Hunt For The Killers
On 6 February, the NSW State Government posted a $50,000 reward for information leading to the capture of her killers. On 9 February, police re-enacted Cobby's movements on the night of her disappearance in the hope of jogging the memories of travellers or others who might have witnessed her movements. Constable Debbie Wallace wore similar clothing to Cobby and travelled the 9:12 p.m. train to Blacktown. Detectives interviewed the passengers and showed them photos of Cobby whilst Constable Wallace walked the length of the train during the journey.
Following a tip-off from a police informant regarding a stolen vehicle, police started searching for John Travers, Michael Murdoch and Les, Michael, and Gary Murphy after they discovered that some of them had a history of violence and Travers had a reputation for carrying a knife. On 21 February, police found and arrested Travers and Murdoch at Travers' uncle's house and Les Murphy at Travers' house. Murdoch and Murphy were charged with offences relating to stolen cars and released on police bail. Travers, who admitted that he had stolen a car, had also made conflicting statements about the murder. He was detained in police custody.
While in custody, John Travers requested that a friend be called so she could bring him cigarettes. The phone number was handed to the investigating police who contacted the friend, a woman. The woman agreed to help with the investigation, met with an officer, and gave him details of Travers' background. The woman, who became known as Miss X, talked to Travers and he confessed the crime to her. Miss X was subsequently sent back in to talk to him with a recording device, with which she was able to obtain a confession.
Eventually, five men were arrested and charged with the murder. Police were praised for their quick response in capturing all suspects involved. In total, 22 days had elapsed from the time of the murder to the time all suspects were taken into custody.
Read more about this topic: Murder Of Anita Cobby
Famous quotes containing the words hunt for, hunt and/or killers:
“O momentary grace of mortal men,
Which we more hunt for than the grace of God!”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“The laughing queen that caught the world’s great hands.”
—Leigh Hunt (1784–1859)
“we want to remember when you were
money in Massachusetts and yet were wild and rude
and killers. We want our killers dressed in black
like grease for we are sick of writing checks,
putting on our socks and working in the little boxes
we call the office.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)