Gatton murders
Encyclopedia
Gatton, Queensland
Gatton is a town and the administrative centre of the Lockyer Valley Local Government Area situated in the Lockyer Valley of South East Queensland, Australia. At the 2006 census, Gatton had a population of 5,295....
. Michael Murphy and his younger sisters Norah (Honora) and Ellen (Theresa) had been beaten to death between 10pm and 4am on 26-27 December 1898 while returning home from a dance. Also known as "The Gatton Tragedy", "The Gatton Mystery" and "The Murphy Murders".
Background
The Murphy family owned a farm at Blackfellow’s Creek, some 8 miles (12.9 km) from GattonGatton, Queensland
Gatton is a town and the administrative centre of the Lockyer Valley Local Government Area situated in the Lockyer Valley of South East Queensland, Australia. At the 2006 census, Gatton had a population of 5,295....
and 61 miles (98.2 km) west of Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
's capital, Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
. While today's Gatton is a small town located between the cities of Ipswich
Ipswich, Queensland
Ipswich is a city in South-East Queensland, Australia. Situated along the Bremer River Valley approximately 40 kilometres away from the state's capital Brisbane. The suburb by the same name forms the city's Central Business District and administrative centre...
in the east and Toowoomba in the west, in the late 19th century the town was a major stopover point on the road from Brisbane to the Darling Downs and with two major briges and a railway line, the town was a rapidly expanding service centre for the district. Being more centrally located than Brisbane, there were even discussions regarding the relocation of the state capital to Gatton if the Lockyer Creek could be made navigable.
Michael and Daniel Murphy had both left home, Michael working on a government experimental farm near Westbrook, while Daniel was a Brisbane police constable. Michael had returned home for the Christmas holidays and on December 26 had taken his sister Ellen to the Mount Sylvia Races in nearby Caffey. At 8pm, Michael and his sisters Norah and Ellen, left home to attend a dance being held at the Gatton Hall. Arriving at 9pm they found the dance had been cancelled and began the return journey home but failed to arrive. Early the following morning, Mrs. Murphy asked her son-in-law William M’Neill to go to Gatton to find out why they had not returned. Michael had borrowed M’Neill's sulky
Sulky
A sulky is a lightweight cart having two wheels and a seat for the driver only but usually without a body, generally pulled by horses or dogs, and is used for harness races...
for the outing and while on the Tent-Hill road to Gatton, M’Neill recognised his sulky's distinctive tracks (the result of a wobbling wheel) turning off the road through a sliprail. M’Neill followed the tracks along a rough winding trail through wattle scrub for around 1 miles (1.6 km) before finding his missing relatives.
The crime
Crime in Australia
Crime-wise, Australia is comparatively a safe place to live, though often the perception of crime is much higher. Human smuggling, human trafficking and the illegal drug trade have all impacted Australia in recent years...
and, like the Gatton Murders themselves, remains a mystery to this day.
Inexplicably, M’Neill called at the Gilbert's "Brian Boru" hotel in Gatton (now the Imperial Hotel) and informed the patrons of the murder leading to a rush of up to forty people to the scene which possibly destroyed much of what little evidence there may have been. M’Neill then contacted sergeant Arrell, who was in charge of the Gatton police station, who later arranged for police from Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
to attend. This led to further delays with the investigating officers not arriving until 48 hours after the discovery of the bodies.
The bodies were moved to the Gilbert's hotel and at 4pm Dr. Von Lossberg, the Government Medical Officer at Ipswich arrived and between 4-5pm began an post mortem
Autopsy
An autopsy—also known as a post-mortem examination, necropsy , autopsia cadaverum, or obduction—is a highly specialized surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse to determine the cause and manner of death and to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present...
. Michael, aged 29 had been struck with a blunt instrument to the right side of the head. Ellen, aged 18 had her skull fractured by a single blow to the left side of her head. The wounds and position of the bodies when found indicated that Michael and Ellen were sitting upright and back-to-back when struck by one person. Norah, aged 27 had been struck several times on the left side of her head, pulverising her skull to the extent that her brain was protruding. Norah also had a harness strap
Horse harness
A horse harness is a type of horse tack that allows a horse or other equine to pull various horse-drawn vehicles such as a carriage, wagon or sleigh. Harnesses may also be used to hitch animals to other loads such as a plow or canal boat....
tied around her neck, tight enough to have caused death had the blows not killed her. Both women had been raped.
Michael's purse
M’Neill later testified that when he first saw Michael's body, his hands were tied behind his back with one holding an open purse, but all other witnesses said his hands were not tied but that a breeching strapBreeching (tack)
Breeching is a strap around the haunches of a draft, pack or riding animal. Both under saddle and in harness, breeching engages when an animal slows down or travels downhill and is used to brake or stabilize a load.-Harness breeching:...
lay nearby and that an empty purse was lying a short distance from the body. When his body was removed from the site at 1.30pm, Michael was now found to have the breeching strap between his [untied] hands with the empty purse held in one. Known to have had 15 shillings
Shilling (Australian)
The Australian Shilling was a coin of the Commonwealth of Australia prior to decimalization. The coin was minted from 1910 until 1963, excluding 1923, 1929, 1930, 1932, 1938, 1947, 1949 and 1951...
(2010:$100) in the purse the night before, it was speculated that someone may have untied Michael to access the purse: "Either Gilbert, one of the party, or M'Neill took the purse." This mystery has never been explained.
Exhumation and Contradictions
The original post mortems were conducted by the Government Medical Officer Dr. Von Lossberg with sergeant Arrell supervising. From interviews with people who had seen the bodies, Chief Inspector Stuart determined that Michael may have been shot in the head but this was not found by Dr. Von Lossberg despite claims that he had been asked to look for a bullet. Stuart ordered that all three bodies be exhumed and it was found that the original post mortems were no more than superficial examinations. Although decomposition was advanced it was now found that Michael had been shot in the right side of his head then later struck twice with a blunt instrument to the same spot so that the wound partially obscured the bullet hole. The bullet was recovered from the skull.Mr. Wiggins, J.P. testified that he had ordered the burials without an order for burial because he believed the post mortems had been completed and assumed that Von Lossberg had not carried any orders with him. Wiggins assumed an order would be forwarded from Ipswich. Sub-Inspector Galbraith testified that Von Lossberg had told him that he had completed the post mortems and that he had asked if Von Lossberg had found a bullet. Galbraith stated that Von Lossberg had told him that he had found what looked like a bullet hole with no exit wound but couldn't find a bullet in the skull. Dr. Von Lossberg testified that he had told Galbraith that he had not performed a post mortem at all because he was suffering from blood poisoning
Sepsis
Sepsis is a potentially deadly medical condition that is characterized by a whole-body inflammatory state and the presence of a known or suspected infection. The body may develop this inflammatory response by the immune system to microbes in the blood, urine, lungs, skin, or other tissues...
and for him not to have the bodies buried. Clerk George Baines testified that he was present at this conversation and that Von Lossberg had not mentioned not completing the post mortems, his blood poisoning, or the request for Galbraith not bury the bodies. Dr. Von Lossberg replied that he had never seen Baines before in his life and that even if he had been present "what passed was said in a whisper."
Failure of the police investigation
M’Neill contacted sergeant Arrell at 9.15am on 27 December. Both men rode to the site where they remained for 30mins before Arrell returned to Gatton to send a telegram to the Brisbane Commissioner of policePolice commissioner
Commissioner is a senior rank used in many police forces and may be rendered Police Commissioner or Commissioner of Police. In some organizations, the commissioner is a political appointee, and may or may not actually be a professional police officer. In these circumstances, there is often a...
. Arrell took no notes while at the site, didn't interview anyone present and made no effort to protect the site from the large number of people who had congregated. In Gatton, Arrell requested that the telegram be marked "urgent" only to be told that the police had no authority to send urgent telegrams, this was in fact incorrect and Arrell was later critisized by a Royal Commission for not knowing he had that authority and also for waiting for the reply instead of returning immediately to the site with arrangements for the reply to be sent to him. The telegram was delivered to the Brisbane police headquarters
Queensland Police
The Queensland Police Service is the law enforcement agency responsible for policing the Australian state of Queensland. In 1990, the Queensland Police Force was officially renamed the Queensland Police Service and the old motto of "Firmness with Courtesy" was changed to "With Honour We Serve"...
at 12.52pm however, because it was a holiday, it was not opened until 9am the following morning (December 28).
Suspects
Several people, including itinerant workers and family members, came under suspicion for the crime, but after a five month investigation, no one was ever charged with the murders. The failure of the Queensland police to solve the crime led to accusations of cover-ups and rumors of incest within the Murphy family; these claims were also subsequently never resolved.Aftermath
The crime caused shock and outrage across the country and the ineffective investigation, which released several possible suspects without comprehensive interrogation, later became the subject of a Royal Commission in late 1899.Several modern writers, including Blue Mountains-based author Merv Lilley, have suggested possible culprits. Lilley claims his father William was a violent sadist and sexual pervert who could well have been in the Gatton area at the time of the murders.
1899 Royal Commission
The Royal Commission was largely concerned with shortcomings in the Queensland police force in general and to a lessor extent the failures of the police investigations into both the Oxley murder of December 14 and the Gatton murders on December 27.Daniel Murphy, a brother of the victims who was a police officer at Police headquarters had received a telegram from a family friend on December 27 informing him of the murders. Murphy applied for three days leave, had it granted and attempted to catch the 1pm train to Gatton but missed it. Returning to headquarters he went to the Criminal Investigation Branch but no action was taken by detectives as a rumour was circulating that the murders were a hoax. Murphy then caught the 5pm train to Gatton. At 9am the following morning, Inspector Urquhart opened sergeant Arrell's telegram but took no action as he had heard the rumours of a hoax and had not been officially informed that there had been a murder. At 4pm Urquhart was informed that the murders were not a hoax, but as the information did not come through official channels did not inform the Commissioner until 9pm. The Commissioner ordered Urquhart to immediately take two detectives to Gatton, but despite a train leaving Brisbane at midnight, the team did not leave until 7.30am the following morning (December 29). The Royal Commission found this sequence of events incomprehensible, indicative of the existence of a rotten system of policing and a culpable indifference on the part of the Inspector [Urquhart] to his duty to the public.
Evidence given before the Royal Commission pointed towards an itinerant labourer, Thomas Day, who had not been considered a suspect by the police investigation. Day lived in a hut around 900 feet (274.3 m) from the murder site. Several local women claimed they saw a man on foot chase the Murphy's sulky as it passed on its way to the dance. This man had been standing by the sliprail blocking the little known access road that led to the murder location, but they were unable to identify him. Day had been seen by a number of people earlier, standing by the same sliprail. Another witness claimed that he had seen Day washing blood from a pullover a few days later. Two weeks after the murders, Day disappeared and records show that he later enlisted in the military. Day deserted in May 1899 and was never heard of again.
Further reading
- Behnke, Stephen G. (2011) "The Gatton Tragedy Collection" The Most In-Depth Coverage Of This Crime Ever Compiled. Presented in a set of 14 easy to read booklets.
- Reed, Lyle F. (2008) "As plain as day : the 1898 Gatton murders."
- Bennett, Stephanie B. (2004) "The Gatton Murders, A True Story of Lust, Vengeance and Vile Retribution."
- Hall, Rodney (1988). "Captivity Captive."