Highway Robbery at Kangaroo Point Samuel Fletcher loved horses. To be precise, he loved horses that weren’t his own. A horse was an expensive proposition – why pay for one? That was Samuel’s mindset back when he was a lad in Nottingham – he worked as a groom[i], and was surrounded by fine horses allContinue reading “The man who loved horses.”
Tag Archives: True Crime
Imagine if it happened today.
Two children are playing on a bridge. A driver, who has had a couple of drinks, gets out of his vehicle and tries to throw one of the children into the water below, tearing her jacket. He turns his attention to the younger child, a five year old boy, and throws him from the bridge.Continue reading “Imagine if it happened today.”
The Inside Job – 09 November 1867
On November 9, 1867, the bodies of John Power and Patrick Cahill, members of the Police Gold Escort, were found at their camp at the Mackenzie River. They had been poisoned and shot – by their superior officer, the Gold Commissioner, Thomas Griffin. Here is the post that describes how this crime came about. ThomasContinue reading “The Inside Job – 09 November 1867”
The Odd Man About The Shed
John Hayes was an Irish labourer who had arrived in Queensland in 1873 on the Landsborough. There might well be a fortune to be made by a man who would work hard. Perhaps after a few years he could own some land, have a family. Perhaps he could send some money home to Ireland. ItContinue reading “The Odd Man About The Shed”
True Crime in 1840s Brisbane
As reported by the Moreton Bay Courier With the exception of the murder of Robert Cox at Kangaroo Point in 1848, and the relatively distant frontier violence perpetrated by and on European settlers, life was fairly quiet in Moreton Bay in the 1840s. Still, there are columns to fill, and readers to shock, so theContinue reading “True Crime in 1840s Brisbane”
The Rake’s Progress
In the Queensland Police Service Watch-house Entry Books, a photograph of a respectable-looking middle-aged man is accompanied by a string of aliases, each more bizarre than the last. He could be the local vicar, but for all of those names. He was imprisoned for bigamy, something that was far more common in those far-off daysContinue reading “The Rake’s Progress”
Poor Nancy McCoy
Murdered by her husband and blamed by society. Around 10:30 on the night of 23 June 1856, residents of Brisbane Town heard screams from a cottage near George Street. It was a working-class neighbourhood, and raised voices were common, but this time it was the voice of a woman crying out “Murder!” It turned outContinue reading “Poor Nancy McCoy”
The Inside Job
Thomas John Augustus Griffin was a worried man. His past was catching up with him, and he needed money – fast – so that he could satisfy his debts, get away and possibly fake his death. Again. He could access some fast money, arrange an inside job, but it would be risky. He may haveContinue reading “The Inside Job”
Moreton Bay and More 