Fred Swift - Murder Trial

Murder Trial

On Monday, 2 May 1983, both Larson and Lee were charged with Swift's murder. They were also charged with the unlawful imprisonment of Anita Charlotte Swift and Paul Andrew Swift, and having committed a robbery while armed with a rifle. Prior to the trial, the unlawful imprisonment charges were dropped, and both men were charged with murder and both were charged with armed robbery.

According to the trial transcript (VR 559, p. 564) a clinical psychologist, Bernard Healey, had comprehensively tested Larson in May 1983 and found "that Larson an I.Q. of 80, which him at the lowest end of the dull range of intelligence and at about 9 per centum amongst people of his age".

In November 1983, a jury found Larson guilty of murder and armed robbery, and found Lee guilty of manslaughter and armed robbery; they were sentenced, by Mr. Justice Hampel, to life imprisonment and seven years' gaol respectively on Monday, 12 December 1983.

Four and a half years later, on 30 March 1988, Larson escaped from custody at the Melbourne City Watch-house in company with Paul Alexander Anderson (who had been imprisoned for car theft and other convictions). They were both recaptured in Adelaide, charged with firearms offences, and extradited back to Victoria.

Later, in 1992, Larson was again incarcerated for armed robbery, and was convicted twice in the first part of 2003, for separate assaults on police.

In November 2003, Larson (who was now living in Preston) appeared in court, facing 13 charges rising from an entirely unprovoked knife attack on three unarmed cleaners at Southbank at 2:00 am on 29 September 2003.