Australia Australia - Michael, 29, Norah, 27, & Ellen Murphy, 18, Gatton, Qld, 26 Dec 1898

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gaia227

gaia227

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Michael, Nora and Ellen Murphy attended a dance the last evening of their lives. The dance had been cancelled so they turned their cart around and headed home. They never made it. Their brother went out looking for them the next day and found their bodies badly beaten and obviously arranged in a particular fashion. Their cart horse was nearby, shot with its throat slit. Both of the girls had been raped and then brutally beaten with a blunt object. All of their hands had been tied behind their backs and at least one of the girls had a horse rein tied around her throat.
The brother, Michael and one sister, Ellen, were arranged so they were lying back to back. Nora was carefully laid out on a fresh blanket.

There was one suspect in this murder but as you will read the investigation was so botched he disappeared.

This is a link to an article published in January of 1899. It is very informative and described the crime scene in rather shocking detail
The text is a little jumbled in some spots but still readable:
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cg...2.25&cl=&srpos=0&st=1&e=-------en--1----0-all

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gatton_murders

http://nla.gov.au/nla.cs-pa-HTTP%3A...159%26API_1%3DGET_OBJECT_XML%26NUM_RESULT%3D0

Link to PaperPast - all the articles published about the murders in Australian papers. There are tons of them. Once you pick one and it goes to the next screen you need to hit 'page view' for it to go full screen.
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cg...zziness=80&fuzziness=&e=-------en--1----0-all
 
What a horrible crime. I looked up the books written about the case on Amazon. Gatton Murders by Stephanie Bennett is available in paperback starting at $29.01. There are only 2 more copies and they're $47. It's an import though. Gatton Man by Merv Lilley isn't available. I'd love to get the Gatton Murders book though and read more about it.
 
Yeah, I know. I looked into that too. There seems to have been a few books written about the murders. From my internet research it seems that this case is still very much a part of Gatton. It is mentioned numerous times on websites about Australian history, etc.

Paperspast is a pretty neat resource. Unfortunately it is all Australian and New Zealand publications. It would be nice if we had something like that in the States - that was free.
 
Facinating case.I would love to read more about it.
I find these real old ones very interesting.
 
They are really fascinating to me too. There have been a couple books written.

The Gatton Murders: The Story of Lust, Vengenence and Vile Retribution was published in 2004 (I think). Stephanie Bennett did years of research sifting through police reports, newspapers, family geneology, pictures, etc and has formed her own theory of what happened. I included link to the new and used copy which BTW MaryBeth - you can get a used copy for $29.00.


http://www.amazon.com/Gatton-Murder...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1224251156&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Gatton-Murder...=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1224251156&sr=1-2

The Gatton Man written by Merv Lilley:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/GATTON-MAN-M...ItemQQimsxZ20081002?IMSfp=TL081002122001r2083
 
If I recall, there were several confessions (all almost certainly apocryphal). The last being from an old geezer in the 1970s.
 
FASCINATING Case! Australia has some of the most interesting cases of missing persons and murders
 
For anyone even remotely interested in the Gatton triple murder of 1898 you must read the story at http://www.gattonmurders.com/index.php
I am certain the solution to the mystery is contained in these pages but is not so easy to deduce. It may take a real detective.
The first episode great and is available to read FREE of charge at http://www.gattonmurders.com/TheGattonMurdersBook1.xps
It is quite possible the reward offered at the time is still valid.
 
I'm really pleased to see a thread on this case here! Information is pretty hard to come by on it, so I'm grateful for the links to books, etc. I keep my eye out at all the used book stores I frequent for historic Aus cases (they are terrific for out of print crime books!) but have so far found nothing on this case.

I was reading a site that discussed psychopathy and sociopathy a while ago which brought up the fact that these are human traits which have been around forever, they not 'modern' conditions at all. Looking over these old crimes sure makes the point.

It's always hard to believe that somebody with such a distinctive way of arranging bodies had never killed before, and did not kill again. But I've never heard of any similar crime in Aus, in that period. Of course, build-up crimes might go unreported, as rape was generally not something the papers liked to print.

Anybody know of cases that might fit?
 
This is a most interesting and baffling case.
I doubt it was a serial killing but who knows.
I am pretty sure the reward offered at the time is still valid and would now equate to around $500,000.00.
I am certain the solution is between the pages of the booklets but it requires an analytical open mind to put it all back together.
I truly hope someone can do it and clear a lot of peoples' names that have been under suspicion for over 110 years.
The answer is there.

Regards,
Steve
 
Steve - forgive me for asking -- but are you the author of those pamphletts, or an agent for them?
 
Ausgirl said:
Steve - forgive me for asking -- but are you the author of those pamphletts, or an agent for them?
Click to expand...

A quick read through the Wiki link (in the OP) shows that Steve Behnke indeed has written a series of 14 pamphlets, so I'm thinking that's his reason for the posts.

This is an interesting case indeed...talk about slipshod investigation! I will do some more digging around and seeing if I can't turn up other things to read regarding this case.

Best-
Herding Cats
 
herdingcats, do hurry back! Can't wait to find out what you uncover.
 
Ausgirl said:
Steve - forgive me for asking -- but are you the author of those pamphletts, or an agent for them?
Click to expand...
More like a compiler rather than author.
I have had a deep interest in this case for many years, the case is very puzzling to say the least.
I set up the website www.gattonmurders.com which contains a lot of stuff that is in the booklets, free to all and sundry.
I never intended doing a book but it just sort of evolved.
The booklets unlike most other stuff written over the years, only contain facts and no conjecture.
They were produced in order to help anyone with an interest in this case to understand just what happened without any BS.
So I suppose in that regard I have a vested interest in encouraging any one interested to continue the search for the answer.

Regards,
Steve
 
Are there any family members that are related to the victims that are living now?
 
The Gatton Murders, also known as "The Gatton Tragedy", "The Gatton Mystery" and "The Murphy Murders", is the name given to a still unsolved triple homicide that occurred 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from the town of Gatton, Queensland, Australia. Michael Murphy aged 29 and his younger sisters Norah (Honora) 27 and Ellen (Theresa) 18, were killed between 10pm and 4am on 26–27 December 1898 while returning home from a proposed dance that had been cancelled. Michael had been shot and bludgeoned, Norah strangled and bludgeoned, and Ellen was bludgeoned twice

Gatton murders - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
marlywings, I am so glad you made a thread for this, thanks!
 
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