Jane Thurgood-Dove
Encyclopedia
Niddrie, Victoria
Niddrie is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 13 km north-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moonee Valley...
, Australia in 1997. On 6 November 1997, she was confronted in the driveway of her suburban Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
home and shot repeatedly in the head and body as her three young children, aged 3, 5 and 10, cowered inside her car.
The murder shocked the public. Despite the Victorian government posting a $100,000 reward for information leading to a conviction, no one has been charged in relation to this murder.
Murder
Jane Thurgood-Dove arrived at her Muriel Street, Niddrie, home in the afternoon of 6 November after collecting her children from school. As she climbed from her 4WD, she was approached by a man described as a "short, pot-bellied man" who preceded to chase Thurgood-Dove around her vehicle. When she tripped and fell, the man pulled out a large calibre pistol and, in full view of her terrified children, shot her repeatedly to her head, killing her instantly.The man ran to a waiting getaway car - a stolen metallic blue Holden Commodore
Holden Commodore
The Holden Commodore is an automobile manufactured since 1978 by the Holden subsidiary of General Motors in Australia, and, formerly, in New Zealand. In the mid-1970s, Holden established proposals to replace the long-serving Kingswood nameplate with a smaller, Opel-based model...
- driven by a younger, slimmer man. The assailants sped off. The car was later found torched in nearby Farrell Street. Investigations revealed that the Holden Commodore was stolen the previous day from Princes Park, Carlton
Princes Park, Carlton
Princes Park is a 38.6 hectare park in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Carlton North, Victoria. It is located directly north of the University of Melbourne and bounded on its eastern and western sides by Melbourne General Cemetery and Royal Parade respectively...
.
Suspects
Following the murder in 1997, police initially followed two distinct lines of investigation, but more recently a third possibility presented itself.1. The husband
Most victims are murdered by those closest to them. Therefore, it was not unreasonable that police first consider if Mark Thurgood-Dove, Jane's husband, was involved.However, police investigations tended to support Mr Thurgood-Dove's assertions that his marriage was happy and healthy. Mark Thurgood-Dove was a hardworking man with no previous criminal record. In April 2000, he passed a polygraph
Polygraph
A polygraph measures and records several physiological indices such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity while the subject is asked and answers a series of questions...
test and has since been eliminated as a suspect.
2. The Secret Lover
Jane Thurgood-Dove had revealed to at least two friends that a well-respected, serving policeman was deeply in love and obsessed with Jane and, indeed, had been diagnosed with depressionClinical depression
Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
since her murder. It is not known whether any intimate relationship ever developed between Jane and the policeman.
In 1998, Melbourne's Herald Sun
Herald Sun
The Herald Sun is a morning tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia. It is published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Limited, itself a subsidiary of News Corporation. It is available for purchase throughout Melbourne, Regional Victoria, Tasmania, the Australian Capital...
carried the front-page headline that the policeman was the prime suspect in Jane Thurgood-Dove's murder. He is believed to have admitted loving her and asking her to leave her husband, but denied killing her. It was speculated that the policeman hired two hitmen to kill Jane when she refused to leave her husband.
The policeman was interviewed by the Homicide
Homicide
Homicide refers to the act of a human killing another human. Murder, for example, is a type of homicide. It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English...
squad on three occasions. The policeman had no alibi for the time of Mrs Thurgood-Dove's killing and, indeed, failed a polygraph
Polygraph
A polygraph measures and records several physiological indices such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity while the subject is asked and answers a series of questions...
test on 29 April 2000. However, police could not uncover sufficient evidence to charge the man.
Some police were concerned that the suspect in the case was still an operational policeman and armed. The policeman, who worked in the city, was believed to have daily dealings with the public and routinely carried a revolver in the course of his duty. Some police had sought his removal from operational duties.
But police command was believed to have refused to suspend or transfer the man after he produced medical and psychiatric evidence that he was fit to continue active duty.
On 7 October 2003, the Herald Sun quoted a senior homicide detective eliminating the policeman, who was the prime suspect in the Thurgood-Dove murder, from further inquiries.