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)
Famous quotes containing the words evening, mackay and/or murder:
“Much we buy each market day,
More still obtain:
All, all is carried home
By slow evening train.”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)
“REST IN PEACE. THE MISTAKE SHALL NOT BE REPEATED.”
—Anonymous. Quoted in The Harvest of a Quiet Eye, Alan L. Mackay (1977)
““If Steam has done nothing else, it has at least added a whole new Species to English Literature ... the booklets—the little thrilling romances, where the Murder comes at page fifteen, and the Wedding at page forty—surely they are due to Steam?”
“And when we travel by electricity—if I may venture to develop your theory—we shall have leaflets instead of booklets, and the Murder and the Wedding will come on the same page.””
—Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832–1898)