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[Music] our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at
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anytime you need support please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support
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please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website today's episode contains information
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about murder and sexual offences committed against both humans and animals and while we did not focus on it
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it is mentioned and won't be suitable for all listeners Bucktown is a large local government area in western sydney
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37 kilometres inland from sydney central business district it encompasses a group
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of suburbs including the suburb also called black town and the suburb of prospect prospects it's on the outskirts
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around at the prospect reservoir and Nature Reserve in the 1980s the area was speckled with acreage and open land
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which was used mostly for farming many of the roads were still dirt and although it was on the verge of Sydney
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suburban housing estate boom and had a sense of the country black town was no stranger to crime in the mid-1980s drugs
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crime and high levels of unemployment were a major issue in the area according to the New South Wales Police annual
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report for 1986 and 87 there were 98 murders recorded across the entire state of New South Wales of which 69 were
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solved 55 of those soft murders were classified as domestic killings leaving 14 that were committed by offenders
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unknown to the victim the violence was an escalating problem into the New South Wales government saw a need for growing
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the teams of specialist police squads that focused on violent crime although the community was used to crime in early
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1986 a crime would drop back down that would change things forever on Tuesday February 4th 1986 a dairy
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farmer in prospect who noticed something strange all morning his cows had been gathered
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in the same spot at a place he called the boiler paddock he first noticed that at 9:30 a.m. Molly was leaving the house
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to go to a cattle sale when he returned home two hours later the cows were still
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standing in the same spot there was something he hadn't seen before so he decided to check it out what he found
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was the body of a woman naked lying on his stomach the farmer rent to his motorcycle as fast as he could and sped
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to his house to call the police [Music] it didn't take long for the first officers from black town police station
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to arrive they questioned the dairy farmer and asked him if he'd seen or heard anything unusual he said he had he
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couldn't remember if it was Saturday or Sunday night that he was woken from a deep sleep by way-out screams the
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screams had come from the direction of rain Road which was located near the farmers property Green Road was actually
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named after his family who were respected dairy farmers in Prospect he didn't investigate the screams or call
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the police because it wasn't anything unusual Green Road was a narrow desolated lane surrounded by trees often
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visited by young couples and groups of teenagers especially on weekends the farmer believed the screams came from
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young people who were partying he went back to sleep and didn't think any more of it and told meö the area was cordoned
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off with police tape and forensic police started examining the scene Detective Sergeant Graham Roosevelt was on leave
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when his phone rang there was his boss who informed him that the body of a young woman had been found and he had to
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drop everything and drive straight to the crime scene Rosetta's partner picked him up and the
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both of them fester medical examiner to further analyze the body rosetta would work the case with Detective Sergeant
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Ian Kennedy from the Homicide Squad Kennedy would become the lead investigator in the investigation
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Rosetta noticed that the victim was lying 70 meters from the paddocks fence and the ground appeared well trodden
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what stuck with him most were the victims eyes detective Rosetta quote the look in the girl's eyes I will never
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forget those dead eyes you could see she had gone through hell you could see it it was obvious to everyone present that
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the victim had suffered greatly the only item they found at the scene was the victim's wedding ring it didn't
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look like a regular ring there was a Russian wedding ring with three interlocking bands one made of white
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gold one made of rose gold and one made of yellow gold Kennedy believed it would
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help identify the victim because of its rarity and he placed it in an exhibit bag the first thing Kennedy did upon
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returning to black town police station was to check the missing person reports it didn't take long for him to find a
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report made by a man named Gary Lynch he'd reported his 26 year old daughter missing since Sunday February 2nd and
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he'd left the photograph of her Kennedy knew it was her her name was Anita cobby Kennedy called
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Gary Lynch and arranged to meet with him he grabbed the exhibit bag containing the wedding ring and together with
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another detective they made their way to the Lynch's home when they got there three people were waiting for them and
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need his parents Gary and grace Lynch and her sister Catherine Lynch through them detectives got to know more about
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Anita Anita was born on November 2nd 1959 she was the oldest daughter of Gary and grace Lynch and her younger sister
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Catherine had always considered Anita her role model they were a very close-knit family and Anita had always
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shown kindness generosity and an altogether wholesome spirit among her favorite activities she loves shopping
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with Catherine into drawing she could lose herself drawing for hours she'd attended Evans high school in Black team
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where she'd been a top student and in 1979 she participated in a beauty pageant to become Miss western suburbs
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she won the pageant and could have continued on that path and became a model but she craved something else
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she liked caring for people so she decided to become a nurse like another grace had been before her she started
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training that same year at Sydney Hospital and moved to the nurses quarters in Winston Lodge located in
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Plunkett Street a short distance from the hospital in central Sydney it was there that she met John kabhi John was
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three years older than Anita in some ways they were a contrast but in other ways they were similar John spent his
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younger years in the eastern suburbs of Sydney he never cared much about school or his education but it always got an
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acceptable grades once he was done with school he didn't know what he wanted to do with his life but Nursing was nowhere
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near his radar at the time he spent a year travelling around Australia with his girlfriend at the time he worked odd
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jobs and spent most of his time surfing after travelling around Australia he returned to Sydney then followed his
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family 90 kilometres north to the Central Coast he spent three weeks unemployed until he
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found a job in the laundry department at Gosford Hospital it wasn't long until he
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grew tired of that so he applied to become awards Minh the manager told him he wasn't big enough but he did say he
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had good enough grades to become a trainee notice a vacancy opened up a few days later and John took it once he
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started training John found that he genuinely loved to nursing however after an argument with his superior he decided
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to leave and for two years he went back to travelling and working odd jobs while
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surfing after that he thought of becoming a nurse again and he applied at sydney hospital he was accepted and he
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moved to the nurses quarters in Winston Lodge it was there at age 23 that he first saw Anita it was 20 at the
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time John remembered the first time he laid eyes on her quote just these ringlets of hair everywhere God she was
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beautiful and I thought far too good for me it was the neatest sixth week as a provisional trainee nursing student and
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every time John saw her he believed she would never be interested in a guy like him he started asking around about her
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and found out that she had been Miss western suburbs with that snippet of information John's hopes plummeted even
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further he truly believed she would never give a second glance at him but one day they started talking and Anita
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seemed interested in continuing the conversation John plucked up the courage and asked her out Anita said yes and
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some days later John took her to a Lebanese restaurant in Surry Hills called the Prophet it was only a few
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kilometers away from the hospital after that first day they returned to the Prophet again the following night and
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soon they became regulars even entering the kitchen to say hello to the staff they went as far as meeting and becoming
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friends with the owner of the restaurant Michel sorry sorry thought I need her and John seemed smitten with one another
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it wasn't long before Anita and John became so close that they spent most of their free time together they tried to
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keep the relationship between themselves but every one of the nurses quarters knew they were together a little over a
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year into the relationship they decided to get married they set the date for March 27th 1982 the excitement was even
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bigger when Anita broke the news that she was pregnant John was happy at the prospect of
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becoming a father and Anita was simply ecstatic however a few weeks later they lost their baby they were both
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devastated who strongly believed they would have the chance to become parents again John described their wedding is a
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typical Australian wedding with nothing pretentious about it just two people in love they didn't go on a honeymoon and
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decided instead to use their savings to rent a house in the Rockdale area in South Sydney close to John's family home
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Anita had a very good relationship with John sister Gaynor and his mother Terri so she would often drop by their house
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to visit even without John Anita continued working at Sydney hospital where she was building a
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reputation as a gentle reliable and caring nurse who took the trouble to get to know the people she treated John
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worked in different hospitals doing temporary nursing work because it paid better the years continued and they
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maintained a routine of sorts they worked went out to restaurants and concerts and since John had always
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wanted to own a yacht they bought a 24-foot Triton sailing boat Anita wasn't very much into sailing but she enjoyed
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sitting on the deck with the two dogs they owned the routine they built came to an end in 1984 when they both felt
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they needed to try something new John had always wanted to train horses and he had a cousin in Coffs Harbour who
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could help him out coughs harbour is 530 kilometres north of Sydney he made the proposal of moving there and
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Anita agreed in Coffs Harbour John worked as a nurse by night and by day he trained three horses he owned and they'd
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also got work as a nurse there it was one year after they moved north when they were at the races with Michael
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sorry the owner of the Prophet restaurant where they had their first date John placed a bet on one of his
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horses and it came first winning him $10,000 John believed it was the neatest chance
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to choose what she wanted to do and she chose traveling they visited the United States first Los Angeles the New York
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before going to yearly at one point they ran out of money and asked their families back home for a loan so they
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could continue traveling when that money ran out they had no other option but the
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return home it was mid 1995 when they got back to Sydney and they returned to their old routine while John was happy
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with it I need to felt restless and wanted to travel again John wanted to start a family but Anita wanted to
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continue exploring and trying new things it came to a point where it was clear that they were at different stages in
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their lives and they wanted different things for that reason they decided to take a break
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from each other and see how things went John went back to live with his mother and sister in
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the South Sydney suburb of Rockdale and Anita returned to live with her parents in Blacktown
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six weeks after their separation on Sunday February 2nd 1986 Anita woke up early and had breakfast
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with her mother Grace Anita told grace should be home late that night as after work she was going out for dinner in
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Redfern with two friends from the hospital but the next morning grace checked Anita's room and she wasn't
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there after discussing it with Anita's father Gary they thought Anita had probably just slept over at one of her
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friends houses after dinner there was something she often did they put their minds at ease with that belief until
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they got a call from Sydney hospital that afternoon there was a needed superior she wanted to know if they had
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any idea where Anita was since she hadn't turned up for her 1:30 p.m. shift the superior found it strange because
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Anita was always reliable and punctual garyun gray started to worry it was very unlike Anita not to tell anyone where
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she was they both felt something had happened to her because there couldn't be any other explanation not with their
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daughter at 6:30 p.m. Monday February 3rd Gary went to black town police station carrying a picture of Anita and
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reported her as a missing person in the meantime grace made phone calls through Anita's friends she found every
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friend she had the number of but none of them could tell her where Anita was at 8:00 p.m. grace made the last phone call
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it was the John cobby she called him at his mother's place in Rocco and it was his mother Terri who
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answered the phone grace asked Terri if Anita was with John and Terry told her she had no idea but she knew where John
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Watts so she'd call him and tell him to call her back John's mom Terri hung up and immediately
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called the Prophet an aider and John's favorite restaurant the owner of the restaurant and friend of Anita and John
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Michael sari answered the call John was having dinner with his father and a friend Sara put John on the phone and
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Terri told him Gracie called asking if Anita was with him John thought that was unusual and immediately made the call to
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Anita's parents he told them that Anita wasn't with him and the last time he'd spoken to her was the day before Sunday
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February 2nd they talked on the phone during the morning since they still stayed in daily contact after their
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separation John asked the native she'd like to spend some time together after work but a needed decline she already
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had dinner plans and had promised her parents should be home after dinner John didn't protest and that was the last
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time he had spoken to her once he put the phone down John was deeply worried he knew as well as most
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that anita wasn't the type to just disappear and not tell anyone where she was he went back to the table and told
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his father and his friend that he was very sorry but he had to go his father who had a complicated relationship with
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John started arguing but John explained that anita was missing and he had to go john first
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drove 40 minutes south to lillypilly where he dropped his friend home from there he made the one hour and twenty
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minute journey north west the black town stopping at a shop to buy a bottle of scotch on the way when he arrived he
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poured a scotch for himself and for Gary John wasted no time asking Gary where they searched for anita who they'd
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called and if they'd contacted hospitals to see if perhaps she was hurt Gary didn't have the best relationship with
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John and didn't take the amount of questions Connelly he thought it sounded like John was
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assuming they weren't doing everything they could to find their daughter while they were talking grace was pacing
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around the house nervously and John soon felt he wasn't welcome he didn't want to
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start a fight with his father-in-law and he didn't want to create a disturbance in an already stressful situation so he
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decided to leave the next day John woke up and did exactly what he had planned to do all week he'd arranged with Anita
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to go to Shelly Beach on the Central Coast about a hundred kilometres north of Sydney his sister Gaynor had rented a
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house there to celebrate her birthday John hoped that Anita would be at the house with Jana when he got there with
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some explanation as to where she had been and to then they could spend some quality time away together like they had
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planned on the drive the Shelly Beach he was listening to the radio and thinking
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about Anita he remembered how they would sing along to the songs played on the radio
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especially to Madonna and cold chisel it was while he was listening and lost in his thoughts that suddenly the music was
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interrupted by a news broadcast John heard the following words coming out of the speakers the naked body of a young
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woman has been found in a paddock at Prospect in western Sydney police are yet to identify her John immediately
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thought of Anita gone was his hope of Anita sitting with his sister Gaynor chatting away at a house in Shelly Beach
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all he could think of was that the young woman found in a paddock at Prospect could be her he found an emergency phone
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jumped out of the car and quickly called the operator asking to be connected with
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Grace and Gary it took a while for the operator to put him through as John was yelling and wasn't very coherent
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eventually he was connected and the phone was answered by a voice he didn't recognize there was a woman's voice but
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that's all he knew he heard the words you've got to get back here John and he never heard anything else he jumped back
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in his car did he u-turn and drove straight to Anita's home in Blacktown when he arrived he walked to the back
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door and suddenly it all became too much he stopped and sat on the stairs and started to cry when he was done he stood
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back up and entered the house in front of him he found Gary grace and need his sister Catherine Catherine's husband and
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two detectives before John arrived the detectives had already shined the Russian wedding ring
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to Anita's family when Catherine saw it she said it looked like an ADA's but this one had rust on it so it couldn't
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be hers detective and Kennedy had to correct her what she thought was rust was actually
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blood now that John was there he was showing the wedding ring as well he recognized that it was definitely
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inators Kennedy separated John from the rest of Anita's family and asked him if he would be willing to go to the morgue
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to identify her body John said no he simply couldn't bring himself to see his wife like that
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Kennedy needed someone to formally identify her and the one who offered was Grace
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she told Kennedy that she was a nurse and she'd seen hundreds of bodies so she could do it but Kennedy refused he
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didn't want to need his mother to see her the only other option was Gary who accepted Catherine's husband went with
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him for support the detectives drove carried a Westmead Hospital they entered the morgue in the moment the sheet was
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removed Gary's knees buckled and he fell the two detectives were quick to catch him and
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do they hold him until he felt strong enough to stand on his own when he was able to speak he said I wish I could say
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it's someone else's daughter but it's not is it after the identification Kennedy drove
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Gary back home to black town on the way Kennedy tried to be as honest as possible he told Gary that what they'd
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just done was probably the shortest step in the entire investigation long days would lie ahead while they tried to
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figure out what exactly had happened to Anita on top of that the case would get a lot of media attention from the first
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moment Kennedy saw Anita he knew that Judah the brutality of the murder that would generate a lot of media Kennedy
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asked Gary to talk to reporters as much as he could to tell them who Juanita was
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in order to solve the case they would need as much help as they could get so Kennedy was more than open to using the
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media to inform the public in the hope that it would generate tips lastly Kennedy told Gary that as part of
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the investigation that would need to question everyone who was close to a needle it was simple procedure and Gary
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said he understood the first person who was questioned was John cobby as soon as Kennedy got back the black
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town after the identification he told John to come with him to the station John went not really knowing what to
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expect when they got to the station John was asked to sit in a small interview room Kennedy started by asking simple
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questions like how long had him in and either known each other and how long they'd been married then he asked about
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the separation and soon he got the deeper questions he asked where John had been on the Sunday night Anita went
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missing and the day after Johnny answered that on Sunday night he was at home and on Monday night he was
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at dinner with his father and his friend and that's when he first heard a Nita was missing Kennedy asked if the
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relationship between Anita and him was rocky they were going through a separation after all Johnny and said
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that they were trying to patch it up and get together again Kennedy pushed the separation with John before asking did
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you kill her John felt hazy the questions kept coming and it was suddenly not answering them
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the next thing in you who was being pushed into a wall being accused of murdering a needle his answer then was
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yep I did it must have an anonymous call had been made to police earlier that day
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suggesting that detectives looking to John copy also the two nurses who Anita went to dinner with the night she
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disappeared were interviewed wing Bradshaw and Elaine Bray they stated that ever since the separation John had
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been repeatedly calling Anita at work and he seemed to visibly devastated by the fact that they were apart according
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to them he was trying to get her back at all costs in addition they stated there was a
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chance Anita might have been seeing another nurse from the hospital Ian McIntosh Ian had known John for several
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years but had only recently met and become friendly with Anita this information had gotten the attention of
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detectives and John was high on the suspect list but after reading the autopsy report detectives were sure of
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two things one of them was that Anita's murder happened somewhere between Sunday
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night into the early hours of Monday morning and the second was that there was probably more than one killer although
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John kabhi was a suspect and even said he must have done it while being pressured in that first interview it
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didn't look like a crime of passion so detectives continued to investigate all other possibilities there were twenty
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detectives working the case on that first day of the investigation they looked at Anita's movements on the day
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she went missing she had arrived at work at 7:00 a.m. she worked the same shift as Lynn Bradshaw and Elaine Bray who she
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went out to dinner with after work their shift ended at 3:30 p.m. and afterwards
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they stayed in the visitors room of the hospital drinking coffee and chatting until about quarter past five then they
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changed out of their uniforms and went to the restaurant they had dinner along with two bottles of wine and to left the
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restaurant at 8:30 p.m. Lin offered to drive an ADA to central railway station which was about eight hundred meters
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from the restaurant and Anita agreed Lin left the kneader at the Yeti Avenue entrance to the railway station about
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9:00 p.m. and before they parted ways they said they'd see each other the next day it was the last time anyone saw
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Anita that same night Lin woke up from a nightmare in a cold sweat she dreamt about leaving Anita at the railway
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station but this time when she called Anita she'd see her the following day Anita responded no I'm dying Lin Lin was
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so unsettled by the nightmare that she checked all the doors and windows to save they were locked and need his body
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was found two days later Tuesday February 4th and when Ling found out what happened
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she believed the nightmare was an omen there was a few minutes after midnight the very early hours of Wednesday
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February 5th when one officer made the first big breakthrough of the case he was a rookie who had actually gone to
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school with Anita he was also the officer Gary first spoke to when he went to black town police station to report a
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need of missing now the rookie officer was working hard to find anything that could help lead to the killer of the
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woman he'd known from school while he was checking the station message sheets which had notes from all the calls made
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from the public to the police station he saw one particular message that got his
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attention there was a call from a boy who along with his sister had heard screams coming from outside his house
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when they both looked out their window they saw that a woman was being forced into a car the boy and his sister lived
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in Newton Road which was located between Anita's house and a black town railway station all detectives knew for certain
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so far was that Anita had been dropped off at Sidney's central railway station they didn't know for certain if she had
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taken the train from central Sydney to black town but if she had it's likely she had been abducted after getting off
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the train a black team the notes on the message sheet stated that the call from the boy was made on
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Sunday night officers did respond and conducted a patrol at the time of the call they found nothing
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when the rookie officer saw the notes on the message sheet he notified detectives
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and they all went to Newton Road to find out more they knocked on the boy's house
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where the call came from the boy and his sister who saw the woman being forced into the car both answered the door the
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boy John was 13 and his sister Linda was 14 Linda explains that on the Sunday night she was in the living room when
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she heard screams from a woman coming from the street she looked out the window and two noticed that a dark
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haired woman was being dragged into a car part man she was screaming and trying to break free Linda immediately
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called out to her brother John who ran to the window and saw what was happening as well John ran out the front door to
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stop the woman from being taken but it was too late she was already in the car and it was speeding off John hurried
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inside and called the police minutes later their older brother Paul and his girlfriend Lorraine arrived home
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John and Linda told them what had happened Paul told them to wait for police and handle arraign drove in the
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direction John and Linda had seen the car going Linda described the car as a dirty white
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car John described it as a white Holden sedan that had a grey undercoat the direction in which Paul and Lorraine
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went at Sunday night took them to rain Road in Prospect they believed that since the place was a known Lovers Lane
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the girl might have been taken there when they got to rain road they saw two different cars one was a red sedan and
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two the other was a white Holden sedan with a grey undercoat a car exactly like John had described Paul and Lorraine
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approached the Holden slowly and checked inside they saw nothing suspicious so they decided to return home
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the police patrol car responding to the call from John also later patrolled through rain Road but saw nothing after
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speaking to John Linda and Paul detectives discovered further witnesses in Newton Road just across the street
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from their house a woman and her 16 year old son Stephen heard the screams as well they were watching television in
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the living room when at 9:45 p.m. Sunday night their viewing was interrupted by screams coming from the street Stephen
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ran outside in his pajamas and saw a dirty white car speeding off with its lights off he looked across the street
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and saw John who said to him the girl has just been picked up by two guys in that car Stephen asked if he was talking
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about the car that had just left the one with the lights off John said yes that was the one Stephen ran to his next-door
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neighbor who had only just arrived home and together they tried tailing the car but they couldn't find it another
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neighbor heard the screams and when she looked outside she saw not two but three
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men taking a woman by force however detectives couldn't prove the woman was an ADA it was two kilometers from
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Blacktown railway station to a neighbor's house on most nights Anita would call her father Gary to pick her
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up but detectives discovered that on Sunday night all the telephones at the station twelve in total had been
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vandalized so Anita couldn't call Gary the next option was a taxi detectives focused on interviewing and checking the
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records of taxi drivers but gary said anita would never have taken a taxi sunday night had been a pleasant summer
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night so Gary had no doubt Anita would have walked home detectives kept their minds open and looked at every single
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possibility from Wednesday February 5th 1986 Anita became the headline of every newspaper and media outlet in Sidney all
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of Sidney was shocked to the core by the crime and Nita was described by every single person who knew her as a living
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angel no one had a bad word to say about her calls flooded into black town police
00:30:24
station with people giving different names and suggestions as to who could be the killer this led the police in
00:30:30
different directions including checking every sex offender in black ten but it all led nowhere as well as
00:30:37
John cobby police had interviewed another early suspect he made his way onto the suspect list just 45 minutes
00:30:44
after Anita's body was found the man was sitting in his car right next to the crime scene police approached him and
00:30:51
searched his car where they found a sheath for a kitchen knife hedge cutters a tomahawk and a spade the man was taken
00:30:58
to black town police station for questioning and he explained that they'd been a strike at his job that day so he
00:31:04
decided to park and stay in his car because if he went home his wife would get mad at him for not being at work
00:31:10
detectives looked into his story and it all checked there he was eventually eliminated at 9:00 a.m. on Friday
00:31:17
February 7th on the popular to Jay Bay radio station radio host John Moores decided to read something no one was
00:31:25
ever expecting to hear publicly and need his autopsy report upon hearing the disturbing details of the autopsy
00:31:33
listeners flooded the station with calls they were outraged both at the information being read which they found
00:31:39
utterly disrespectful to Anita and her family and they were also outraged that the case itself
00:31:44
finding it hard to believe that such horror was possible but the most outraged of all was the investigating
00:31:51
team especially John Avery the New South Wales police commissioner at the time he
00:31:56
couldn't understand how the autopsy report was late than sent to the radio an internal investigation was launched
00:32:02
but it was never determined who leaked the report there was this public reading of the autopsy report the place to need
00:32:09
his case into the National sphere since John Laws was so popular throughout the country the premiere of New South Wales
00:32:17
at the time Neville Wren had actually met an eider in person in 1979 when she won the Miss western suburbs beauty
00:32:23
pageant he took an active interest in the investigation from day one and requested a daily briefing from police
00:32:30
when he was first sent the autopsy report he was only able to read the first page he found it too disturbing
00:32:36
and said quote these acts are so despicable they are not the acts of a human being
00:32:43
premier Nevel Ren offered a $50,000 reward for any information given that helped catch the killer he doubled the
00:32:50
reward just a few days later it was the highest reward offered in any case after
00:32:55
such a short amount of time and this combined with John Laws reading of the autopsy made Anita's case one of the
00:33:02
most well known in Australia a crime that shocked the nation detectives were feeling the pressure to solve it not
00:33:10
only was the premier of New South Wales pushing them but now all of Australia was as well although they had no
00:33:16
positive evidence placing Anita on the train to black town railway station or placing her in Newton Road they decided
00:33:22
it had to be her who the witnesses had seen being forced into a car detectives decided to do a reenactment
00:33:30
they got Debbie Wallace who was a probationary police officer to play Anita she was about the same age and
00:33:35
looked similar to Anita detectives arranged for Wallace to go shopping with Elaine Bray one of Oneidas
00:33:42
friends who should bring out the dinner with the night she was murdered they went from store to store until they
00:33:47
found clothes that were exactly like the ones Anita had been wearing that night since no clothes were found at the crime
00:33:53
scene detectives had to rely on Elaine's memory of how Anita looked at knowing the reenactment took place on Sunday
00:34:00
February 9th one week after Anita was murdered it began a central railway station at 9
00:34:07
p.m. reporters were allowed to follow Wallace during the entire reenactment police
00:34:12
believed for more publicity the case got the faster they'd be able to catch the killer at 9:12 p.m. Wallace got onto the
00:34:20
train beyond for Bucktown other detectives walked through the carriages in the train asking all passengers on
00:34:26
board if they'd taken the same train the previous week and if they did if they'd
00:34:30
seen anything suspicious or if they'd seen Anita choosing the 912 p.m. train the board was based on Lin Bradshaw
00:34:38
statement that she believed that was 9 p.m. when she dropped Anita at the train station
00:34:42
knowing 12 was the first available train to black town on the walk from black town railway station - Anita's home
00:34:49
Wallace stated quote it was quiet and eerie walking in her footsteps towards what we knew were most likely her last
00:34:56
moments there was not a nice feeling the reenactment saturated the media for days
00:35:03
detectives didn't get any leads pointing them towards the killer but what they did find was that Anita hadn't taken the
00:35:10
912 p.m. trained the Black team she'd taken their earlier 848 p.m. train the train ride from central to black town
00:35:18
railway station was approximately 45 minutes into the walk from black town railway station to Newton Road was about
00:35:24
12 minutes according to the witnesses on Newton Road Anita had been abducted at 9:45 p.m.
00:35:30
so if Anita had taken the 912 train she wouldn't have been a Newton Road until about 10:00 o 9 but the 848 p.m. train
00:35:39
would have her at Newton Road right on 9:45 p.m. the exact time witnesses heard the screams the day after the
00:35:48
reenactment Monday February 10th was Anita's funeral it was held at Pine Grove Cemetery lots of reporters and
00:35:56
onlookers attended nurses from Sidney Hospital carried her coffin inside the church when the Reverend spoke about
00:36:02
Anita he mentioned how much she loved her family how dedicated she'd been to other people during her lifetime and how
00:36:09
during the last year of her life she'd found a passion in painting she'd been drawing from a young age but
00:36:15
right up to her death she kept on trying and loving new things Darian grace remained composed throughout the service
00:36:22
but Anita's husband John cobby was unable to John turned to alcohol and drugs after Anita's death up until that
00:36:31
point John had found drugs repulsive but knew he didn't care about anything he confessed that all he wanted was to fill
00:36:38
her and to die but he never had the guts to kill himself he entered the church surrounded by family and friends his
00:36:47
father held him upright all through the service since he was too sedated to stand on his own in the middle of the
00:36:53
service Johnny interrupted bus screaming out don't take her away from me please don't take her away he fell down and his
00:37:02
father and a friend had to carrying me outside at this point John had been cleared from the investigation his
00:37:10
alibis checked out with several people confirming his whereabouts plus the potential motive of
00:37:15
jealousy that detectives had considered had fallen apart lynn bradshaw and elaine bray had stated
00:37:20
that anita was possibly seeing another nurse a Macintosh but this relationship proved to be strictly platonic
00:37:27
detectives were now well and truly heading in another direction and it was the day after Anita's funeral that a
00:37:33
major breakthrough occurred on February 11th detective Graham Rosetta got the lead that changed at all he was informed
00:37:45
that a car that looked very similar to the one witnesses had seen on Newton Road a dirty white Holden sedan with a
00:37:51
grey undercoat had been stolen on Sunday February 2nd the day of Anita's murder Rosetta was told that the men
00:37:58
responsible for stealing the car with John Travers Michael Murdoch and a Lesley Murphy John Trevor's name had
00:38:06
been mentioned before an anonymous tip was called in in the first days of the investigation telling police to look
00:38:12
into him John Travers was 18 years old and lived in Doon side a suburb right next to
00:38:18
black town he'd been brought up in poor conditions and had a history of physical
00:38:22
abuse drug use and violence towards others two things struck detectives about Travers one of them was Travers
00:38:30
being wanted in Western Australia for a number of offences including the rape of
00:38:34
a man during the rape Travers kept the knife against the man's throat the second thing was a story that was going
00:38:40
around about Travers it was said that on Trevor's 18th birthday he not only raped
00:38:47
a sheep but while I was doing it he slipped the sheep's throat when he was done he cooked the Sheep and ate it his
00:38:56
history of violent disturbing behavior and to the fact he had been named as being responsible for stealing a car
00:39:01
that matched the description of the vehicle of interest in Newton Road got the attention of investigators Travers
00:39:08
was known as a ringleader he moved mostly with the two young men named in a stolen car with him Michael
00:39:14
Murdoch and a Lesley Murphy Michael Murdoch was 18 years old and wherever Travers was Murdoch was right
00:39:21
beside him Leszno if he was 22 years old unusually wasn't too far away from Travers in
00:39:26
Murdock either he was also dating Travis sister Travers Murdock Linda Murphy were
00:39:33
at a party on Sunday night February 2nd and today all disappeared from the party
00:39:37
for a long time when they returned they each told a different story as to where they had been the entire task force was
00:39:45
sworn to secrecy regarding the new lead of Travis Murdock and Murphy they knew given the media saturation of
00:39:51
Anita's case if the three suspects did have some involvement that would be keeping their heads low and it wouldn't
00:39:57
be easy to find them Travers Murdock and Murphy didn't really follow a daily routine they were
00:40:03
constantly on the streets couch-surf and spent most of their time drinking and doing drugs most of what they did was
00:40:10
financed through burglary in similar crimes detectives tried to blend in as best they could close to known hangouts
00:40:17
and haunts of the three suspects they work with informants to try and track them down they posted undercover
00:40:23
officers at Travis family home to see if he would show up there but there was no
00:40:28
sign of any of them for a few days not until less Murphy appeared at Travis family home it was around this time they
00:40:35
also got a lead on the whereabouts of Travis and Murdoch they were apparently staying at Travis uncle's home at 6:00
00:40:42
a.m. on Friday February 21st 1986 the task force assembled in the operation room of Blacktown police station they
00:40:50
broke into two groups one of them was led by Detective Graham Rosetta and two the other was led by detective Ian
00:40:56
Kennedy the plan was for each group to raid a different home at the same time along with detectives from the task
00:41:04
force each group was also accompanied by officers from the Tactical Response Group who were used in high-risk
00:41:09
operations before the two teams separated Kennedy spoke to everyone involved in the raids given the brutal
00:41:17
nature of the crime emotions weren't only running high in the community but amongst the investigators as well
00:41:24
Kennedy pleaded with everyone to keep control as hard as he knew it would be the last thing they needed were
00:41:30
allegations of police brutality putting a cloud over the investigation once everyone was ready the team split
00:41:38
up Kennedy's team went to Travis family home in dunes Hood the Tactical Response
00:41:43
Group forced entry with a sledgehammer and found a less Murphy hiding inside now if he didn't resist and didn't ask
00:41:49
for a lawyer they did find a stolen car on the property but it wasn't the stolen
00:41:55
car used in the abduction of Anita at the same time Rosita and his team were at Travis uncle's home in Wentworthville
00:42:02
15 kilometers southeast of Dune side when they kicked in the front door they failed to see a large fish tank in the
00:42:09
main hall and it broke into pieces they found Travis sleeping in the same bed as Murdock they didn't offer any
00:42:15
resistance and didn't ask for a lawyer during a search of the house they found a blood-stained knife covered with a
00:42:23
sheath underneath the bed Travis and Murdock was sleeping in the knife was taken into evidence once the three
00:42:31
suspects were a black town police station the plan was the question of regarding the theft of the car first
00:42:36
then connect the car to the murder later Murphy admitted that he was involved in
00:42:41
the theft of the car but denied any knowledge or involvement in a needest murder
00:42:46
Murdock admitted he was involved in the theft in the car as well and agreed to go with police to the place they stole
00:42:51
it from Mike Murphy he said he wasn't involved nor did he know anything about a neighbor's murder after signing
00:42:59
statements about their involvement in the theft of the car Murphy and Murdock were charged and granted conditional
00:43:04
bail of police so they were free to leave this was all part of the plan because as soon as they left the station
00:43:10
they were put under surveillance and every step they made was being watched police was sure they were involved in
00:43:17
the murder but there was no evidence of that yet and they still had Travis in custody who was the main target they
00:43:24
believed he was the ringleader and the others followed him during questioning trevor's also admitted his involvement
00:43:30
in the car theft rosetta then pulled out the knife he'd fee under the house underneath the bed and asked him how the
00:43:37
blood got there Travis looked at him coldly and responded I didn't slit that [ __ ] throat
00:43:45
rosetta was shocked since he hadn't made any reference tornado or her murder yet
00:43:50
it hadn't been mentioned to Travis at all up to this point Travis continued explaining that the
00:43:56
blood actually belonged to a sheep Rosetta pretended he'd never heard of the story about the sheep and he asked
00:44:02
him to elaborate Travis response was again cold and to the point he shrugged his shoulders and
00:44:09
said you gotta eat or cut its throat throughout the questioning Travis picked at a finger with a paperclip he drew
00:44:18
blood and sucked it he didn't admit to anything further and razor that hindered the interview after Travis signed a
00:44:26
statement about his involvement in the car theft he was charged he also had to give a blood sample in relation to the
00:44:32
rape allegation and other alleged attacks in Western Australia given those interstate matters was still out
00:44:38
steaming Trevor's wasn't released he was kept in the cells it wasn't long before
00:44:43
Travis asked to call his auntie to bring him cigarettes his auntie was his uncle's girlfriend
00:44:48
Trevor's had a close relationship with them and often stayed at their house several nights a week
00:44:53
it's where he was when he was arrested one of the senior detectives on the case detective rau was made aware of Trevor's
00:45:01
request and he decided to lay out we will refer to Trevor's auntie as Jennifer that's not a real name the call
00:45:12
was made to Jennifer at 5:00 p.m. there was detective Rael who spoke to her not Travis
00:45:17
Jennifer remained silent for a few moments and when she finally spoke she started sobbing uncontrollably she said
00:45:25
I need to talk to you I need to talk about John it's about his behavior towards women
00:45:32
she told Rael that if he hadn't caught she would have called police herself sooner or later because for two weeks
00:45:38
she'd been unable to sleep she needed to speak to them about John Travis and asked if she could meet them somewhere
00:45:44
ray'll agreed and they arranged to meet at Wentworth Phil leagues club detective
00:45:50
rel detective Rosetta and another detective arrived at Wentworth Phil legs club at 6:00 p.m. a few minutes later a
00:45:57
nervous-looking woman appeared to be on the lookout for someone waiting around in different directions inside the club
00:46:03
Rael approached her and told her who he was he asked if she was Jennifer and she
00:46:08
nodded sensing her discomfort Rael let her outside into an unmarked police car once inside the car
00:46:16
Jennifer opened up she said that Trevor's confided in her and had told her about crimes he had committed he
00:46:24
said that he dragged both men and women in different places and he always carried a knife with him everywhere he
00:46:29
went Jennifer had been feeling uneasy ever since she'd heard about the anita kabhi
00:46:34
murder she couldn't help but think that Travis had something to do with it she couldn't prove it and he hadn't told her
00:46:40
anything about it but with each passing day she had the nagging feeling that he was responsible
00:46:47
ree-ally since to everything Jennifer had to say and when she was done he told her he'd get back to her soon
00:46:53
Jennifer exited the car and walked back home and the detectives returned to black town police station they called
00:47:01
the tech Devane Kennedy to join them and they discussed what to do next they decided they would get Jennifer to visit
00:47:07
Travers in the cells and give him cigarettes they would let them have a regular chat to see if Travers confided
00:47:12
in her about Anita's murder likely had confided in her about other crimes he had committed on the morning of Saturday
00:47:19
February 22nd 1986 Jennifer attended Bucktown police station detective Rael explained that he
00:47:27
wanted her to talk to Travis normally he mentioned that a car had been stolen by
00:47:31
Travers Michael Murdoch and delays Murphy and did they suspect that that same stolen car was used to abduct and
00:47:37
need a copy so he believed that because Travers had been brought to the station in the first place
00:47:42
due to the stolen car he might mention that to her but still the main instruction route gave her was to simply
00:47:49
listen there was no set or prepared questions she'd have to ask the idea was for the conversation to be as natural as
00:47:56
possible so Travers wouldn't suspect there was anything off about it on the way to Traverse L Rauh reassured
00:48:04
Jennifer that she was doing the right thing and they wouldn't let anything bad happen to her when they got to the cells
00:48:11
rel Latin other-- acerous caught Jennifer he knew that if Travis saw anything suspicious he wouldn't say
00:48:17
anything and if he got a hint the Jennifer was helping detectives he could even send someone to kill her Ferrell
00:48:24
was watching from a distance and was concerned he could see the Jennifers of lakes were shaking uncontrollably she
00:48:31
was speaking the traverse through the gap in the cell that allows food to be passed through but he thought if he
00:48:35
could see it from a distance Travers could most likely see it from his cell but if Travers did notice
00:48:41
anything he didn't show him Jennifer passed him the pack of cigarettes and they spoke for about 20
00:48:47
minutes after the conversation detective rau led Jennifer through a side door into a courtyard she
00:48:54
immediately broke down in tears and said he did it he killed her detective Rael held Jennifer as she
00:49:03
cried when he saw she was composed again he led her to an office and sat down to
00:49:08
take a statement Jennifer said Travers whispered to her they trying to pin that murder on me she extended her hand to
00:49:17
reach for his and while she was holding his hand she asked him did you do it John Trevor said yes
00:49:25
he then asked Jennifer to go to his house and get a knife one that had a brown wooden handle in the knife tool
00:49:31
when Jennifer asked if it was the knife he had used to kill Anita Travis said yes it's my best knife
00:49:39
Trevor's also asked Jennifer to get rid of other evidence he instructed her to find a pair of jeans which were really
00:49:46
faded and had blood on them he also instructed her to go and see Les Murphy to tell him to get rid of the stolen car
00:49:52
the stolen car that had been used to abduct Anita still hadn't been recovered by police Travis told Jennifer that it
00:50:01
hadn't just been him Michael Murdoch and les Murphy who abducted Anita there were also two more
00:50:06
men involved they were lazers older brothers Gary Murphy who was 28 into Michael Murphy who was 33 both Gary and
00:50:15
Michael had extensive criminal records Michael had actually escaped from jail and was a fugitive at the torn Travis
00:50:23
said all five had abducted Anita when he was telling Jennifer what they did he started laughing Jennifer had to tell
00:50:30
him to stop because it wasn't funny Travis finished by telling Jennifer they were all saying do your thing the thing
00:50:39
Travis was referring to was the splitting of the throat like he had done to the sheep before Jennifer detailed
00:50:48
the conversation in a science statement rather than asked her to go a step further although the statement was
00:50:54
extremely helpful and may have been an issue in court it was Jennifer's word against Travis he
00:51:00
say trevor's could easily take the stand and deny he said any of it on top of that Jennifer had a checkered past
00:51:08
herself she had a criminal record and was a former heroin addict something defense lawyers could use against her at
00:51:15
trial to diminish her credibility for this reason Rio asked Jennifer who should be willing to speak the travers
00:51:22
again but this time with a tape recorder Jennifer considered it for a moment and
00:51:28
nervously agreed Rael prepared a warrant requesting permission to record Travis while waiting for the warrant to be
00:51:36
authorized detectives visited Travis uncle to get him onside they realized Jennifer was
00:51:41
taking a big risk and Travers uncle may not be supportive of the fact that she was helping police in a case against his
00:51:47
nephew however when detectives filled him in on everything he reassured Jennifer that
00:51:52
she was doing the right thing Trevor's uncle even helped police as well detectives followed through on the
00:51:59
instruction given by Travis to Jennifer about getting rid of the car they were hoping by passing Trevor's message on to
00:52:05
Les Murphy he would lead them right to the stolen car that they were still searching for Travis uncle and Jennifer
00:52:11
delivered the message to Les Murphy but Murphy stayed where he was he never went to the car when Travers uncle and
00:52:19
Jennifer returned to black town police station the judge had authorized the warrant to record Travis detectives had
00:52:26
some major concerns though surveillance recording in 1986 consisted of a fairly large reel-to-reel tape recorder that
00:52:33
had several wires and the microphone had to be as close to the subject as possible they were concerned that
00:52:39
travelers would notice the wires or microphone but it was the only option they had like he had done during the
00:52:45
first confession Rael walked Jennifer down to the cells and reassured her that everything would be okay he again
00:52:52
allowed another officer to escort her to Travis cell as they watched from a distance as soon as Travis saw Jennifer
00:52:58
he asked her if she took care of the knife in the jeans Jennifer and said that she took care of the jeans but she
00:53:05
never found the knife she asked if maybe he had already gotten rid of it and forgotten
00:53:09
so which she replied no it's my best knife I want to keep it if you find it as the conversation continued Jennifer
00:53:17
asked why they killed a needle Travis answered that it was because she'd seen them she'd seen their faces so he had
00:53:24
the door then he changed the subject and gave her a new set of instructions Trevor's new
00:53:30
idea was to escape from prison mainly because even if he didn't think that police had anything on him in an
00:53:36
ADA's case they still had his blood sample to connect him to the previous rapes he committed in Western Australia
00:53:40
so we knew he wasn't getting out anytime soon Trevor's idea was the derailer train so
00:53:47
it would crash and crumble the walls of the police station allowing him to escape as
00:53:51
Bucktown railway station was almost next to the police station but as he explained his plan even he realized how
00:53:58
far-fetched and difficult it seemed so he decided on a new plan he said to Jennifer quote tell Gary and McMurphy to
00:54:06
be at the back of the police station here with a couple of shot eats between 3:00 and 3:30 in the morning before I go
00:54:11
to court it's only skeleton crew at that time the oldest bloke has got the keys they don't check on me when the Sun
00:54:17
comes up just during the night about four times Jennifer told Travers she would deliver the message to the to
00:54:25
Murphy brothers before bidding him goodbye the technical team removed - the tape
00:54:30
recorder and detectives congratulated her and reassured her once more that she'd done the right thing however it
00:54:36
wasn't the last time they needed her help the following day on Sunday February 23rd they asked to wire her up
00:54:44
again this time the person they needed her to record a conversation with was Michael Murdoch police had kept his
00:54:52
Murphy and Michael Murdoch under surveillance ever since they were released from the police station but the
00:54:56
names of Liz's older brothers Gary and Michael Murphy were only new in the investigation so police had no idea
00:55:02
where they were the plan detectives had was the scent Jennifer to visit Michael Murdoch since Murdoch knew Jennifer well
00:55:10
they hope the Murdoch would spill his guts to her and also hoped he would lead them to the whereabouts of Gary and
00:55:15
Michael Murphy but things didn't go according to plan when Jennifer visited Murdoch at his mother's house she told
00:55:22
him that she knew everything that Travers had told her but Murdoch was a lot warrior than Travis he was hesitant
00:55:28
to share any information and simply stated that he might be leaving to go somewhere else soon but that was all
00:55:35
Jennifer left the house and met up with undercover officers who were waiting for
00:55:39
her down the street it was now time for police to keep their promise to Jennifer
00:55:44
they promised they would protect her and they stayed true to their word from that
00:55:49
moment on she entered the witness protection program along with Trevor's uncle and their children she was
00:55:54
referred to as Miss X during the investigation detectives then moved on to their next plane arresting Michael
00:56:02
Murdoch and les Murphy for the murder of ed Nadeau kabhi they did it near midnight again they split up into two
00:56:08
groups one of the groups went to Michael Murdoch's mother's house where he was still sane
00:56:13
just like before he didn't persist the other group went to Greenville the suburbs 17 kilometers southeast of black
00:56:20
town they forced entry and found Liz Murphy in bed with two women again he didn't resist next
00:56:28
detectives executed a search warrant at John Trevor's family home and conducted a thorough search throughout the entire
00:56:34
house they found the bloody jeans Travis had used the night of the murder and several knives that were sent for
00:56:40
examination in the meantime Michael Murdoch and les Murphy were questioned again they now both admitted to
00:56:48
knowledge of Anita cobby's murder but they both said Travis was the sole person responsible in fact according to
00:56:54
Murdoch and Lowe's Murphy they didn't even see the murder even though they admitted to being men their accounts
00:57:01
were somewhat similar but did have some variations when their interviews were concluded detectives decided to
00:57:08
interview Travers again it was 4:30 a.m. detective Rosetta woke Travis up and told him that they had new information
00:57:18
on the Anita cobby case and it all pointed at him Travis was quick to get up he looked Rosetta in the eyes and said
00:57:26
who gave us up Rosetta didn't answer and instead opened the cell to take him to the interview
00:57:33
room Travers didn't take long to be upfront and say exactly what happened on the
00:57:38
night of Sunday February 2nd 1986 he said that hey Michael Murdoch was Gary and Michael Murphy we're all driving in
00:57:47
the stolen car through Newton Road in Blacktown when they saw an ADA walking through the street on her own Travis and
00:57:53
Murdoch were the ones to get out of the car and grab her they forced her into the car and they immediately ripped her
00:57:59
clothes off while they continued driving after a while they stopped at a service
00:58:04
station to put more petrol in the car in order to pay for the petrol they stole money from Anita's purse while they were
00:58:11
at the service station they held an ADA down in the car so nobody would be able to see her after getting petrol they
00:58:17
continued driving to Ring Road in Prospect they pushed her out of the car and dragged her to a deserted area
00:58:25
Travis gave a full and detailed confession about what they did to Anita and admitted he was the one who killed
00:58:31
her when they were finished Travis signed the confession and in total the interview lasted three hours
00:58:38
and 15 minutes they had Travers Murdoch and delays Murphy in custody now they needed to find Gary and Michael Murphy
00:58:48
detective Kennedy visited Anita's parents Grace and Gary he wanted to make sure they knew of the arrests before it
00:58:55
made the news as soon as Gary opened the door Kennedy said we got the three of them Gary but there's another two
00:59:04
by 9:00 a.m. on Monday February 24th all of Australia was aware that three of the
00:59:10
five men who killed an eater kabhi were in custody the public reacted to it fiercely Travers Murdoch and Murphy had
00:59:19
to be taken for their first court appearance the court was next to black town police station and that morning a
00:59:24
large crowd was waiting they all wanted the same thing the Travers Murdock and Murphy to hang the crowd hung a dummy
00:59:33
from a building near the police station and they carried science some of which said hang the bastards killed them and I
00:59:41
refuse to pay taxes to keep these mongrels in jail hang them but flog them first when the crowd got a glimpse of
00:59:49
the three accused they shouted death threats towards them the three of them were placed in cars to get them to the
00:59:55
courthouse so they didn't have to walk through the mob to this day Detective Kennedy remembers that moment quote it
01:00:03
was unbelievable and something I've never seen in Australia before or since the crowds were rocking the police car
01:00:08
trying to get them we were driving through them slowly with the mob completely surrounding the car the
01:00:16
reading of the charges in court only lasted five minutes they were charged with car theft rape and the murder they
01:00:23
all remained silent afterwards they were taken back to the police station the crowd stayed outside the entire day all
01:00:31
available officers had to be used to guard the station in the meantime detectives focused on finding the other
01:00:37
two offenders Gary and Michael Murphy they released pictures of them to the media calls
01:00:44
flooded the station with tip-offs about different sightings and police raided a number of different homes in the days
01:00:49
that followed but they didn't find them it was through a trustworthy informant that detectives received the positive
01:00:55
tip-off on Wednesday February 26th both brothers were hiding in a house in Glenfield a suburb located 32 kilometers
01:01:03
south of black town at 10:00 p.m. more than 50 heavily armed officers surrounded the house and a police
01:01:09
helicopter was flying nearby just in case the Tactical Response Group officer smashed the door in with a sledgehammer
01:01:15
and police rushed in Michael Murphy sat on a sofa with a woman and a baby Kerry Murphy was standing behind them
01:01:23
Gary ran into the back yard and Michael was about to follow but Kennedy got to Michael first he pointed a shotgun in
01:01:30
his face and told him to get on the ground Gary Murphy made it to the back fence
01:01:36
but as soon as he touched the fence several officers grabbed him Gary's head ended up going through the fence to stop
01:01:42
his escape leaving a big gash using with blood Gary Murphy also wet himself pictures were taken of the raid which
01:01:51
later appeared in the news an officer who was there was glad about the fact that Gary wet himself quote they were
01:01:57
like seeing that inside the other prisoners will see him as the coward is and it won't be pretty for him back
01:02:08
inside the house detective Kennedy had Michael Murphy against the ground with his boot on his head holding him down
01:02:14
and the shotgun never far removed from his face Kennedy stated later that there was a woman and a child inside the room
01:02:21
and he wasn't going to let anything happen to anyone quote Murphy was a hardened criminal
01:02:27
convicted of a number of armed holdups and an escape he was dangerous and I wasn't going to take any chances Michael
01:02:36
and Gary Murphy were placed inside different police cars Michael Murphy started talking almost immediately he
01:02:42
told the detectives in the car that he had been at Anita's murder but he never participated in anything he never
01:02:48
touched her and it was Travis who killed her the detectives listened but didn't comment the formal confession had to be
01:02:55
recorded at the police station otherwise it wouldn't hold up in court when they got to the police station that was
01:03:02
Detective Kennedy who led the interview of Michael Murphy Michael Murphy began by saying that they started the night at
01:03:09
the dunes side hotel then Travers proposed to get or party in windsor a town 23 kilometers north of Dune side
01:03:16
they drove to the party in the stolen Holden sedan then they left the party and drove back to dune soil
01:03:22
passing through black town and it was there that they spotted Anita John Travis was the one who wanted to go
01:03:29
after her Michael Murphy quote he seemed that Anita walking down the street I was
01:03:36
driving he said go turn around told grubber and he said to mick Murdoch you're going to help me Mick said yes we
01:03:45
drove past her and pulled up as she walked past John jumped out of the car and grabbed her and started dragging her
01:03:51
in he said to make help Mick jumped out of the car and helped drag her in I drove off the door was still open John
01:04:00
said to her shut up and you won't get hurt she said why are you doing this I'm married again John told her to shut up
01:04:09
then he started giving directions and I didn't know where to go so I told Gary to drive the car was still going and we
01:04:16
swapped places as the car was going we came to this kind of Hill the cast thought I think we were going to run out
01:04:23
of petrol we started the car again John and me push the girl onto the floor and told her to be quiet it was at that
01:04:32
moment that the group arrived at the service station and stole fifteen dollars from Anita to pay for petrol and
01:04:37
they continued on their way until they reached her ring road in Prospect Michael Murphy continued quote ledge
01:04:46
said there's a car parked down in front so Mick said take her into the paddock there was a fence Mick went through the
01:04:53
fence John grabbed hold of her and started pushing her to the fence I lifted up the
01:04:59
wire so she could get through as she was going through Mick grabbed hold of her hair and said keep your head down and
01:05:05
don't look at anyone Michael Murphy claimed he was the only one who didn't rape Anita as he couldn't get an
01:05:12
erection they got scared when they saw the headlights of an approaching car they forced the native further into the
01:05:19
paddock so they wouldn't be saying he claims they left her naked and unconscious and started to run except
01:05:26
for John Travis michael murphy quote john sang out come back i look back i saint john had hold
01:05:37
of her arm i think he was trying to drag her the car went straight ahead so we started walking back up
01:05:44
she looked unconscious and john said i'm gonna cut her throat I said no let's leave her John said no
01:05:52
she's seen us I said no come on leave her she has a head dinner lever Michael Murphy claims he his two brothers and
01:06:03
Murdoch all kept walking the Travers remained he claims Travers later caught up to them with blood all over him
01:06:10
telling them what he'd done Murdoch asked him what it felt like Travis said like nothing Michael Murphy continued by
01:06:22
saying they drove back to Travis house in dune saw it and they burnt their clothes in a fire in the backyard the
01:06:28
only person who didn't burn his clothes was Travis Michael Murphy doesn't know why Michael Murphy signed his confession
01:06:38
his account was the one most similar to Travis but still like the others he tried to downplay his only involvement
01:06:44
and the one major difference to Travers account is the actual killing Travis said the other four were standing around
01:06:51
encouraging him which is quite different to what Michael Murphy said happened in
01:06:56
the interviews of Michael Murdoch less Murphy and Garry Murphy they remembered certain parts said they couldn't
01:07:03
remember other parts and also claimed they had a minimal role and were pressured by the others present to
01:07:08
participate Detective Kennedy quote they all said others did it they were and are
01:07:16
the ultimate cowards which I suppose was to be expected throughout the rest of 1986 all five of them made numerous
01:07:25
court appearances in preparation for the trial and they'd esteem Lera mains strong and continued facing the media
01:07:32
every time they could they wouldn't stop until these five men were behind the bars for good but one person who
01:07:38
continued crumbling was Anita's husband John cobby after Anita's funeral his family decided the best thing to do was
01:07:48
to send him away they didn't believe being in Australia would do any good theme with the heavy
01:07:53
media coverage in every corner he turned being a reminder of a needle John had a
01:07:59
friend who lived in Michigan in the US and John's family asked Kennedy if it would be okay for him to go there since
01:08:05
John was no longer a suspect Kennedy approved there was rumored that Kennedy in a way had protected John
01:08:12
cubby from the media Kennedy had a good relationship with many reporters and he had told them to leave John alone
01:08:18
he knew that John state of mind was a mess like all detectives in the case Kennedy proceeded with respect first and
01:08:27
foremost when John had told Kennedy in his interview that he must have done it he must have killed Anita he truly
01:08:34
believed it not because he had any recollection of doing something specific but for the simple fact that he wasn't
01:08:41
there to protect her and if he had been that would have never happened John's friend in Michigan was a
01:08:47
psychologist and he tried to help but John spent his days drinking heavily snorting cocaine and doing heroin when
01:08:56
Travers Murdock and the three Murphy brothers were arrested for an ADA's murder John's friend wanted to let him
01:09:02
know so it could find some peace of mind but when he began telling him John didn't want to hear it they didn't want
01:09:09
to know anything about who ever heard her nadir John's friend helped him sign himself into the psychiatric ward of
01:09:16
Pontiac Hospital in Michigan John stayed there until the man he shared bunk beds
01:09:20
with cut himself and the blood fell on top of John's face he signed himself out of the hospital immediately horrified by
01:09:27
what he'd seen he got back to his friends house and managed to get a job as a nurse dresser which was mainly so
01:09:34
he could earn money to buy more drugs when he wasn't working or using he went running for hours until every muscle in
01:09:42
his body hurt all he could think about was the needle and he continuously called himself a coward for not being
01:09:48
there for not protecting her one day he sat down and wrote a letter to Catherine
01:09:54
I need his sister he told her that he was very sorry that he wasn't there to help you out the family but he had to
01:10:00
leave he had to get away from everything that reminded him of Anita he stay in Michigan came to an end when a
01:10:07
journalist appeared at his doorstep asking for an interview about Anita John had no idea how the journalist found him
01:10:13
as it was supposed to be a secret so his family arranged for him to stay at another friend's apartment in San
01:10:19
Francisco in San Francisco he continued doing drugs and alcohol until he ended up in hospital with a broken foot and a
01:10:26
no recollection of what had happened he felt disgusted with himself and believed
01:10:31
he was too far away from the person he wanted to be he decided to return to Sydney and in
01:10:37
May he was stepping off a plane at Sydney Airport for the next month he was able to slowly stop doing drugs although
01:10:44
we couldn't work he felt too broken to do anything still he felt he was slowly healing but it all came to a halt on
01:10:52
June 23rd this was the date of the committal proceedings for Anita's case the story was all over the media again
01:10:59
John felt once more that everywhere he went he could hear the name they need a copy he couldn't go anywhere without
01:11:06
being reminded of Anita and what had happened so he decided to leave again he sold a racehorse and went to London
01:11:13
where he met up with Leone Leone was a nurse John had dated before he started dating Anita she worked the sending
01:11:20
Hospital and lived at the nurses quarters with John they'd been together for a year and a half before John
01:11:25
started dating Anita at the time we only decided to move out of the nurses quarters because she had fallen in love
01:11:33
with John and it was too hurtful to see him so in love with Anita she didn't see
01:11:38
him again until a few weeks into John and Anita's separation when they ran into each other at the races we only
01:11:44
left to go over see soon after that and it was only a few weeks later that a friend called her to tell her about
01:11:49
Anita's murder we only called John to check up on him and they spoke very briefly they promised to communicate
01:11:56
again soon when John was in Michigan he sent letters to Leone and she answered they also called each other every once
01:12:04
in a while when John was back in Sydney and he was thinking of leaving again we only told him to visit her in London
01:12:12
when John got to London they slowly began a relationship of sorts but one that was plagued by guilt from Leone and
01:12:18
by depression and paranoia from John John felt depressed and paranoid because he couldn't let an aid his memory go
01:12:24
until he only explained her feelings with the following words quote throughout the whole time since hearing
01:12:32
of Anita's death and being with John I experienced very strong feelings of guilt I loved John but I was only there
01:12:39
because of what had happened to her I used to think often of the terrible things that those men did to her it was
01:12:45
like she was in my head all the time too I used to have a lot of dreams about her
01:12:50
as well it took a long time to rid myself of those obsessive thoughts sometimes though Leone and John managed
01:12:58
to be happy together and at one point John got a job doing what he loved training courses after a while John
01:13:06
thought of returning to Sydney with Leone but instead he ended up buying tickets to go to Bali
01:13:11
a place where he'd gone several times with a needle but when they got to Bali John thought it was wrong to be there
01:13:18
with Leone he was paranoid about what others would think on seeing him with another woman he told Leone he should go
01:13:25
back to Sydney on his own they had no money so he only asked her family to borrow some and she paid for John's
01:13:31
ticket she said goodbye to him as he boarded the plane back to Sydney it was the last time they were together back in
01:13:40
Sydney John started working in psychiatric nursing and on January 23rd 1987 he did the only thing that he
01:13:48
thought could make him forget Anita he changed his name at the department of births deaths and marriages he filled
01:13:55
out a form giving up the name John cobby to become John Francis the trial against
01:14:04
Travers Murdoch and to the Murphy brothers came not long after it was scheduled to begin on March 16th 1987 in
01:14:11
court five of darlinghurst court since the public's outrage throughout the entire investigation of being so fierce
01:14:18
security was strengthened there were temporary metal detectors outside the courtroom doors as well as a heavy
01:14:25
police presence everyone was searched before entering the courtroom there was an increasing
01:14:30
concern that Anita's father Gary would try something back in the early days of the investigation
01:14:36
Gary had told Kennedy that given the chance it would only take him a second to snap her neck
01:14:42
Kennedy had told him that it was natural for him to feel that way but not to stoop to the level of the killers the
01:14:49
Geary remained calm throughout the entire trial and never attempted anything not the same could be said for
01:14:55
members of the public there was still outrage the fear that someone would try and kill one of the defendants was very
01:15:02
real during the first day of the trial something happened that no one expected John Travers pleaded guilty to all
01:15:10
charges he was taken to the cells and didn't return to court until he was sentenced months later next was jury
01:15:19
selection for the other four defendants this had been another concern especially
01:15:23
for defense lawyers the case was infamous the media coverage was extensive and the defendants were hated
01:15:31
defense lawyers saw little hope of a fair trial still the jury selection took place and
01:15:36
by that afternoon there were 12 jurors eight men and four women once the jury was seated the prosecutor gave his
01:15:44
opening statement he picked up a knife and said quote there will be no doubt from the evidence given to you that she
01:15:51
was brutally in savagely murdered and you would be less than human if you were not horrified about what you will hear
01:15:57
in this case the first witness called was Anita's father Gary Lynch the second day of the trial started with another
01:16:06
surprise a newspaper article was published that stated that Michael Murphy was a prison escapee at the time
01:16:11
of Anita's murder there was a common known fact anyway but since it was published right after the beginning of
01:16:17
the trial and it gave the jury the opportunity to read it the judge ruled a mistrial the new trial started the
01:16:24
following Monday this meant that Gary Lynch would have to testify again and when asked about his feelings on it he
01:16:30
said quote my wife and I are as strong as whales lions and elephants when the trial began again on Monday
01:16:39
March 23rd 1987 the media focused on another defendant Gary Murphy and more specifically the relationship he had
01:16:47
with his lawyer Leigh Johnson Leigh Johnson had actually requested a separate trial for Gary Murphy since he
01:16:54
claimed he was never even at the murder he gave a new unsworn statement stating he left the group before the abduction
01:17:00
and murder of an ADA this new one sworn statement contradicted what he had initially told the police and being
01:17:06
unsworn and meant he couldn't be cross-examined on it Gary Murphy's lawyer Lee Johnson said
01:17:12
that his initial statement to police had been given under duress as police and fractured his jaw in two places during
01:17:18
the arrest the fact that Leigh Johnson stood by Gary Murphy and was a woman around his age led to rumors in the
01:17:24
press that they were involved in a romantic relationship Leigh Johnson had this to say quote I was committed to my
01:17:33
client no matter what I thought of him I always have and always will be people didn't like that and I think resented me
01:17:39
for it quite unfairly none of the defendants were likable they had extensive criminal records and were not
01:17:47
attractive to look at in fact the opposite while the media focused on Gary Murphy intially Johnson inside the
01:17:56
courtroom the defense team focused on building a defense based on police brutality while the prosecution had
01:18:02
close to 40 witnesses and based its case on extensive evidence including signed confessions and a tape-recorded
01:18:08
confession from Travers the defense team had a different agenda the lawyers knew that due to the
01:18:14
strength of the prosecution case there's no chance of them being found innocent so what they went for was trying to
01:18:19
reduce the murder charge to manslaughter which would mean a much reduced sentence
01:18:24
in order to do this the defense claimed that the confessions of Murdoch and the Murphy brothers were beaten out of them
01:18:30
by police given under extreme duress the defense also focused on the point that it was John Travers and only John
01:18:38
Travers who used the knife all four defendants gave new statements all unsworn meaning they couldn't be
01:18:46
cross-examined each gave new versions and different accounts reducing their own involvement than putting the blame
01:18:52
on others michael murphy said in his statement quote i wasn't there if i was it was for sex and not for murder lesbo
01:19:02
he cried while giving his new one sworn statement michael murdock admitted he was there but said he was forced to be
01:19:11
the defense same cross-examined police regarding their allegations of brutality in debating confessions out of the
01:19:17
defendants detective Kennedy was asked how Michael Murphy had gotten a mark on his cheek after the arrest kennedy
01:19:24
answered quote probably when I had my boot on his head as he lay on the floor the defense were unable to pin brutality
01:19:32
on the detectives involved in the case their action proven to be justified in the circumstances Easter fell while the
01:19:40
trial was still running detective Kennedy entered the courtroom and saw four little Easter eggs placed
01:19:44
on the defendants table the only other person inside the courtroom was Leigh Johnson
01:19:49
Gary Murphy's lawyer so he asked though who the four Easter eggs before she told
01:19:55
him that it was a little gesture for the defendants since it was Easter Kennedy smashed the eggs breaking them
01:20:01
into little pieces he said the eggs were a security risk and they couldn't have them he threw
01:20:06
them away but some crumbs were left on the table when the defendants walked into court they saw the chocolate crumbs
01:20:12
and ate them from the table while giggling at each other the defendants actually laughed often
01:20:18
throughout the trial the biggest blow for the defense theme came when the last prosecution witness was called Miss X
01:20:26
Travers Arnie Jennifer she had already appeared in the committal proceedings and there John Travers attempted to jump
01:20:34
from his seat and lunge at her but he was stopped by detectives there was a fear amongst detectives that
01:20:41
that incident would scare her out of appearing at the trial to give evidence but it didn't
01:20:46
Jennifer appeared and became the star witness in her testimony she spoke about her visits to John Travers and the tape
01:20:53
recordings were played which clearly pointed to all five defendants being guilty closing arguments were given on
01:21:02
Tuesday June 9th 1997 the jury left the courtroom at lunch time to reach a verdict most observers thought the
01:21:10
verdict would be reached within minutes but by 9:00 p.m. there was still nothing
01:21:15
journalists TV crews detectives friends relatives and crowds of onlookers all left for home
01:21:21
the jury was taken to a nearby motel when Gary and grace link's arrived home that night they didn't know what to
01:21:29
think they really believed that the deliberations in the jury room would be fast and they would find the five man
01:21:35
guilty without a death but now that were worried on what the verdict would be they couldn't sleep that night
01:21:43
John Cobb II didn't attend the trial along with changing his name he'd shave his head to become unrecognizable he
01:21:51
kept having a recurring dream that he entered the courtroom wearing a motorcycle helmet and carrying two guns
01:21:57
with them he killed all five of the men that killed Anita the next morning Wednesday June 10th
01:22:05
1987 at 10:20 a.m. the jury reached the verdict Lesley Murphy Gary Murphy Michael Murphy and Michael Murdock were
01:22:16
all found guilty everyone inside the courtroom seemed to let out a sigh of relief
01:22:22
many cried including Gary and grace Lynch journalist ran to the door to get their stories in on Tuesday June 16th
01:22:32
1997 Travers Murdock and to the Murphy brothers all stood in the dock in front of the judge as already sentenced to
01:22:39
them justice Maxwell quote the crown firstly alleged that after having assaulted and robbed their deceased and
01:22:47
sexually assaulted her they were conscious of the fact that she could recognize them and they therefore agreed
01:22:53
amongst themselves that she should be killed all the others knew that Travis was armed with a knife and today
01:22:59
contemplated that Travis would use the knife or might use the knife she was lying face down when the prisoner
01:23:05
inflicted the fatal wounds the medical evidence established that she was both alive and conscious before the wounds
01:23:12
were inflicted one cannot establish precisely the length of time that she was subjected to the attacks giving rise
01:23:19
to the injuries is described but it is open on the evidence to conclude that it was upwards of at least an hour and a
01:23:25
half there is no doubt that apart from the humiliation degradation and a terror inflicted upon this young woman she was
01:23:33
the victim of a prolonged and sadistic physical and sexual assault wild animals are given to pack assaults and killings
01:23:40
however they do so for the purpose of survival and not as a result of a degrading animal passion not so these
01:23:47
prisoners they assaulted in a pack for the purpose of satisfying their lust and killed for the Prevention of
01:23:53
identification indeed frequently they were observed to be laughing one with the other and frequently was seen to be
01:24:01
snickering behind their hands the crime is exacerbated by the fact that the victim almost certainly was made aware
01:24:08
in the end of her pending death this was a calculating killing done in cold blood
01:24:14
therefore I imposed the following sentences John Raymond Travers Michael James Murdoch
01:24:22
Leslie Joseph Murphy Michael Patrick Murphy and Gary's Stephen Murphy first count of murder I sentence you to penal
01:24:31
servitude for life their papers were signed and never to be released into the entire courtroom clatter loudly not long
01:24:44
after the trial detectives Kennedy Rosetta and rau all received commendations from Police
01:24:49
Commissioner John Avery for their work on the case from that moment on the Anita kabhi case
01:24:55
was seen as one of the best conducted investigations in Australia the fact that the detectives never stopped
01:25:01
searching even when there was no evidence and John Colby had told them he did it made them stand out the entire
01:25:08
investigation took 22 days and although these three detectives were the ones who
01:25:12
got commendations they all said that the commendations should be given to the entire team since every person that was
01:25:18
part of the task force gave everything they had all in all though they stated that their biggest wish was that there
01:25:25
hadn't been a crime to begin with to give commendations for after the trial Travers Murdoch and the Murphy brothers
01:25:33
fell out with one another although Murdoch remained a loyal to Travers the Murphy brothers all hated him because he
01:25:39
pled guilty and he was caught on tape confessing Travers Leslie Murphy into Michael Murphy were all sent to goblin
01:25:47
prison located 200 kilometres southwest of Sydney in 1996 Travis feigned an illness and while he
01:25:54
was being transported to hospital in a van he tried to hacksaw his way out however he was caught and taken back to
01:25:59
Goulburn throughout his town there he's been in various fights both with fellow inmates as well as prison officials
01:26:06
Travers Leslie Murphy and Michael Murphy are all held in Goulburn supermax prison
01:26:11
they have been from having anything to do with each other and they are also been from having any interaction with
01:26:17
other high-profile inmates such as Ivan Milat Gary Murphy and Michael Murdoch have
01:26:23
moved between prisons every six months or so to prevent them from building up what prison officials call a Kingdom
01:26:29
murdock became a devoted christian while in prison and for a long time he was classified as a medium-security prisoner
01:26:35
until the Sydney Daily Telegraph newspaper launched a campaign in 2015 and it was reclassified to a maximum
01:26:42
security prisoner to this day Trevor's Murdoch and the Murphy brothers are threatened constantly by other
01:26:49
prisoners and they are often held in isolation for months at a time for their own safety after being convicted of a
01:26:57
needed murder Michael Murphy had the reappear at Darlinghurst Court in relation to his prison escape which he
01:27:02
was still on the run for at the time of the murder during this court appearance he was
01:27:07
unable to sit down he'd been assaulted by other inmates who held him to the ground inserted a piece of plastic
01:27:14
tubing up his anus and pushed barbed wire through it then they removed the plastic tubing and left the barbed wire
01:27:20
inside his body Michael Murphy is the most isolated of the five and very little is known about his time in prison
01:27:30
after the trial ended a new organization was established called the victim's compensation tribunal family members of
01:27:38
murdered victims had the possibility to claim up to $50,000 in compensation for their grief Geary and grace Lynx were
01:27:45
considering applying for it asking for $20,000 for each other in $10,000 for John John really didn't want any
01:27:52
compensation to him that sounded like blood bunny taking advantage of Anita's murder but his sister gainer has sister
01:28:00
Don him applying for it and applying for more than $10,000 she believed his brother's grief and suffering was worth
01:28:06
a lot more than that John ended up applying and went to see a forensic psychologist the forensic psychologist
01:28:14
themed to John as someone deeply disturbed and he was granted $25,000 in compensation John also remarried he met
01:28:23
Elizabeth his future wife at a New Year's party in 1987 she was friends with his sister Gaynor John crossed
01:28:31
paths with Elizabeth again a few months later and from there on they started a relationship which ended up in marriage
01:28:37
on December 16th 1989 they had two children together John visited and at his grave for the
01:28:45
first time in 1997 more than 10 years since she'd been buried that same year John started working in Long Bay jail as
01:28:53
a nurse he remained in that job until 2003 Long Bay jail had been where Travis was held in custody during the trial but
01:29:01
he had since been moved to Calvin jail when John was asked if the reason he got the job there was in the hope he'd find
01:29:07
Anita's killers he denied it however his sister gainer didn't she knew John better than anyone and was sure that her
01:29:15
brother got a job in the prison to try and find Anita's killers so he could kill them in 2005 John and Elizabeth
01:29:23
divorced John's children found out about Anita when they were older John had kept
01:29:29
it a secret until one day a special program on Anita appeared on TV while John was with his
01:29:34
son Daniel John let out a sob and Daniel didn't understand the emotional response
01:29:40
from his father until John sat him and he stored it down and explained that he was John kabhi the former husband of an
01:29:47
ADA in 2014 John wanted to start working at Long Bay jail again but it was talked
01:29:54
out of it in 2015 does a memorial held for an ADA John didn't attend choosing to stay at home and get drunk instead at
01:30:04
one point he checked the Facebook site dedicated to the memorial and he read all the posts that expressed how sorry
01:30:10
everyone felt for what happened John felt moved by the fact that so many people remembered Anita and he posted a
01:30:17
photograph of himself and her after that he felt more ready to start sharing his
01:30:23
side of the story and he developed the book the book is called remembering an ADA kabhi in April 2016 John together
01:30:36
with his son Daniel went back to the Department of births deaths and marriages and changed his name back to
01:30:42
John cobby the day before his son Daniel posted the following message on Facebook quote most
01:30:51
of you know me as Dan Francis I wanted to let you know that tomorrow my father and I changing our surnames back to
01:30:57
cobby nothing can change what happened to anita almost 30 years ago but tomorrow we are taking a big step in the
01:31:04
right direction to having a life with a touch of relief this is a huge step individually and as a family I couldn't
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be prouder of my dad and what he's achieved tough times don't last the tough people do John's sister Gaynor
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kept the last name cobby even after she married a need his parents carrying grace Lynch stayed in contact and became
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close friends with several of the detectives involved in the case they were always deeply thankful to them for
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having such determination in finding the killers of their daughter in 1993 garyun grace started a support group
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called the homicide victim support group which aimed to comfort all those in grief they worked tirelessly for the
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group until their passing Gary in 2008 and grace in 2013 today Grace's place is being built the
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trauma Recovery Center for children and young people and their families to assist in grieving the death of a loved
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one through homicide it will include 12 bedrooms for 12 children to be accompanied by 12 volt
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carers Grace's place will offer a home away from home which will include a meeting
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room a music room a playroom the quiet area a garden and counseling and therapeutic programs that will last for
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periods of 10 weeks it will be located in Doon side it's named after grace lynch and the
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woman who follows Grace's footsteps today said this quote that was my wish that the center be named in her honor
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because she was inspirational when mothers and fathers met grace they felt if she could survive the murder of Anita
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in the horrible way she was killed they felt they could cope with the murder of their children this wasn't the first
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time grace was described in this way detective Kennedy stated that although Geary tended to be the face of the
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couple and would front reporters every day grace was standing right behind him holding his hand and remaining strong
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sometimes for the two of them there were times where Gary felt he couldn't continue anymore
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and grace told him we have to do it for Anita Grace's place is due to be completed by September 2018 and when
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explaining what the center is in a nutshell that spokeswoman said it's all about what we can do to make you believe
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the world is a good place during the investigation of Anita's murder many women in black town stopped
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leaving the house fearing they would be next they believed that if that could happen to a young nurse on her way home
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from work it could happen to anyone black town became extremely alert and the men would go with their wives
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daughters and mothers everywhere they carried baseball bats crowbars hammers and even guns anything they could get
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their hands on because they felt nothing was safe anymore a black town resident of the time said quote you could feel
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taste and smell the fear in the air when the word got out of the brutality of the
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crime some say I need a copy story is still used to this day as a cautionary tale from mothers to daughters to be
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careful and need a copy is remembered as a kind soul a free-spirited woman the frangipani was a favorite flower holding
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back the years by simply read was a favorite song she had plans of learning Spanish and plans to look for a new
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apartment to move back in with John again in Sidney Hospital there is a plaque dedicated to her the raids in
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fond memory of an ADA Loraine kabhi whose life ended tragically on February 2nd 1986 a friend and colleague to the
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nursing staff may her light shine forever [Music] you