Evening of Mackay's Murder
On 15 July 1977, Mackay disappeared from a hotel car park after having drinks with friends and has never been found. Stains from his blood group were evident on his van and the ground nearby, and his car keys were underneath. Nearby were drag marks, hair, and three spent .22 calibre cartridges.
The Woodward Royal Commission found that the six prime suspects to the murder all had convenient alibis. On the night of the murder, Tony and Domenic Sergi, nominated as principal suspects by the Woodward Royal Commission, were on a "pub crawl" in Griffith with a number of police officers; Giuseppe and Rocco Barbaro went to Sydney and, then, the Gold Coast, not returning to Griffith until 20 July; Francesco Barbaro, brother-in-law of Tony Sergi and cousin of Savero Barbaro (who was arrested 3 months earlier of marijuana production), stayed at the Griffith Ex-Servicemen's Club; and Robert Trimbole was at Randwick, Sydney, at a restaurant.
Mackay's disappearance made headlines around the nation and many, such as Griffith supervisor of detectives James Bindon, drew the conclusion that gangland figure Robert Trimbole was responsible for the apparent contract-style killing. Trimbole had previously made death threats against Mackay. The killing fuelled the perception of Griffith as full of mobsters and "Australia's marijuana capital".
Read more about this topic: Donald Mackay (anti-drugs Campaigner)
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“REST IN PEACE. THE MISTAKE SHALL NOT BE REPEATED.”
—Anonymous. Quoted in The Harvest of a Quiet Eye, Alan L. Mackay (1977)
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