] A police task force was set up, reporting to Parliament in 1990 that there was insufficient evidence to charge any person with the murder. Repeated calls for a Royal Commission have been ignored. [24] |
1975 | Shirley Finn | South Perth, Western Australia | Finn's body was found on Monday 23 June 1975 in her parked Dodge DG Phoenix car near the 9th fairway of the Royal Perth Golf Club, South Perth. [29] [30] Finn's body was slumped behind the wheel with four bullet holes in her head. She wore valuable diamond jewellery which had not been touched. [31] At the time, various rumours regarding the murder attributed it to specific issues relating to prostitution and the way it was being handled by police and government in Perth, but no evidence of this was made public. [32] [33] [34] The murder, and the implied connections with issues relating to policing of the sex industry, resulted in a Royal Commission being held. [35] On the thirtieth anniversary of the murder a cold-case review of the case was announced. [36] An opinion was canvassed that no solution of the case was likely. [37] In 2014, another cold-case review was launched by WA Police. The following year, the Corruption and Crime Commission confirmed it had received new information about the murder. [38] On 6 March 2017, the ABC Television documentary series Australian Story aired a story titled "Getting Away With Murder" [39] which revealed that a coronial inquest would be conducted in 2017. [40] The inquest commenced on Tuesday 29 August [41] The public hearing was adjourned on 20 December 2017 and resumed on 23 July 2018. After a week, it was again adjourned for 6 months, "allowing new leads to be followed up and two scientific investigations to be completed". Coroner Barry King acknowledged limitations but had not given up hope. He urged persons with information to come forward. [42] |
1977 | Suzanne Armstrong | Collingwood, Victoria (Australia) | Suzanne Armstrong and Susan Bartlett were stabbed to death on 10 January 1977 in their home at 147 Easey Street. [43] The crime remains unsolved. [44] On 15 January 2017 Victoria Police offered a reward of up to $1 million for information to the apprehension and subsequent conviction of the person or persons responsible. [45] |
1977 | Donald Bruce Mackay | Not found (Griffith, New South Wales) | Mackay had informed Sydney drug squad detectives of a large crop of marijuana in nearby Coleambally resulting in several arrests and the conviction of four men of Italian descent. At the trial of the arrested men, Mackay was identified as the whistleblower. [46] On 15 July 1977, Mackay disappeared from the Griffith Hotel car park after having drinks with friends and has never been found. Stains from his blood group were evident on his van [47] and the ground nearby, and his car keys were underneath the van. [48] Nearby were drag marks, hair, and three spent .22 calibre cases. [49] In 1984, the coroner ruled Mackay had died of "wilfully inflicted gunshot wounds". [50] In 1986 hitman James Frederick Bazley was charged over the death. [51] Bazley claimed he was innocent, blaming allegedly corrupt former Sydney detective Fred Krahe as the killer, [52] but was convicted of conspiracy to murder Mackay. [49] He was sentenced to life imprisonment. [50] In July 2012, 35 years after his disappearance, the New South Wales police offered a $200,000 reward for information on the whereabouts of Mackay. [53] |
1977 | Florence Maud Broadhurst | Paddington, New South Wales | Broadhurst was bludgeoned to death with a large piece of timber in her Paddington studio on 15 October 1977. There has been some speculation that Broadhurst was a victim of English Australian serial killer John Wayne Glover, who was convicted of murdering six elderly women on the Sydney North Shore district between 1989 and 1990, and is thought by police to have been responsible for other deaths. [54] In the documentary Unfolding Florence: The Many Lives of Florence Broadhurst , friends and employees of Broadhurst stated that they believed the killer may have been known to her, due to the presence of two cups of tea near her body, suggesting a meeting or appointment, and the killer's apparent knowledge of her factory's layout. |
1977 | Annette Louise Morgan | Sydney University, New South Wales | Morgan was found raped, beaten and strangled in a gully at the edge of St Paul's College Oval on 31 October 1977. An autopsy reported the cause of death as a fractured skull and strangulation. [55] |
1978 | Denise McGregor | Wallan, Victoria | McGregor was a schoolgirl from Pascoe Vale. She was kidnapped, raped and murdered on 20 March 1978. [56] McGregor's assailant was never identified, and the case remains one of Melbourne's most infamous cold cases. [57] [58] The brutality of the murder was such that a pathologist described her injuries as being like those suffered by plane crash victims. In 1978 a reward of $50,000 was offered to help solve the murder. [59] |
1979 | Anne Roberts | Black Forest, South Australia | Anne Roberts was 20 years old when she was murdered in her Black Forest home, 16 September 1979. After returning home from a night out to Adelaide, she was raped and then killed using a brick. Her killer later returned the brick to its position in her flat's car park. Police believe the attack was spontaneous. A reward of up to $200,000 available to anyone who provides information or assistance that solves this case. [60] |
1981 | Nabbutta Abbott Nabarula and David Charlie | Alice Springs, Northern Territory | 2 people were killed and 14 others were injured after wine was poisoned with Strychnine. The identity of the person who carried out the poisoning is unknown. [61] |
1982 | Tony Jones | Not found (Townsville) | At the time of his disappearance, Tony Jones, a native of Perth, Western Australia, was in the last stages of a six-month working holiday around Australia. Jones set off alone on 28 October 1982 for a side trip to Cairns. When he arrived back in Townsville on 3 November 1982, he telephoned his family and girlfriend in Perth. He learned that his mother had just topped up his bank account with $150. Jones made no more phone calls and did not use his bank account again, and never made it to Mount Isa. [62] In May 1983, the government issued a reward of $20,000 for information which leads to the apprehension and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the disappearance and suspected murder of Jones. In 2010 the reward was increased to $250,000. [63] Despite no body having been found, Coroner Ian Fisher stated in his findings on 20 February 2002 that Jones was a victim of homicide. "I am satisfied that the missing person is dead," wrote the coroner. "I find that he died on or around the 3rd of November 1982 at the hands of a person or persons unknown". [64] |
1985 | Christopher Dale Flannery | Not found (Sydney) | Flannery, nicknamed "Mr. Rent-a-Kill", [65] is alleged to have been an Australian contract killer. By the time of his disappearance and presumed death, police stated that they believed Flannery to have been responsible for up to a dozen murders. [66] New South Wales State Coroner Greg Glass found that Flannery was murdered most probably on or about 9 May 1985. He also found that the key to solving the murder lay with Roger Rogerson. [67] |
1990 | Sarah MacDiarmid | Not found (Seaford, Victoria) | MacDiarmid caught a train to Caulfield, then changed to a Frankston service. MacDiarmid's friends disembarked this train at Bonbeach while she remained, continuing on to Kananook station where her vehicle was parked. [68] She was last seen alighting the train and heading for the poorly lit car park at approximately 10:20 p.m. [69] Police suspected foul play based on bloodstains found beside her red 1978 Honda Civic abandoned in the station car park [68] and drag marks leading into the bushes, but no trace of her was ever found. Later, witnesses said Sarah got off the train and crossed the footbridge to the car park, where some people heard a woman shouting, ‘Give me back my keys.’ [70] A 21-day extensive air, sea, and land search with more than 250 police produced no results. [71] In May 2006, an inquest held by coroner Ian West, [71] found MacDiarmid 'had met her death as a result of foul play but the exact circumstances were unknown'. [72] An initial State Government reward of $50,000 was increased after an additional $75,000 was offered by an anonymous benefactor. [71] This was increased to $1 million, in 2004, [72] and remains current. [73] |
1990 | Colleen Walker | Not found (Bowraville, New South Wales) | Walker was in Bowraville visiting relatives [74] and was last seen alive at a party in the Aboriginal community of The Mission, on 13 September 1990. The following day her family reported to the police that she was missing. Despite the family believing something terrible had happened, the missing person's report was not taken seriously by police. No search parties were formed and no formal police action was taken. [75] Walker's body has not been found, although articles of her clothing were later found weighed down by rocks in the Nambucca River. [76] |
1990 | Evelyn Greenup | Congarinni, New South Wales | On 4 October 1990, four-year-old Evelyn Greenup disappeared after a party at her grandmother's house. She was last seen by her mother when Greenup was put to bed. The next morning she was gone from her bed. [76] On 27 April 1991, Greenup's skeletal remains were found in bushland near Congarinni Road. [76] An autopsy could not conclusively determine the cause of death, but noted that a skull injury was "consistent with a forceful penetration by a sharp instrument". [77] |
1990 | Janie Perrin | Bourke, New South Wales | Perrin, a 73-year-old grandmother was sexually assaulted and murdered in her home. Perrin was last seen walking into her flat in Tarcoon Street, and was attacked by an unknown number of males who sexually assaulted her. Police believe Perrin was bludgeoned by her attackers and that a number of personal items belonging to Perrin were stolen. [78] [79] Police interviewed hundreds of people during the investigation, which remains active. In November 2006 NSW Police doubled the reward to $100,000. [80] |
1990 | Joseph Shackleton and May Rosser | Brunswick, Victoria | On or about 25 May 1990, 74-year-old May Rosser and her partner, 72-year-old Joseph Shackleton were beaten and stabbed to death in May's home on Hope St. Brunswick. [81] |
1991 | Clinton Speedy-Duroux | Congarinni, New South Wales | On 31 January 1991, 16-year-old Speedy-Duroux went missing after a party at The Mission. On 18 February his remains were discovered in bushland near Congarinni Road. [76] |
1991 | Karmein Chan | Thomastown, Victoria | Chan was a 13-year-old girl who was abducted from her home in Templestowe, Victoria, during the night of 13 April 1991. Chan and her sisters were confronted by a man in a balaclava with a knife. He forced Chan's sisters into a wardrobe before fleeing with Chan. [82] A reward of $100,000 was offered for information on her abduction. [83] On 9 April 1992, Chan's remains were found in a landfill area at Edgars Creek in the suburb of Thomastown. [84] The skull had three bullet holes in the back of the head. The body had probably been there for 12 months. [85] The case has remained open with cold case detectives regularly reviewing the investigation. [86] On the 25th anniversary of her abduction the reward was increased from $100,000 to $1,000,000. [87] [88] |
1991 | Leanne Holland | Redbank Plains, Queensland | Holland was a 12-year-old girl whose mutilated body was found in the Redbank Plains, three days after she had been reported missing. Her sister's live-in boyfriend at the time, Graham Stafford, was initially convicted of her murder, but his conviction was later quashed and he was released after 14 years imprisonment. Her true killer has not been apprehended. [89] |
1992 | Michele Brown | Frankston, Victoria | Brown was a 25 year old woman who was found deceased behind a gun shop in Frankston on 14 March 1992. There is a $1 million reward on offer for information that leads to an arrest. [90] |
1992 | Clare Morrison | Bells Beach, Victoria | Morrison was a 13-year-old girl who was murdered on 19 December 1992 in Geelong. Her near-naked body [91] was discovered by surfers early morning on 19 December near Bells Beach. Morrison was last seen on the night of 18 December in Geelong Mall. [92] Police announced a $50,000 reward in exchange for any information related to the murder. [93] |
1993 | Crispin Dye | Sydney | The manager of AC/DC, Dye was attacked on 23 December 1993, dying two days later. His death remained under investigation in 2023. [94] |
1994 | Revelle Sabine Balmain | Not found (Kingsford, New South Wales) | Balmain was working as an escort who disappeared from the Sydney suburb of Kingsford in November 1994. [95] On the afternoon of 5 November, Balmain, visited a client in the south-eastern Sydney suburb of Kingsford. After the two-hour appointment was over she had planned to meet friend Kate Brentnell for a drink. At 7.15 pm Revelle rang Kate Brentnell to say that she was about to leave her client and suggested that they meet at the Royal Hotel, Paddington. She did not keep that appointment. [96] The next day, Balmain's bag, shoes, make-up, diary, credit cards and keys to her Bellevue Hill flat were found scattered around several Kingsford streets. [96] Police interviewed Balmain's client, who said that he had driven her to the nearby Red Tomato Inn at about 7.00 pm on the evening of 5 November. Police officers also questioned the escort agency's owners, but the enquiries resulted in no charges being laid. [96] The New South Wales government offered a reward of $100,000 for anyone who could provide information that would lead to the arrest of Balmain's killer. [96] The reward for information is now up to $250,000. [97] |
1995 | Victoria Cafasso | Beaumaris, Tasmania | Cafasso was a tourist from Italy visiting a cousin. She went for a walk on the beach and was later found bashed and stabbed to death. [98] |
1997 | Jaidyn Raymond Leskie | Moe, Victoria | Leskie is believed to have died of head injuries. [99] After a missing person's search [100] Jaidyn's body was found on 1 January 1998 at Blue Rock Dam, 18 km north of Moe. [101] His body had been preserved by the cold waters of the lake through winter and the clothing he was wearing was subject to a DNA test in an effort to solve the crime. [102] Greg Domaszewicz was charged with murder, but was found not guilty in December 1998. [99] A controversial 2006 inquest, [103] [104] found that he had contributed to the toddler's death and had likely disposed of the boy's body. [105] |
1998 | Alphonse Gangitano | Templestowe, Victoria | Gangitano was shot and killed in the laundry of his home. A coroner's report into his death directly implicated Jason Moran and Graham Kinniburgh. They were both found to be in Gangitano's home in Templestowe when the murder took place. It could not be established who pulled the trigger. Both were excused from giving evidence to the coroner on the grounds they might incriminate themselves. [106] Gangitano is considered to be the second of the thirty-six Melbourne gangland killings between 1998 and 2010. |
1999 | Michelle Bright | Outside Gulgong, New South Wales | Bright was a 17-year-old who was found raped and murdered. She was last seen at 12:45 am on 27 February 1999 by a friend who dropped her off in Herbert Street, Gulgong following a friend's 15th birthday party on 27 February 1999. [107] The Minister for Police, Michael Daley announced that the NSW Government offered a reward of $500,000 to solve the murder of Bright. [108] The police regard Bright's death as a horrific crime. [109] |
2002 | Margaret Gall | Raymond Terrace, Hunter Region, New South Wales | Strike Force Varberg was formed to investigate the murder. It included detectives from the homicide squad and the Port Stephens Local Area Command. [110] In 2011, Anne Maree Wotherspoon, a 27-year-old woman from Hamilton South, was arrested in Newcastle CBD. She was subsequently charged with murder and then refused bail. Eventually three other people were arrested and charged for their alleged involvement. However, in April 2012, prosecutors dropped charges against all three of the accused. [111] In late 2013, the Supreme Court of New South Wales ruled that the confession of Wotherspoon was unreliable. Wotherspoon had told police that she and three others had stormed Gall's home seeking drugs and money. However, she made a number of errors in her confession including what weapon was used and the time of the murder. Justice Megan Latham found that Wotherspoon had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and drug-induced psychosis, causing delusions and hallucinations. Wotherspoon, an intravenous drug user, was recorded telling one of her boyfriends that she was going to confess with the intention of being imprisoned and being placed on a methadone program. [112] New South Wales Government is offering a reward of $100,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible. [113] |
2003 | Nik Radev | Coburg, Victoria | Radev was shot and killed in Queen St Coburg on 15 April 2003 in a series of similar events that are commonly referred to as the Melbourne gangland killings. [114] Victoria Police told The Age that they believed his death was planned by a father and son drug manufacturing team, and a hitman suspected of four other murders carried out the killing in a red Ford Falcon XR6 Turbo sedan. His associates Damien Cossu and Alfonso Traglia were with Radev at the time of the murder but claimed they could not identify the gunman, and were subsequently named by police as 'persons of interest'. [115] |
2006 | Mario Condello | Brighton, Victoria | Condello was shot dead in his driveway on 6 February 2006, a day before he was due to stand trial for conspiracy to murder Carl Williams. [116] [117] Victoria Police believed hitman Rodney Collins killed Mario Condello as a paid hit. [118] |
2007 | Frank Newbery | Cooks Hill, New South Wales | Newbery is believed to have been attacked in his shop, Frank's Ham & Beef, [119] some time between 4:00pm and 4:30pm on 12 March 2007. He was bludgeoned with a "large blunt object" that was never found. His body was discovered concealed under cardboard boxes. [120] [121] Newbery's knuckles were bruised, suggesting that he attempted to resist his attacker. [122] In 2012 a coronial inquest suggested that Newbery had been "attacked by a person or persons that were unknown." Police analysed hundreds of other similar robberies, investigated prisoners on parole, and took DNA swabs from every person who visited the shop on the day of the murder. Two samples found at the scene remain unidentified. [121] In 2017, Detective Inspector Peter Mahon stated, "We are still not sure of the motive, because if it was a robbery, you would have thought that they would have searched Frank and taken his money out of his wallet." [123] |
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Shirley June Finn, née Shewring, was an Australian brothel keeper, nightclub operator and socialite who was shot dead at about midnight on 22–23 June 1975 in Perth, Western Australia. Her body, dressed in an elaborate ball gown and expensive jewellery, was found at dawn in her car, which was parked on a golf course next to a busy freeway. The murder is notable because of Finn's close relationship with Western Australia Police detectives who, in that era, controlled and regulated Perth's prostitution and gambling activities. The crime remains unsolved.
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Blood of the same group as Mr Mackay's was found spattered over the off-side bonnet and front tyre of his abandoned Minivan.
Underneath were his car keys and nearby there were bloodstains...
While Mr Mackay's body has never been found, drag marks, hair and three spent .22 cartridge cases were found near his minivan in the hotel carpark the next day.
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