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Crime

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Victims of crime

Fishers Ghost Creek

Murdered in 1826, Frederick Fisher is commemorated by Fisher's Ghost Creek, where legend has it that the ghost led the way to his own grave, thereby implicating his murderer, who was convicted and hanged.

Inquest into the 1975 disappearance of Juanita Neilsen 1983

In 1983 an inquest into the 1975 disappearance of conservationist and journalist Juanita Neilsen was held at Glebe Coroner's Court.

Shark Arm murder 1935

One of Sydney's most sensational crimes, the Shark Arm murder was never solved.

Sydney’s Oldest Unsolved Murders

With colonisation came numerous acts of violence inflicted upon the First Nations people, including murder. It was several years, however, before murders were committed in Sydney by the colonists upon each other. Identifying Australia’s oldest case of unsolved murder in this context is not necessarily a straightforward task.

The murder of Constable Joseph Luker

Convict Joseph Luker placed his past firmly behind him when he decided to pursue a career as a police constable in colonial Sydney. This transition from law breaker to law enforcer would also see him become the first officer of the law killed in the line of duty in Australia.

Glenfield siege 1968

Beryl Muddle was held hostage for 8 days by her boyfriend Wally Mellish in his house at Glenfield.

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Graeme Thorne kidnapping 1960

Kidnap and murder of 8-year-old Graeme Thorne, by Stephen Bradley, which led to anti-kidnapping laws in New South Wales.

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Royal Commission into the former Chelmsford Private Hospital and Mental Health Services in New South Wales 1988-1990

Royal Commission, better known as the Chelmsford Royal Commission, that investigated the use of deep-sleep therapy, a controversial treatment for psychiatric illnesses, between 1963 and 1979 at the Chelmsford Private Hospital in north west Sydney. The Commission was established after an investigation by the Sydney Morning Herald and was chaired by Commissioner Justice Slattery. It found that 24 people had died as a result of the treatment. Only four of the deaths had been investigated by a coroner. The report led to the treatment being banned and changes to the way coroners worked in New South Wales.

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Shark Arm murder 1935

Murder revealed when a captured shark regurgitated a severed arm with tattoos in Coogee Aquarium in 1935.

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Alford, John Ferris

First Class Constable who was one of several police officers injured, and later commended for bravery, during the Bridge Street Affray in 1894. He had been on duty at the Colonial Secretary's office building nearby when he responded to calls for assistance. He was left an invalid from his injuries and was unable to return to work, eventually being retired as unfit for further duty on a sergeant's pension.

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Birkett, Annie

Shopkeeper and murder victim.

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Bowden, Frederick Leopold

Police constable who was one of several officers injured, and later commended for bravery, during the Bridge Street Affray in 1894.

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Breeze, Mary

Woman who lived in Back Row (now known as Phillip Street) in early colonial Sydney. Her house was robbed in August 1803 and the investigating police officer, Joseph Luker, was murdered. In 1804 she sold her house prior to leaving the colony. It was described as a neat and commodious dwelling house on the corner of Back Row nearest to Farm Cove, with a good proportion of excellent garden ground and a well that was constantly supplied with pure water.

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Brooker, William

Carpenter and sawyer in Campbelltown who was stabbed by Frederick Fisher in 1825 when he went to collect a debt from Fisher's lodger Charles Rennett.

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Burn, Simon

Convict who arrived in Sydney on the Friendship in 1788. Described as a stocking weaver and timber getter, he was convicted in Exeter in 1783 of highway robbery and sentenced to transportation to America for seven years, but escaped before departure in the convict mutiny on the Mercury in 1784. Recaptured, he was transported to New South Wales. On 10 February 1788 he married fellow convict, Frances Anderson and given a land grant in Parramatta in July 1791. Accused in 1794 by Marsden of drunkenness on the Sabbath, a few weeks later he was murdered by drinking partner John Hill when he tried to defend a woman, Hill's partner, from an attack. He was the first emancipist in the colony to be murdered by another colonist.

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Cobby, Anita

Nurse who was raped and murdered in 1986.

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Crawford, Loretta

Receptionist at the Carousel club in Kings Cross, and a witness at the 1983 inquest into the disappearance of Juanita Neilsen in 1975. In 2001 she made a statement to the police with additional information concerning Neilsen's death.

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Dean, Mary

Victim of attempted murder by her husband in March 1895.

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Griffith, Arthur Barry

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Bookmaker's clerk who was shot and killed by his girlfriend Shirley Beiger outside Chequers nightclub in the city in 1954.

Griffith, Arthur Cosman

Trotting and greyhound bookmaker.

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Hicks, Lucy Applewhaite

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Matron of the Immigration Depot and Destitute Asylum at Hyde Park Barracks for over two decades.

Huckstepp, Sallie-Anne

Prostitute and drug addict who was murdered after she exposed police corruption in Sydney.

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Jamieson, Ellen

Shopkeeper who was murdered by John Knatchbull in 1844.

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Kennedy, Bridget

Servant at Bull and Mouth hotel who was attacked by her employer.

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Kinder, Henry

Businessperson who was murdered by his wife's lover.

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Luker, Joseph

Former convict who joined Sydney's early police force in 1796. He was murdered in 1803, the first police officer killed in the line of duty in New South Wales.

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Lynch, Garry

Parent of a murder victim who formed the Homicide Victims Support Group.

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Muddle, Beryl

Girlfriend of petty criminal Wally Mellish who in 1968 took her hostage for eight days in his house at Glenfield.

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Murray, David

Homeless man murdered in The Domain.

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Newman, John

Union organiser and Labor Party politician whose murder by a rival was the first political assassination in Australia.

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Nielsen, Juanita

Australian publisher who disappeared whilst opposing development in Kings Cross where she lived.

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Podio, Miriam Victoria

Twenty six year old woman who died while under the care of Dr Harry Bailey at Chelmsford Private Hospital in 1977.

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Smith, Jim

Small-time criminal who was the victim of the Shark Arm murder in 1935.

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Wardell, Robert

Barrister and newspaper publisher who was notorious for litigation and duelling, and was murdered by escaped convicts on his Petersham estate in 1834.

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Watkins, Francis

Clerk employed by a Mr Hutchinson in the Minchinbury area who was robbed on his way to Parramatta in1831.

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1920s depiction of the murder of Joseph Luker in 1804

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Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[Smith’s Weekly, 28 February 1920, p17 via Trove]

A murder committed near Parramatta 1794

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By

David Collins

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[Dixson Library Q79/60 v.v. 1, p335]

(An account of the English colony in New South Wales : with remarks on the dispositions, customs, manners, &c. of the native inhabitants of that country. To which are added, some particulars of New Zealand / compiled, by permission, from the MSS. of Lieutenant-Governor King by David Collins ... (vol. 1) )

Arthur Griffith c1954

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Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[Truth (Brisbane), 14 Augusr 1954, p2 via Trove]

Crowds wait outside the City Morgue for witnesses in the Graeme Thorne kidnapping to leave the Coroner's Court, The Rocks 22 November ...

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By

Cecil Lynch

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[ ON 388/Box 082/Item 054]

(In 'Bradley case - coroners court, 22 November 1960', Mitchell Library)

Newspaper report of the massacre of Aboriginal people at Appin on 17 April 1816

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Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[Sydney Gazette, 11 May 1816, p2 (via Trove)]

Page from Collin's 'Account of the English colony in New South Wales' about the death of John Lewis 1794

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By

David Collins

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[Dixson Library Q79/60 v. 1, p336]

(An account of the English colony in New South Wales : with remarks on the dispositions, customs, manners, &c. of the native inhabitants of that country. To which are added, some particulars of New Zealand / compiled, by permission, from the MSS. of Lieutenant-Governor King by David Collins ... (vol. 1) )

Report of Joseph Luker's murder in the Sydney Gazette 28 August 1803

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From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[Sydney Gazette, 28 August 1803, p4 (detail, from facsimile edition)]

Tattooed arm disgorged by shark at Coogee Acquarium 1935

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Contributed By

Private collection