Unsolved Bowraville Murders

[Jab]

I didn't know too much about this until I heard Triple J advertising a podcast about it, which I have listened to in the last few days. There have been quite a bit written about this but I couldn't find anything on the forum. For those that are interested, here are a few links and a little bit of information on it.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nat...d/news-story/70164a1d7de62e14bfa8ce5be5f4e73b

Three children — four-year-old Evelyn Greenup and 16-year-olds Colleen Walker and Clinton Speedy-Duroux — disappeared from the northern NSW town of Bowraville over five months between 1990 and 1991.

A local man, Jay Hart, was charged with killing Evelyn and Clinton but found not guilty after a judge ordered the trials be heard separately, meaning potentially crucial evidence of links between the deaths was never heard in court.

The initial police investigation of the killings was also criticised for delays and missed opportunities, with officers at the time telling families their children might have gone “walkabout” when they disappeared.

That link above also has links to the podcast, it was sponsored by The Australian.

20 min ABC radio program about it, audio of course.
http://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/speakingout/7400590

This thread might not start too much discussion but it is a compelling case to look into so I thought that it might be worth a threads. Mods can merge it or delete it if they like too. I didn't know if this is classed as an unsolved or current case either.

 

[craffles]

******* pay wall

 

[Perth gal]

There was a program about this not very long ago. Might have been the Sunday program?

 

[Jab]

There was a program about this not very long ago. Might have been the Sunday program?

There's been a little bit of press coverage lately, I hope that the public gets more interested in the case.

 

[Kurve]

Great podcast.

Decision due on Bowraville murders retrial
Sep 7, 2018

The families of three Aboriginal children who disappeared in Bowraville in the 1990s will soon learn if a man acquitted of murdering two of them could face a retrial.

Appeal judges will decide next week whether there's fresh and compelling evidence for the 52-year-old to be retried after hearing an application by the NSW government in Sydney last year.

The alleged killer, was previously acquitted of murdering two of the children - four-year-old Evelyn Greenup and 16-year-old Clinton Speedy-Duroux - in late 1990 and early 1991.

Under NSW double-jeopardy laws revised in 2006, a person can be tried for the same crime for which they have already been acquitted provided there's fresh and compelling evidence.

The Court of Criminal Appeal last year heard the fresh evidence was the case of 16-year-old Colleen Walker who disappeared from the quiet NSW mid north coast town at the same time.

Her clothing was pulled from the Nambucca River in a bag weighed down with rocks, although her body has never been found.

Wendy Abraham QC, representing the NSW attorney-general, said the three cases should not be looked at individually as the similarities "give rise to an inference that all three were murdered, that it was the one person who murdered them, and that it was the respondent".

https://www.9news.com.au/national/2018/09/07/17/05/decision-due-on-bowraville-murders-retrial

 

[Kurve]

Shame, no retrial.

The NSW government has lost its bid to have a man go to trial for murdering three Aboriginal children in Bowraville nearly 30 years ago.

The 52-year-old, who can't be named for legal reasons, was previously acquitted at separate trials of murdering two of the children - Evelyn Greenup, 4, and Clinton Speedy-Duroux, 16 - in late 1990 and early 1991.

The NSW government had argued that there was fresh and compelling evidence - relating to the disappearance of a third child, Colleen Walker, around the same time - to justify the overturning of the acquittals and the ordering of a retrial.

But on Thursday the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal found that this evidence was available at one of the trials and that he could not be retried in the other case as it was not open to the government to change its original application.

https://www.9news.com.au/national/2018/09/13/03/34/decision-due-on-bowraville-murders-retrial

 

[Smokey03]

So sad to think that slob of a man Jay Hart got away with all of these murders ...

 

[Kurve]

Three dead. No convictions: The baffling case of the Bowraville murders.

The case remains unsolved to this day.

www.mamamia.com.au