Unsolved Gerard Ross - Abducted Kent st Rockingham WA 1997

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During 2012 a forty year old woman was charged with one count of attempted child stealing. That was outside the Sunset Cafe on the Rockingham Foreshore. The woman picked up the 5-year-old boy and started to walk away, when the mother stopped her (woman's approx. YOB 1972).

That's within the vicinity of the comic store. I'm not sure where the Rockingham library is/was, where the man with the beige/cream sedan offered another boy a lift.
www.perthnow.com.au

Woman, 40, accused of abducting toddler

A ROCKINGHAM woman has been charged with attempted child stealing after allegedly trying to abduct a toddler on the Rockingham foreshore.
www.perthnow.com.au www.perthnow.com.au

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Murdoch did not start drug running from Sedan in South Australia until sometime in 1999 when he started working with Hepi. Prior to that, specifically in 1997 and 1998, he was getting marijuana from Perth and bringing it north, in a far smaller and less organized operation. So he was in Perth reasonably frequently during that period.

He seems to have been getting his supplies through bikie associates during that period. He was a member of the Gypsy Jokers and got excommunicated because he was so awful. Not sure if that was before this period or afterward, but regardless he had a couple of bikie associates assisting him in Perth in 1997/1998.

He drove an F100 at that point (I have not looked up the car), but also played around with stolen cars. He also had a couple of gophers during that time who helped him collect and distribute the drugs, both of whom were apparently petrified of him and did whatever he wanted.

He beat up a 62 year old man (nearly killed him) because he didn’t like the fact that the guy was taking to a woman he was after in a pub. By the time he killed Peter Falconio he had a 7 gram a day amphetamine habit.

The woman and her daughter who he allegedly raped were Hepi’s neighbours. The daughter was just twelve years old and she was raped and tortured over around a 24 hour period; her mother was tortured and sexually assaulted as well. It was horrific; I’m not going to put the details here.

(Murdoch was acquitted because the young girl was an unreliable witness and wouldn’t have a medical exam (not her fault AT ALL) and her mother was not looked upon as credible due to her drug and alcohol use and behaviour. A lot of this was the fault of the woman’s husband who was so busy trying to screw Murdoch out of money that he destroyed evidence and didn’t let them go to the police immediately and then tried to control the narrative. There was too much dodgy for the jury.)

The only thing that doesn’t fit perhaps with Murdoch is his paranoia and inability to keep his mouth shut about things. He was an absolute basket case about getting caught after he murdered Peter to the point that it was becoming obvious to those around him that he was the perpetrator. It’s hard to say whether he would have been able to retain his sanity if he’d murdered Gerard.

What he did to the woman and, particularly, her daughter, shows just how sadistic he is, though. There’s no doubt in my mind that he is capable of extreme brutality and is an utter psychopath.
 
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Kurve said:
Murdoch would have been 39 yo at the time, Rose said the two men were in their thirties with one possibly 40 ish. The dalmation he had under 4 years later when Falconio was murdered might have been around in 1997. The pictures of the dalmation I've seen didn't look like a young dog.
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Yes, it might have been. Scrolling through the books to try to pick up dates and timing, Jack (the dog), appears to have been around for a few years at least. He may have gotten Jack after leaving prison in 1997. He wasn’t an animal lover, but there are definite indications he always had a dog as it formed part of his image of intimidating bushman.
 

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Likeamystery said:
During 2012 a forty year old woman was charged with one count of attempted child stealing. That was outside the Sunset Cafe on the Rockingham Foreshore. The woman picked up the 5-year-old boy and started to walk away, when the mother stopped her (woman's approx. YOB 1972).

That's within the vicinity of the comic store. I'm not sure where the Rockingham library is/was, where the man with the beige/cream sedan offered another boy a lift.
www.perthnow.com.au

Woman, 40, accused of abducting toddler

A ROCKINGHAM woman has been charged with attempted child stealing after allegedly trying to abduct a toddler on the Rockingham foreshore.
www.perthnow.com.au www.perthnow.com.au

[TD valign="top"][/TD]
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Strange, but a few years ago I stumbled across an attempted abduction alert which advised of a man who had tried to lure a young boy into his car. The boy was about 8 or 9. The driver of the vehicle had a woman with him, who had tried to lure the boy. That occurred in one of the areas within Kwinana - Leda, Orelia, Medina or Calista. That's that far from Rockingham. It was information on one of the Crime Stoppers websites or something like that.

Hopefully I can relocate that article to see what vehicle they drove. Just to rule out if it was a cream or beige car. Can't sleep - keep thinking about it.
 
ms finch said:
Murdoch did not start drug running from Sedan in South Australia until sometime in 1999 when he started working with Hepi. Prior to that, specifically in 1997 and 1998, he was getting marijuana from Perth and bringing it north, in a far smaller and less organized operation. So he was in Perth reasonably frequently during that period.

He seems to have been getting his supplies through bikie associates during that period. He was a member of the Gypsy Jokers and got excommunicated because he was so awful. Not sure if that was before this period or afterward, but regardless he had a couple of bikie associates assisting him in Perth in 1997/1998.

He drove an F100 at that point (I have not looked up the car), but also played around with stolen cars. He also had a couple of gophers during that time who helped him collect and distribute the drugs, both of whom were apparently petrified of him and did whatever he wanted.

He beat up a 62 year old man (nearly killed him) because he didn’t like the fact that the guy was taking to a woman he was after in a pub. By the time he killed Peter Falconio he had a 7 gram a day amphetamine habit.

The woman and her daughter who he allegedly raped were Hepi’s neighbours. The daughter was just twelve years old and she was raped and tortured over around a 24 hour period; her mother was tortured and sexually assaulted as well. It was horrific; I’m not going to put the details here.

(Murdoch was acquitted because the young girl was an unreliable witness and wouldn’t have a medical exam (not her fault AT ALL) and her mother was not looked upon as credible due to her drug and alcohol use and behaviour. A lot of this was the fault of the woman’s husband who was so busy trying to screw Murdoch out of money that he destroyed evidence and didn’t let them go to the police immediately and then tried to control the narrative. There was too much dodgy for the jury.)

The only thing that doesn’t fit perhaps with Murdoch is his paranoia and inability to keep his mouth shut about things. He was an absolute basket case about getting caught after he murdered Peter to the point that it was becoming obvious to those around him that he was the perpetrator. It’s hard to say whether he would have been able to retain his sanity if he’d murdered Gerard.

What he did to the woman and, particularly, her daughter, shows just how sadistic he is, though. There’s no doubt in my mind that he is capable of extreme brutality and is an utter psychopath.
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Your research is really good, is it all taken from the press or a book? I haven't read them all.

If would be interesting to know if the F100 was white and whether it had a canopy on the back or it was off like a ute? He was modifying his cars all the time anyway so he could have the canopy on or off pretty fast. I'm thinking of the suspicious white ute seen in the area but I'm not sure if it was seen in Rockingham or in the pine forest.

The police had CCTV of Murdoch at the service station, there was nothing like that when Gerard went missing with most of the heat going on paedophiles more specifically where I imagine drug dealers and anybody generally involved in organised crime, with or without a bent for violence may have been overlooked so, IF it was him he probably felt fairly safe. Add a roaring meth habit at the time Falconio disappeared and Murdoch's paranoia would have been peaking.

We're only guessing at what the police might or might not have but can probably assume the usual suspects in a crime like this have all been checked out, so streams of thought outside the box might produce something really useful.
 
“Kurve said:
Your research is really good, is all it taken from the press or a book? I haven't read them all.
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Yes. I have three books on the Falconio murder: Dead Centre by Robin Bowles; The Killer Within by Paul Toohey; and No Turning Back by Joanne Lees. I am scanning through the first two. I don’t see that there will be anything useful in Joanne’s, because it is about her experience rather than Murdoch.

Paul Toohey’s is, in my view, the best for background. He delves right in to Murdoch’s life and past. Robin Bowles’ is more focused on dissecting what happened in the Falconio matter.

I am trying to limit what I post to facts or matters that are undisputed. However, when faced with a dispute I choose the story other than Murdoch’s version. For Murdoch to be telling the truth, everyone else must be lying. He could only get one “friend” to support his version of events, and they were recorded in a phone conversation when Murdoch was at Yatala prison with Murdoch telling him what to say.

However, this is not really relevant for this discussion anyway, which focuses on timing matters and Murdoch’s history prior to Falconio. There is some opinion there in terms of what happened in prior crimes, but it’s more degrees than anything else (such as was his shooting of aboriginal people thoroughly premeditated or did something happen that evening that he simply decided to at the time - does it really matter given his actual actions?). It’s also hardly in dispute that Murdoch was a violent psycho with a raging drug habit who scared everyone except a couple of his equally awful fellow white supermacists, and who was abusive to everyone in his sphere. He couldn’t sell drugs in Broome on his own because his manner was so off putting nobody would buy from him. I suppose you could dispute the amount of amphetamines he was taking but I’m not sure there is a material difference between his habit being 4 grams a day or 7.

“Kurve said:
If would be interesting to know if the F100 was white and whether it had a canopy on the back or it was off like a ute? He was modifying his cars all the time anyway so he could have the canopy on or off pretty fast. I'm thinking of the suspicious white ute seen in the area but I'm not sure if it was seen in Rockingham or in the pine forest.

The police had CCTV of Murdoch at the service station, there was nothing like that when Gerard went missing with most of the heat going on paedophiles more specifically where I imagine drug dealers and anybody generally involved in organised crime, with or without a bent for violence may have been overlooked so, IF it was him he probably felt fairly safe. Add a roaring meth habit at the time Falconio disappeared and Murdoch's paranoia would have been peaking.

We're only guessing at what the police might or might not have but can probably assume the usual suspects in a crime like this have all been checked out, so streams of thought outside the box might produce something really useful.
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Murdoch had grown up with a mechanic father and though he was not officially qualified, almost all of his straight work was to do with cars and diesel motors. He was highly regarded for his skills. His vehicles had custom fits. In the days after the Falconio murder he modified the back of his car substantially (refused to do any drug runs until he had done this). I did recall the white ute that was mentioned around Gerard’s case. It’s certainly consistent with the types of vehicles Murdoch preferred.

There are a couple of other tidbits I have come across (I am still scanning). Murdoch had apparently been telling people - months prior to Falconio’s murder - about how he would dispose of a body. Seems a bit odd for someone if they had never actually disposed of a body. He spoke about dumping it in a spoon drain and covering it with loose dirt and driving a few kms off a main road on a grader track to dump it.

I would love to believe the police looked at everything they should have, but there are too many examples of incompetence and tunnel vision, especially with Macro.
 
There IS debate about the degree to which Murdoch’s crimes were pre-mediated, as in, whether he planned them significantly in advance or whether he acted in reaction when someone pissed him off.

In the case of the aboriginal people’s party shooting incident there are two versions. The first is that he was going the back way home to avoid being busted for drink driving and couldn’t get through because their cars were blocking the crossing where they were having the party; he attempted to get around them and nearly got stuck. He was so incensed by it all that he went home, got his guns, returned and shot at them. This version of events was told by him and his white supremacist mate, who seemed to truly believe this was acceptable.

The second is that he knew about the party in advance (as did everyone because they were planning to have it whether they won or lost the GF) and had always intended to engage in a shooting spree. He simply turned up once with his guns and got started. This is the version told by the people he shot at, who are adamant that he never appeared and abused them for blocking the road, let alone tried to get around them and nearly got bogged.

In the case of Peter Falconio’s murder and the attack on Joanna Lees, the typical theory is that Murdoch got paranoid about them for one reason or another and decided to confront them. However, there is evidence that he was practicing fashioning manacles not long before that, which may suggest that he intended to take a woman captive and targeted them to get Joanne. Honestly, who knows? Both are completely plausible and his motives may have evolved along the way.

It is difficult to know regarding the abduction and rape of the woman and her daughter. He had a longish relationship (a couple of years) with them and the woman’s husband, who he was “friends” with and paying off for his silence about the drug running. His relationship with the woman had deteriorated in the weeks prior to what happened, and she had basically said she didn’t want him around any more. He lived in a shed up the back of their property but moved and only visited sporadically. He visited his shed and abducted them when her husband was in hospital.

He was trusted around the little girl because he had always been pleasant and nice to her and the abduction started when she was hanging out with him in his shed, which she often did. He could have come up with his nefarious plan that day or even at the time, or he could have visited with that purpose and played it out. He may even have targeted them due to his paranoia about being pegged for the Falconio murder because he apparently ranted about that a lot during the ordeal and accused the woman of wanting to assist the police.

I am not sure how much the level of premeditation matters in looking at Murdoch for Gerard’s case. If it was him, he could have had any number of reasons for targeting Gerard, either a result of something that day or something prior, or he could have just taken a dislike to Gerard for some reason.

Whatever the degree of premeditation, he had all manner of motives for his crimes - dislike, racism, paranoia, sexual, possibly even financial. He was someone who got an idea in his head about someone or something and set about following it through.
 
One more thing to add at this stage:

Paul Toohey spoke to both the NT police and WA police about their opinions of Murdoch being the perpetrator of any other murders.

NT police were firmly of the opinion that his murder of Falconio was that of a “first, one time killer”.

WA police checked him out not because they specifically thought him likely for any crimes but just because it made sense given he was a killer and had been in certain areas.

They ruled him out for the CSK because he was in jail for the Fitzroy Crossing shooting for two of the disappearances. That must be Sarah and Jane because he went in to jail in November 1995. That means he was out by the time of Ciara’s murder, which also adds up timing-wise, but good to have confirmation. I suspect they were looking at everyone for the CSK because of the pressure to solve it, and, as we know, that matter got way more attention than anything else.

They don’t really seem to have taken more than a cursory glance at him for Petronella Albert, Sarah Lee Davey and Hayley Dodd, but they did also have other clear suspects for those. Nicholls had been widely reported around Petronella’s matter, Dorrough around Sarah’s, and while Hayley Dodd’s matter had been downgraded to a disappearance, Francis Wark had been in the frame from the beginning. Also, their reason for doing that was because he was “generally associated with those areas”.

There is no mention that they looked at him for Gerard’s murder. They might have, of course, because they have never had a clear single suspect for that. But they might not have, because Murdoch’s other violence was directed at aboriginal people and women, the prevailing theory being that he wanted Joanne and just got Peter out of the way. Plus they may not have had a reason to link him to that area, even though he moved between Perth and the North.
 
Oh, and I forgot:

Murdoch’s parents lived in Perth and he reasonably frequently visited them including making special trips to see them (not just when passing through).

They moved from the north of the state around Geraldton when Bradley was about twelve, initially to the Canning Vale area in the Perth suburbs and then to Busselton (Margaret River region). Bradley pursued his own life all over the place, his brother moved back to Geraldton, but his parents remained in the southern part of the state and at some point moved back to Perth itself.
 
ms finch said:
Oh, and I forgot:

Murdoch’s parents lived in Perth and he reasonably frequently visited them including making special trips to see them (not just when passing through).

They moved from the north of the state around Geraldton when Bradley was about twelve, initially to the Canning Vale area in the Perth suburbs and then to Busselton (Margaret River region). Bradley pursued his own life all over the place, his brother moved back to Geraldton, but his parents remained in the southern part of the state and at some point moved back to Perth itself.
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Members of the Gypsy Jokers own properties in Rockingham, I don't know how long for though.
 

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Fortune Cookie said:
In my brain of useless information, I have it tucked away that Gerard was involved in a childrens book somehow... I recall something about it, but can't find anything searching www. From memory, it was a book published in memory of him? And perhaps used some of his drawings.
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He wrote a book called Sock of the Year, which sounds positive and upbeat.



One of my kids wrote one called The Snot Monster. :rolleyes:
 
Kurve said:
According to Casefile Murdoch had a boxer dog when he was living in a caravan on a property in Broome so that would be 1998. Boxers are big shedders of hair.
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Great find! He definitely lived out of his caravan in Broome for awhile in 1998, and it is indicated by multiple sources Broome was where he headed after he left jail in Perth.

On a totally separate note, I cannot get over how much his shooting at Fitzroy Crossing has been downplayed by the media. Granted, when you just look at the offenses is doesn’t seem much. But a lot of the general statements in media about it give the impression he just fired a few shots into the air in the general vicinity, and nothing else was said by the press over time. The idea that it was a minor crime was the impression I had before I read the books for the first time years ago. I just kept going W.T.F.

Even if we take his story - that he got annoyed by the situation and went home and got two guns and came back and shot at the cars - that is HORRENDOUS and violent psychopathic behaviour. It was premeditated because he went and got the guns and came back. He was shooting AT people knowingly. It’s attempted murder however you dress it up. I don’t get the portrayal of it at all.

And this is HIS story. He didn’t even claim he had the guns and just started firing in frustration. He outright states that he went and got the guns and came back and shot at people. The fact that he thinks that is OK is indicative of a seriously warped mindset. It is also evident to me what a master manipulator he can be that so many people have heard him explain this in all its horror and just accepted that it was a “silly drunken endeavor”.

He was clearly a total psycho back in 1995.
 
Kurve said:
Do you mean he has to go through Newman doing Perth to Broome and back?
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Google says Highway 95 from Broome to Perth through Newman

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I just wonder if there was anything with the parents or father - seeing Ross in Rockingham may have triggered something.

Just a random thought about 2 people crossing paths in 2 different places
 
This is all the info I have been able to collate about Murdoch’s time after his release for the period 1997-1999
- Based in Broome and possibly Derby
- Drove trucking for mining companies to/from Wyndham and Argyle Diamond Mine then hauled heavy equipment (location unknown)
- Couriered drugs to/from Perth. Was an associate of Billy Gibbs who ran Boorong Trucking Company couriering amphetamines and pills from Perth to Broome (Gibbs was busted for this some years later, I believe)
- Visited parents in Perth - close relationship
- Sold pot in Broome, which is believed to have been acquired in Perth
- Did some trucking work with his brother, who was based in Geraldton
- Did casual diesel mechanic work
- In 1999 he worked at a mine (location unknown)
 
ms finch said:
This is all the info I have been able to collate about Murdoch’s time after his release for the period 1997-1999
- Based in Broome and possibly Derby
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Thanks for this. Casefile has him setting up briefly in Derby before heading to more permanent digs in Broome in 1998. Does your information place him anywhere firmly straight after he got out of jail in February 1997?

I'm wondering if he was paroled back to his parents house before he lobbed in Derby?
 
Kurve said:
Thanks for this. Casefile has him setting up briefly in Derby before heading to more permanent digs in Broome in 1998. Does your information place him anywhere firmly straight after he got out of jail in February 1997?

I'm wondering if he was paroled back to his parents house before he lobbed in Derby?
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Nope, nothing about his time directly after jail or where his parents actually lived in Perth. I went so far as to download The Killer Within and Dead Centre onto my Kindle and I searched: “parents”; “mother”; “father”; “Nancy”; “Colin”; “Perth”; “1997”; “parole”; “Rockingham”; “Mandurah”; “Newman”; “Geraldton”.

I can see where casefile got their information. In one source it indicates he went to Derby; in the other it says he left jail and headed straight for Broome. Not sure that makes a huge difference to anything. I suspect casefile is correct about Derby because the statement “he headed for Broome” is more vague and used to paint a picture in the story.

I think you are very on the ball about the parole possibility. I hadn’t thought of that detail that actually could have had him permanently in Perth for some time. He was sentenced to 21 months, served 15 of them. So that means likely 6 months on parole, until August 1997.

Let me know if there are any terms anyone would like me to search.
 
ms finch said:
I think you are very on the ball about the parole possibility. I hadn’t thought of that detail that actually could have had him permanently in Perth for some time. He was sentenced to 21 months, served 15 of them. So that means likely 6 months on parole, until August 1997.
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Agree, probably around six months on parole. I'm not sure he'd be able to travel too far and had to report in somewhere near the address he was paroled to but if he was freed up around August 1997 from then on and the October, he'd probably have reconnected with old business associates and was back in the game.

Edit: There might also be a bit longer parole but either way I guess he'd be wanting to stay off the radar.
 
Perhaps the person who killed Gerard is in plain sight, listed upon a sexual offender’s register – thinking he may have committed a sexual crime after 1997 - involving a boy aged between 8-12. As there were other incidents of lifts being offered within the Rockingham area it’s likely the offender was local to Rockingham or a nearby suburb. Rockingham is the largest city within a wide radius, so the POI may have been drawn for work or shopping.

Thinking if GRs killer was a pedophile, the abductor may not have been able to go through with an intended evil act. One example, and nothing to do with GRs killer, is NSWs Phillip Wayne Lett who abducted a 6-year-old for intentions of pedophilia, but couldn’t go through with the act – he was aged 32. Instead, Lett brutally killed the young boy and left him. A heinous NSW crime occurring in 1992 7News

Lots of children have been offered lifts whilst waiting at a bus stop. I suppose it’s the perfect opportunity for someone to stop and offer a lift.

https://www.wa.gov.au/service/security/law-enforcement/access-registered-sex-offender-information

http://www.australian-people-records.com/Western-Australia-Sex-Offenders-Register.php
 
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