On December 14, 1917, James "Jim" Barclay hired a cook named John Bamford worked for the Wonnangatta Station he managed in a secluded valley in the Victorian Alps in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. The two workers were last seen when they left Talbotville on December 21, 1917, after voting. They then returned to the Wonnangatta Station.
On December 28th the Goold brothers went by the station. They didn't see neither worker but heard them and a dog moving cattle. They were out of sight and the Goold's left a note for the two in the Station.
On Jan. 22, 1918, Harry Smith, a good friend, and stepson of the original owner of Wonnangatta Station went to the station to drop off mail. He found that Jim and John were not there. The crops had been cut which Jim stated he was going to mid-Jan. Their bedroom doors were locked and "Home Tonight" was written on the kitchen door in chalk. The note the brothers left weren't there and the note on the door wasn't there when they visited almost a month before. It's assumed Jim and John had been at the Station between Dec. 28th and Jan. 22nd.
A search ensued and lasted several days. On Feb. 25th Jim was found in a shallow grave near the Conglomerate Creek which was 420 paces from the Station. Jim was shot in the back possibly with his own gun. Jim's clothes and a handgun he recently purchased were missing, but they left other valuables and Jim's shotgun at the station. John's horse was missing also. Food in the homestead was found to be covered in strychnine, but neither one (Johns body hadn't been found yet) was found to have been poisoned.
It was initially thought that John with his short temper had gotten in a fight with Jim and killed him. But in November his body was found buried under some logs near Howitt Plains Hut on Mount Howitt. He had been shot in the head. It was possible that John and Jim had stayed at the Hut to fix a fence.
It's unknown what had happened to the two or even the motive as some of Jim's personal items had been stolen(including a handgun he recently purchased), but other valuable items were left behind. If Jim and John were killed by the same person or person's why did they take John so far away to be killed and Jim so close to the Station? Or did the murders start at the Howitt Plains Hut while they stayed there to fix some fencing? Or it could be possible that Jim was at the Station while John was at the Hut and the murderers knew this and used the opportunity to kill both.
Some assume that John had killed Jim and Jim's friend killed him in retaliation. But there's no proof in this and why would they allow it to take so long for them to be rediscovered. Jim also wrote to a friend that he was in fear of his life and hearsay claims he said he was scared of "three blokes". He had bought a handgun to protect himself. The crops he planned in mid-Jan. Were cut when Harry arrived on Jan 22nd and it's believed he may have been killed around that time.
No one will really happen that night and it may never be known.
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