The crime that changed Australia forever | Forensic Files

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

Case 56: Anita Cobby

Blacktown is a suburb located in Western Sydney, 37 kilometres away from Sydney’s Central Business District. In the mid-1980’s, drugs, crime and high levels of unemployment were rife in the streets of Blacktown. But it was one particular night that changed everything…

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research and writing – Victoria Dieffenbacher Production, scoring – Mike Migas Additional scoring – Andrew Joslyn

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RESOURCES

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Brief Summary

The episode covers the brutal murder of Anita Cobby and the investigation leading to the arrest and trial of her killers.

Key points

The Discovery of a Body. A dairy farmer finds a woman's body in a paddock, leading to a police investigation.
Anita Cobby's Disappearance. Anita Cobby goes missing after a night out, prompting concern from her family.
Tragic Identification. Gary Lynch identifies his daughter's body, revealing a devastating truth.
Anita's Case Shocks Australia. Anita's murder becomes a national headline, shocking the entire country.
John Cobby's Descent. Anita's husband spirals into addiction after her death, struggling with grief.
Travis's Cold Confession. During interrogation, Travis shockingly admits to the murder, revealing chilling details.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I will never forget those dead eyes.

Detective Rosetta reflects on the victim's suffering.

4:48WatchNov 20, 2018

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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