Michael Murdoch's Murder Case Study

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The definition of murder is the killing of a human being by a sane person, with the intent to harm or kill and with no legal excuse or authority (Hill, Gerald & Kathleen, 2016). A murder was committed on the night of 1986. A young nurse was named Anita Lorraine Cobby was violently killed by five drunken men.

Cobby was murdered by a group of five men who together had over 50 prior convictions including armed robbery, car theft, breaking and entering, assault, escaping lawful custody, receiving stolen goods, drug use and rape. John Travers, the leader was 19 at the time. He was raised in Blacktown, NSW in poverty. He was an alcoholic by the age of 14. Michael Murdoch was also 19 at the time of murder. He was a childhood friends and associate …show more content…

She was less than two kilometres away when she was abducted by the five men who were drunk, driving a stolen car on their way to buy drugs. The group needed money for petrol and drugs when they saw Anita walking alone down the road. They drove to a paddock where they gang – raped her. They broke her fingers and dislocated other bones before slashing her throat. The cut was so violent that her head was barely connected to her neck. After her body was dragged to her final resting place through a barbed wire fence. This was indicated from her injuries. Two days later her body was discovered in the middle of a farm in Prospect. The Western Sydney suburb is 4km away from Cobby’s home in …show more content…

The code also states that any person who commits murder is liable to imprisonment for life. The court sentencing orders that the person must not be released from imprisonment until they have served a minimum of 30 years with the exception of circumstances parole (Queensland Consolidated Acts, 2016). The gang were accused of murder under these laws and regulations.
The gang was taken into custody once being questioned about the murder. The police tracked the murder to them after a tip off from the public directly leading to the five men and the previous charges of Murdoch and Les Murphy for stolen vehicle offences backed but this statement. They were both released on bail but returned to police custody shortly after. A lady known as Mrs X was a friend of Travers and agreed to help the police record a confession from him while being held in a cell. John Travers confessed to Mrs X that he, Murdoch and the three Murphy brothers were responsible for the murder of Anita

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