Strewth - Episode 11 - The Gatton Murders
On Boxing Day night 1898, Michael Murphy and his sisters Norah and Ellen were brutally murdered while returning from a cancelled dance near Gatton, Queensland. Their bodies were discovered arranged in a triangle, feet carefully positioned pointing west, a detail never repeated in Australian criminal history. What followed was one of the most incompetent police investigations ever recorded, featuring delayed responses, contaminated crime scenes, and a suspect who read Italian poetry. More than a century later, the Gatton Tragedy remains Australia's most baffling and gruesome unsolved murder.
Sources:
Bennett, Stephanie - The Gatton Murders: A True Story of Lust, Vengeance and Vile Retribution (2013)
Bennett, Stephanie - The Killer with 300 Names: 1898: The Scandalous Escape of the Gatton Murderers (2014)
Stevenson, Caroline & Sim, Jack - The Tainted Cross: The Oxley & Gatton Murders Unveiled
Fagan, Cheryl - Murder and Misconduct (2020)
"Gatton's Tragedy Claimed Three Lives in 1898" by C.S. Voll (December 7, 2021)
Title Music: by Jesse Frank from Pixabay
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