On this date, 2 February 1986, an
Australian registered nurse and beauty pageant winner, Anita Cobby was raped
and murdered by five men in Blacktown, Sydney, Australia. I will post
information from Wikipedia and some links before giving my comments and
condolences.
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Anita
Cobby (Source: http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/young/cobby/6.html)
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Anita
Cobby
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Born
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Anita Lorraine Lynch
2 November 1959 Sydney, New South Wales |
Died
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2 February 1986 (aged 26)
Prospect, New South Wales |
Cause of death
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Homicide
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Nationality
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Australian
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Occupation
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Nursing sister
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Anita Lorraine Cobby (2 November 1959 – 2
February 1986) was an Australian registered nurse and beauty pageant winner. At
26 years old, she was abducted from Blacktown, and raped and murdered at nearby
Prospect, on the evening of 2 February 1986. Five men, including three
brothers, were convicted of her murder and sentenced to life imprisonment,
never to be released.
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Anita Cobby in happier
days, sailing with her dog in her lap.
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Early life
Anita Lorraine Lynch was born on 2
November 1959. She met her future husband, John Cobby, while studying for her
nursing degree. They married on 27 March 1982. At the time of her murder,
though, the couple had separated and Cobby was living with his parents in
Blacktown, New South Wales.
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| Anita Cobby |
Reported missing
On the day of the murder, Cobby
finished work at Sydney Hospital at 3pm and met friends for dinner in Redfern,
Sydney. She then caught a train from Central Station to Blacktown Station.
Aside from her killers, only two witnesses saw her after she left the train - a
young brother and sister who witnessed the abduction taking place. On arriving
home they told their older brother who unsuccessfully attempted to chase after
the car.
Cobby was walking alone along Newton
Road, Blacktown around 10pm, when the gang of five men drove up alongside her
and stopped their stolen Holden Kingswood. Two men leaped from the car,
dragging her kicking and screaming into the car. She was ordered to strip off
her clothes but refused, begging her attackers to let her go, saying she was
married and that she was menstruating. Her attackers continued to punch Cobby
repeatedly, then drove to a service station to purchase fuel using money stolen
from Anita's purse. She was then driven to a secluded paddock, while being held
down in the car and raped and beaten by her five attackers. Then they proceeded
to slit her throat, and she was conscious until 3 minutes later when she bled
to death. Cobby was reported missing by her family on 3 February. Her body was
found in a farmer's field on 4 February.
Hunt for the killers
On 6 February, the NSW State
Government posted a $50,000 reward for information leading to the capture of
her killers. On 9 February, police re-enacted Cobby's movements on the night of
her disappearance in the hope of jogging the memories of travellers or others
who might have witnessed her movements. Constable Debbie Wallace wore similar
clothing to Cobby and travelled the 9:12 p.m. train to Blacktown. Detectives
interviewed the passengers and showed them photos of Cobby whilst Constable
Wallace walked the length of the train during the journey.
Following a tip-off from a police
informant regarding a stolen vehicle, police started searching for John
Travers, Michael Murdoch and Les, Michael, and Gary Murphy after they discovered
that some of them had a history of violence and Travers had a reputation for
carrying a knife. On 21 February, police found and arrested Travers and Murdoch
at Travers' uncle's house and Les Murphy at Travers' house. Murdoch and Murphy
were charged with offences relating to stolen cars and released on police bail.
Travers, who admitted that he had stolen a car, had also made conflicting
statements about the murder. He was detained in police custody.
While in custody, John Travers
requested that a friend be called so she could bring him cigarettes. The phone
number was handed to the investigating police who contacted the friend, a
woman. The woman agreed to help with the investigation, met with an officer,
and gave him details of Travers' background. The woman, who became known as
Miss X, talked to Travers and he confessed the crime to her. Miss X was
subsequently sent back in to talk to him with a recording device, with which
she was able to obtain a confession.
Eventually, five men were arrested and
charged with the murder. Police were praised for their quick response in
capturing all suspects involved. In total, 22 days had elapsed from the time of
the murder to the time all suspects were taken into custody.
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Anita Cobby
(right) winning beauty pageant.
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The accused
The five accused suspects had over
fifty prior convictions for offences including armed robbery, assault, larceny,
car theft, breaking and entering, drug use, escaping lawful custody, receiving
stolen goods and rape.
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| John Travers |
John
Travers
Main article: John Travers
John Raymond Travers, the eldest of
eight children, was considered the ring-leader of the gang of attackers.
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| Michael Murdoch |
Michael
Murdoch
Michael Murdoch was a childhood friend
and criminal associate of Travers. Murdoch had also spent a great part of his
childhood in juvenile prisons where he experienced sexual assaults. He was
known to have written to politicians during this period of imprisonment seeking
protection from such assaults.
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| Michael Murphy |
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| Gary Steven Murphy |
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| Leslie Joseph Murphy |
The Murphy brothers
Michael, Gary and Les Murphy, brothers from a family of nine children, were also accused of the crime.- Michael Murphy was 33 at the time of the murder. He was the eldest of the nine Murphy children. Murphy was sent to live with his grandmother when 12 years of age.
- Gary Murphy was five years younger than Michael Murphy. Hearing impairment affected Gary Murphy's schooling and he left early to seek work. He was noted as being an able and willing worker before the crimes. His strong interest in cars led to him facing several car theft related charges in the years before the murder. Gary was known to have a very violent temper.
- Les Murphy was the youngest of the Murphy children, but was known as having the worst temperament. He had faced Children's Court on many occasions for a number of theft-related offences before being accused of the Anita Cobby murder. He was 24 years old at the time of the murder.
The
trial
The trial began in Sydney on 16 March
1987. Before proceedings began, Travers changed his plea to guilty. Sydney
newspaper The Sun published a front page story on the day the trial
began, carrying the headline "ANITA MURDER MAN GUILTY" alongside a
large image of Travers. A follow-up story in the same paper detailed Michael
Murphy's recent escape from Silverwater Correctional Centre, where he was
serving a 25-year sentence for a string of burglaries and thefts, and his
criminal convictions. The jury was discharged.
The trial for the remaining members of
the gang lasted 54 days, with the men's defence relying on convincing the jury
of their minimal involvement in the beating and murder. On 10 June 1987, all
five men accused of the murder were found guilty of murder. On 16 June 1987,
they were sentenced in the Supreme Court of New South Wales to life
imprisonment plus additional time, never to be released. Justice Alan Maxwell
described the crime as "One of the most horrifying physical and sexual
assaults. This was a calculated killing done in cold blood. The Executive
should grant the same degree of mercy they bestowed on their victim."
Aftermath
Cobby's parents were the founders of
the Victims of Homicide Support Group, a community support group that helps
families deal with heinous crimes. They also campaigned in seeking tougher
sentencing and truth in sentencing laws which eventuated after Anita Cobby's
murder. Cobby's father Garry Lynch died on 14 September 2008, aged 90,
suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
A September 2006 episode of Australian
television series Crime Investigation Australia featured the Anita Cobby
murder.
A July 2010 episode of Australian
Families of Crime, titled Blood Brothers: The Anita Cobby Killers,
featured the Anita Cobby murder.
A park in Sullivan Street, Blacktown
was named Anita Cobby Reserve in memory of Cobby.
The Australian social-realist film The
Boys (1998), directed by Rowan Woods, is in part inspired by the Anita
Cobby murder. It follows the journey of three brothers leading up to the crime.
LINKS:
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Anita &
John Cobby on their wedding day.
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MY COMMENTS AND CONDOLENCES:
I am very sorry for the loss of
Anita Cobby. I heard that two weeks after the horrific murder, 95% of 16,000
callers wanted the death penalty to be reintroduced in Australia. If the death
penalty was around and there was the Joint Enterprise Law, most likely, Anita Cobby
would at least be killed my only one person or not murdered at all.
Although the five men will never be
released from prison, life imprisonment is still not justice at all. The five
men did apply for parole but were denied, I suspect that they do not mind if
they are never released, they can have three good meals a day. Tragically, the
five men will outlive Anita Cobby and her father who has since died. We can
only hope that they will never be released and stay in prison until death.
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