Port Arthur Massacre (Australia) - Background

Background

Martin Bryant received 1.5 million dollars from a friend, Helen Harvey, who left her estate to him. He used part of this money to go on many trips around the world from 1993 onwards. Bryant also withdrew many thousands of dollars during this period. He used at least some of this money in late 1993 to purchase an AR-10 semi-automatic rifle through a newspaper advertisement in Tasmania. In March 1996, he had his AR-10 repaired at a gun shop and made enquiries about AR-15 rifles in other gun shops. In April 1995, he also purchased cleaning kits for a .30 calibre weapon and a 12 gauge Daewoo shotgun. He purchased a sports bag and told a shop attendant that it would need to be strong enough to carry large amounts of ammunition. He told his girlfriend, Petra Wilmot, a different story about the purpose of the bag. He also hid the weapons and a large amount of ammunition at his house.

Bryant's father had tried to purchase a Bed and Breakfast property called Seascape, but David and Noelene (also known as Sally) Martin bought this property before his father could ready his finances, much to the disappointment of the father who often complained to his son of the "double dealing" the Martins had done to secure the purchase. Bryant offered to buy another property for the Martins at Palmers Lookout Road, but they declined the offer. Bryant apparently believed the Martins had deliberately bought the property to hurt his family and believed this event to be responsible for the depression that led to his father's suicide, which in turn led to their own murders. Bryant described them as "very mean people" and as "the worse people in my life"(sic).