Crimes and Incidents

Fatal Capture of Ah Kim - An escaped prisoner shot during recapture.

Constable Willshire of Alice Springs mounted police was tried for murder of Aborigines in Hermannsburg.  He was later acquitted in Port Augusta [1] 

Coniston massacre, massacre by Constable William Murray and "Nugget" Morton who led a revenge party through the Coniston area following the murder of dingo-trapper Fred Brooks by Aborigines. 

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September – Blue Mud Bay Massacre – killing of a Japanese trepang crew in Caledon Bay.

August 1 - Mounted Constable McColl was allegedly killed by a spear on Woodah Island by Dhakiyarr.  The alleged murder of William Fagan and Frank Traynor in their boat by Dhakiyarr happened between these two events. Also see the Vic Hall bio page for additional details.

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Murder of Japanese Pearl Fishermen by Nemarluk on the pearl lugger Ouida off Injin Beach near Port Keats.

During the war two Aboriginal women were beaten to death with shovels in an apparent tribal punishment near Brown's Creek near Daly River - Arrest by Constable Tim Turner, sentence of 5 years gaol by Judge Delts - refer 'Bandy's Boys' by June Collins p 70.

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Murder of Constable Condon by shooting in Katherine

Air Crash Near Mataranka - Roy Moffatt

December - Sundown Murders - an NT woman, her daughter and her friend were murdered at Sundown Station just inside the SA border.

April 26 - Baby in a parcel (unsolved case) - A 2 day old male baby with stocking around its neck was posted from Melbourne to a 'Mr Anderson' in Darwin.

September 21 - Manhunt for alleged murderer Larry Boy near Mataranka

Donald Tait arrested on the 19th of January for the importation of 270,000 Thai 'buddha sticks' then valued at $4 million dollars using a Aero Commander 680E west of Darwin after being intercepted by a C1-30 Hercules.  Tait hid in bushland for 40 hours and was sentenced to 7 years prison.   He was later arrested in Thailand for possession of heroin but the charges withdrawn in 1986.

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June 23 - Martin Leach bound, gagged and stabbed Charmaine Ariet and bound, gagged, stabbed, raped and slit the throat of her cousin Janice Carnegie before burying their bodies in a gully. 

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August 18 - Douglas Crabbe rammed his 25 ton Mack truck into a motel bar at the base of Uluru, killing 5 people. 

Douglas Scott was murdered in Darwin's Berrimah Jail [1], later dismissed by the Darwin Supreme Court. [3]

Mr Stinky (rapist - unsolved case)   

June - The Kimberley Killer - Josef Schwab

January 11 - Murder of construction work Ioannis Fratzeskos (unsolved case)

Murder of Peter Dean Robinson by Daniel Heiss and Peter Kamm near Borroloola.

• Hidden Valley Cannabis Crop (court transcript) - link to the NCA bombing in Adelaide.

Rodney Ansell, inspiration for the 1986 film, Crocodile Dundee, killed Sergeant Glen Huitson before being killed by police. Read More... 

Tent city established in Darwin for East Timor evacuees.

June 6 - Murder of Greg Bebense

Peter Falconio disappearance - British tourist disappears on July 14, 2001 [5] 

March – Darwin sex workers Phuangsri Kroksamrang, 58, and Somjai Insamnan, 27, were bound with cable ties and thrown alive into the Adelaide River near Darwin by Ben William McLean and Phu Ngoc Trinh. [6] 

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October 21 - NT National Emergency Response - Federal Government Intervention prompted by the plight of Aboriginal Children.

August 17 - Murder of Peter Wayne Murphy

February 2 - A disgruntled customer used a trolley based device and bombed the Territory Insurance Office in Darwin City injuring 15. [7

June 13 - 8 year old Nicholas Middis was killed and his mother seriously injured in a deliberately lit fire at their Leanyer unit.

Support to NZ Police following Christchurch earthquake (pre deployment video)

June 30 - Capture of alleged NSW murderer Jonathan Stenberg

August - Woman abducted from women's shelter in Darwin by Joshua Walsh