The Gatton Tragedy: Murder of the Murphy Siblings

Norah              Michael                Ellen

On the night of December 26, 1898, around 8 p.m. 27-year-old Norah, 18-year-old Ellen, and 29-year-old Michael Murphy left their home at Black Fellow's Creek outside of Gatton, Australia in a two-wheeled cart. Michael was driving his sisters to a dance held at the Gatton Divisional Hall and hoped to arrive by 9.  

The trio didn't know that the dance was to be canceled due to the lack of female attendance. They arrived and realized it had been canceled and headed back home. But they were to never return. 

Their mother had gotten worried and knew something was off. She sent her son-in-law William McNeil into Gatton to see why the siblings didn't return. That morning he found them after following his Sulky's distinctive track marks (due to a wobbly wheel) on the road. He followed them and found their bodies in a horrifying sight.  The police were soon contacted. 

The scene was marked off, but townspeople hearing of the murders came to the scene. It was contaminated by onlookers. The bodies were brought to a local hotel for autopsy. 

At the scene, Ellen and Michael were laying back to back while Norah lay a few yards away on a neatly spread rug. The girls had them hands tied behind their backs with handkerchiefs. Micheal had been both beaten and shot to death. He may have had his hands tied together at one point.The girls had been sexually assaulted and then they were beaten to death. Norah may have also been strangled. Nora had a hames strap tightly wrapped around her neck. Their horse had been shot and killed and 15 shillings were missing from Michaels purse. His purse was in his hand and a breeching strap nearby. 

Some suspected maybe they were killed by family members or they had been killed by a local priest as someone heard a woman screaming "father" that night. But the police believed that it may have been a transient who was in the area who killed the three.

They had two main suspects one was man name Richard Burgess, but he had a solid alibi and the other was a man named Thomas Day. Thomas's hut was near the scene and someone claimed to see him wash the blood from a pullover days later. But there was no clear evidence of who the murderer or murders were. No one was charged with this case and will remain unsolved. 

SOURCES:

Wikipedia
Gatton Murders
Western Mail
Daily News
Huff Post