Latest news with #NTSupremeCourt
Daily Mirror
15-07-2025
- Daily Mirror
Peter Falconio's dad hopes murdered backpacker's body will be found before he dies
British backpacker Peter Falconio was murdered 24 years ago - his elderly father Luciano is clinging onto hope his son's remains will be found within his lifetime The elderly father of a British backpacker murdered in Australia is desperately clinging onto hope he will find out where his son's body was hidden before he dies. Peter Falconio' s dad Luciano gave an interview on the 24th anniversary of the day of his son's death - July 14th 2001. He was speaking following reports that convicted murderer Bradley John Murdoch has just 'a couple of days to live' in his battle against throat cancer. The 83-year-old said he doesn't know if he and his wife Joan will 'live long enough' to ever find out where their son's body is located. "Today is an important day," he said, 24 years to the day that his son was killed. "It is very significant, I wish I could find him and make an end to it, bury him. [I want to] find where he is buried and what happened to him, even me, I don't know. I know what happened but I don't know where he is. "I still hope, yeah I still hope, but I don't know, if we [will] live long enough." Recently a huge new reward appeal was launched in a desperate plea for information. Luciano was talking to News Corp from his home at Hepworth, West Yorkshire. Peter was murdered on July 14, 2001 after Murdoch persuaded him and his British girlfriend Joanne Lees to pull over late at night as they were driving through the outback between Alice Springs and Darwin while on a backpacking holiday. The 76-year-old murderer is in palliative care at Alice Springs Hospital and he has always denied murdering Mr Falconio. Murdoch is dying from metastasised throat cancer and has never revealed where he dumped the body of Mr Falconio, who was 28 years old at the time of his murder. The drug runner shot the British backpacker in the head near Barrow Creek in remote Northern Territory but he was not charged until two years later in 2003. He was found guilty in the NT Supreme Court in 2005 and is serving a life sentence with a non-parole period of 28 years. He was also convicted of assault-related charges and 'deprivation of liberty' relating to Ms Lees, whom he bound up with cable ties. Ms Lees, who lives in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, managed to escape and hid in bushland for five hours before she managed to wave down a passing vehicle to seek help. Mr Falconio was asked if he had been contacted by any Australian authorities including the police since the latest reports emerged that Murdoch may die within days, but he said he had heard nothing. "Not today, not yesterday or last week," he said. He said the torment he and his wife have lived with for years not knowing where their son is has never subsided and the feeling of tragedy, heartbreak and pain never eases. "It is important [to find Peter]...but we won't find anything today," Mr Falconio said. "It's 20-odd years so it's (the feeling is) not particularly any different. Twenty years is a very long time." Admitting he has rarely spoken to the media since his son's murder 24 years ago, Mr Falconio said he has a message to share with Australians. 'Thank every Australian, because I have got nothing against Australia,' he said. "Most people are [supportive]." In March when reports first emerged that Mr Murdoch was dying of throat cancer, Mrs Falconio said, we "have been through this before". "I've been in touch with [a friend in] Australia and we don't know if it's true because it's happened before,' Mrs Falconio said. "This was being told back in 2021 and the time before that as well so it might not be true. I've got this in hand with somebody in Australia."
Sydney Morning Herald
07-07-2025
- Sydney Morning Herald
Death on edge of custody demands new mindset for NT police
The findings of the coronial inquest into the death of Kumanjayi Walker, shot dead by a police officer in a remote community, captures a Northern Territory where the foundations of modern Australia, prisons and police still reflect colonial ideas of law and order. Walker, 19, stabbed former police constable Zachary Rolfe with a pair of scissors and was shot three times during an attempted arrest in the remote community of Yuendumu, 300 kilometres north-west of Alice Springs in November 2019. Rolfe was later charged with murder, manslaughter and engaging in a violent act causing death and acquitted by an NT Supreme Court jury in 2022. NT Coroner Elisabeth Armitage spent nearly three years inquiring into the shooting and found she could not exclude the possibility that, in addition having distain for 'the bosses', a lack of respect for women, contempt for bush police and an attraction to adrenaline-style policing, Rolfe's racist views had contributed to the fatal shooting. Loading 'Mr Rolfe was racist, and he worked in and benefited from an organisation with the hallmarks of institutional racism,' Armitage said. 'While it was not possible for me to say with certainty that Mr Rolfe's racist attitudes were operative in his decisions on 9 November or were a contributing cause of Kumanjayi's death, I cannot exclude that possibility. That I cannot exclude that possibility is a tragedy for Kumanjayi's family and community, who will always believe that racism played an integral part in his death and is a taint that may stain the NT police.' She warned NT Police should not consider Rolfe the only 'bad apple' as his racist language and attitudes were found among fellow police in Alice Springs. Further, she condemned the failure of police and health authorities to coordinate movements so that there was no adequate medical care available at Yuendumu to treat Walker as he lay dying. She also made 32 recommendations, including investigating recruitment processes, carrying weapons in communities and strengthening NT Police anti-racism strategies and an investigation into internal NT Police complaints. The coroner's findings are another shameful indication of the Northern Territory's deplorable record on imposing law and order. Nine years ago, the ABC's Four Corners program exposed atrocities being enacted on children at Darwin's Don Dale youth detention centre, including use of restraint chairs and spit hoods. The resulting national outrage prompted then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull to foist a royal commission onto a recalcitrant NT government. The commission report in 2017 recommended the centre's immediate closure. The Darwin administration got around to shifting the children out only last year. Since the age of 13, Kumanjayi Walker had spent six months each year in some form of custody. Armitage spoke of his history of alcohol and drug abuse. This NAIDOC Week, her findings are another poignant reminder of the disproportionate weight carried by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in dealings with NT Police. This may be a regional tragedy but the Territory government must move decisively to reflect national values.
Perth Now
07-07-2025
- Perth Now
Cop who shot Indigenous teen ‘racist': coroner
WARNING: This story contains the name and image of an Indigenous person who has died. An Alice Springs constable who fatally shot an Indigenous teenager in 2019 was racist and worked in a racist police station, the coroner says. Coroner Elisabeth Armitage has spent three years investigating the life of Kumanjayi Walker and the events surrounding the 19-year-old's death. Constable Zachary Rolfe shot Mr Walker after the officer was stabbed. The coroner presented her findings to the community of Yuendumu, 300km northwest of Alice Springs, on Monday, 'Having considered all the evidence including Mr Rolfe's explanations and justifications, I found that Mr Rolfe was racist and that he worked in and was the beneficiary of an organisation with hallmarks of institutional racism,' Ms Armitage said. Kumanjayi Walker died aged 19 in the remote Indigenous community of Yuendumu. Credit: Supplied 'I am satisfied that there is a significant risk that his racism, in combination with some of his other attitudes and values, affected his interactions with the community of Yuendumu on 9 November 2019. 'While it was not possible for me to say with certainty that Mr Rolfe's racist attitudes were operative in his decisions on 9 November or were a contributing cause of Kumanjayi's death, I cannot exclude that possibility.' Mr Walker was fatally shot by the then NT police constable during an attempted arrest at Yuendumu in 2019. Mr Walker stabbed the constable in the shoulder with a pair of scissors; Mr Rolfe shot Mr Walker three times. Mr Rolfe was acquitted by a jury of murder, manslaughter, and engaging in a violent act causing death in the NT Supreme Court in 2022. Mr Rolfe then publicly criticised the NT Police Force and the Coroner's Court and was sacked from the police. Zach Rolfe was acquitted at a criminal trial. Jason Walls Credit: News Corp Australia Mr Walker died in custody, so a mandatory coronial inquest was undertaken. The inquiry ran for 66 hearing days, with 70 witnesses, during the course of three years. The inquest has revealed evidence of systemic racism within the NT Police, sparked an ICAC investigation into the Territory Response Group, an NT police internal anti-racism review, and an apology from the then NT Police Commissioner to Aboriginal Territorians. The release of the coroner's report was delayed following the death in custody of another Yuendumu man, Kumanjayi White, 24, inside a Coles in Alice Springs. More to come
The Advertiser
06-07-2025
- Politics
- The Advertiser
Family hopes for change as inquest draws to an end
The family of a teenager who was fatally shot by a police officer are calling for "truth, accountability and justice" following a years-long coronial inquest. Kumanjayi Walker was shot three times at close range by then-constable Zachary Rolfe at a home in the Northern Territory town of Yuendumu, in November 2019. The death of the 19-year-old Warlpiri-Luritja man devastated the community, Mr Walker's cousin Samara Fernandez-Brown said. "We miss him and feel his loss deeply every single day, it will stain our country for generations to come," she said in a statement. In March 2022, an NT Supreme Court jury acquitted Mr Rolfe of murdering Mr Walker. He has since left the police force. Over the course of the coronial inquest, which has faced several delays, text messages between Mr Rolfe and colleagues, littered with derogatory language were revealed, as were racist award certificates, which triggered a probe in early 2024 by the NT corruption watchdog. It has been a gruelling, shocking and devastating process for family and the community, Ms Fernandez-Brown said, as they prepare for Coroner Elisabeth Armitage's findings, to be handed down in Yuendumu on Monday. "Racism killed Kumanjayi. Racism from NT Police, the NT government, from Zachary Rolfe," Ms Fernandez-Brown said. "Yet none of them have ever been held to account for Kumanjayi's death. "We are heartbroken and exhausted after many long years, but we are hoping change is coming." During the inquest, Mr Walker's family called for an independent police ombudsman to be established, self-determination for Yuendumu and other Aboriginal communities, investment in culturally-safe alternatives to prison and punitive policing, the banning of guns in community and a reckoning with the over-incarceration of Aboriginal people in the territory. Senior Warlpiri Elder Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves, said if the NT Police Commissioner Martin Dole or other officers intended on going to Yuendumu for the findings, they should come without guns, and no "empty words". "If he (Dole) is just coming to say sorry he is not welcome - how many times have they said sorry and still harmed us," Mr Hargraves said. "If Dole comes with news of real change that would be different. If he said police would put down their guns like we wanted, yes, he would be welcome. "But they are now giving out more guns to more police to shoot our people." 13YARN 13 92 76 Lifeline 13 11 14 The family of a teenager who was fatally shot by a police officer are calling for "truth, accountability and justice" following a years-long coronial inquest. Kumanjayi Walker was shot three times at close range by then-constable Zachary Rolfe at a home in the Northern Territory town of Yuendumu, in November 2019. The death of the 19-year-old Warlpiri-Luritja man devastated the community, Mr Walker's cousin Samara Fernandez-Brown said. "We miss him and feel his loss deeply every single day, it will stain our country for generations to come," she said in a statement. In March 2022, an NT Supreme Court jury acquitted Mr Rolfe of murdering Mr Walker. He has since left the police force. Over the course of the coronial inquest, which has faced several delays, text messages between Mr Rolfe and colleagues, littered with derogatory language were revealed, as were racist award certificates, which triggered a probe in early 2024 by the NT corruption watchdog. It has been a gruelling, shocking and devastating process for family and the community, Ms Fernandez-Brown said, as they prepare for Coroner Elisabeth Armitage's findings, to be handed down in Yuendumu on Monday. "Racism killed Kumanjayi. Racism from NT Police, the NT government, from Zachary Rolfe," Ms Fernandez-Brown said. "Yet none of them have ever been held to account for Kumanjayi's death. "We are heartbroken and exhausted after many long years, but we are hoping change is coming." During the inquest, Mr Walker's family called for an independent police ombudsman to be established, self-determination for Yuendumu and other Aboriginal communities, investment in culturally-safe alternatives to prison and punitive policing, the banning of guns in community and a reckoning with the over-incarceration of Aboriginal people in the territory. Senior Warlpiri Elder Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves, said if the NT Police Commissioner Martin Dole or other officers intended on going to Yuendumu for the findings, they should come without guns, and no "empty words". "If he (Dole) is just coming to say sorry he is not welcome - how many times have they said sorry and still harmed us," Mr Hargraves said. "If Dole comes with news of real change that would be different. If he said police would put down their guns like we wanted, yes, he would be welcome. "But they are now giving out more guns to more police to shoot our people." 13YARN 13 92 76 Lifeline 13 11 14 The family of a teenager who was fatally shot by a police officer are calling for "truth, accountability and justice" following a years-long coronial inquest. Kumanjayi Walker was shot three times at close range by then-constable Zachary Rolfe at a home in the Northern Territory town of Yuendumu, in November 2019. The death of the 19-year-old Warlpiri-Luritja man devastated the community, Mr Walker's cousin Samara Fernandez-Brown said. "We miss him and feel his loss deeply every single day, it will stain our country for generations to come," she said in a statement. In March 2022, an NT Supreme Court jury acquitted Mr Rolfe of murdering Mr Walker. He has since left the police force. Over the course of the coronial inquest, which has faced several delays, text messages between Mr Rolfe and colleagues, littered with derogatory language were revealed, as were racist award certificates, which triggered a probe in early 2024 by the NT corruption watchdog. It has been a gruelling, shocking and devastating process for family and the community, Ms Fernandez-Brown said, as they prepare for Coroner Elisabeth Armitage's findings, to be handed down in Yuendumu on Monday. "Racism killed Kumanjayi. Racism from NT Police, the NT government, from Zachary Rolfe," Ms Fernandez-Brown said. "Yet none of them have ever been held to account for Kumanjayi's death. "We are heartbroken and exhausted after many long years, but we are hoping change is coming." During the inquest, Mr Walker's family called for an independent police ombudsman to be established, self-determination for Yuendumu and other Aboriginal communities, investment in culturally-safe alternatives to prison and punitive policing, the banning of guns in community and a reckoning with the over-incarceration of Aboriginal people in the territory. Senior Warlpiri Elder Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves, said if the NT Police Commissioner Martin Dole or other officers intended on going to Yuendumu for the findings, they should come without guns, and no "empty words". "If he (Dole) is just coming to say sorry he is not welcome - how many times have they said sorry and still harmed us," Mr Hargraves said. "If Dole comes with news of real change that would be different. If he said police would put down their guns like we wanted, yes, he would be welcome. "But they are now giving out more guns to more police to shoot our people." 13YARN 13 92 76 Lifeline 13 11 14 The family of a teenager who was fatally shot by a police officer are calling for "truth, accountability and justice" following a years-long coronial inquest. Kumanjayi Walker was shot three times at close range by then-constable Zachary Rolfe at a home in the Northern Territory town of Yuendumu, in November 2019. The death of the 19-year-old Warlpiri-Luritja man devastated the community, Mr Walker's cousin Samara Fernandez-Brown said. "We miss him and feel his loss deeply every single day, it will stain our country for generations to come," she said in a statement. In March 2022, an NT Supreme Court jury acquitted Mr Rolfe of murdering Mr Walker. He has since left the police force. Over the course of the coronial inquest, which has faced several delays, text messages between Mr Rolfe and colleagues, littered with derogatory language were revealed, as were racist award certificates, which triggered a probe in early 2024 by the NT corruption watchdog. It has been a gruelling, shocking and devastating process for family and the community, Ms Fernandez-Brown said, as they prepare for Coroner Elisabeth Armitage's findings, to be handed down in Yuendumu on Monday. "Racism killed Kumanjayi. Racism from NT Police, the NT government, from Zachary Rolfe," Ms Fernandez-Brown said. "Yet none of them have ever been held to account for Kumanjayi's death. "We are heartbroken and exhausted after many long years, but we are hoping change is coming." During the inquest, Mr Walker's family called for an independent police ombudsman to be established, self-determination for Yuendumu and other Aboriginal communities, investment in culturally-safe alternatives to prison and punitive policing, the banning of guns in community and a reckoning with the over-incarceration of Aboriginal people in the territory. Senior Warlpiri Elder Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves, said if the NT Police Commissioner Martin Dole or other officers intended on going to Yuendumu for the findings, they should come without guns, and no "empty words". "If he (Dole) is just coming to say sorry he is not welcome - how many times have they said sorry and still harmed us," Mr Hargraves said. "If Dole comes with news of real change that would be different. If he said police would put down their guns like we wanted, yes, he would be welcome. "But they are now giving out more guns to more police to shoot our people." 13YARN 13 92 76 Lifeline 13 11 14
Perth Now
06-07-2025
- Politics
- Perth Now
Family hopes for change as inquest draws to an end
The family of a teenager who was fatally shot by a police officer are calling for "truth, accountability and justice" following a years-long coronial inquest. Kumanjayi Walker was shot three times at close range by then-constable Zachary Rolfe at a home in the Northern Territory town of Yuendumu, in November 2019. The death of the 19-year-old Warlpiri-Luritja man devastated the community, Mr Walker's cousin Samara Fernandez-Brown said. "We miss him and feel his loss deeply every single day, it will stain our country for generations to come," she said in a statement. In March 2022, an NT Supreme Court jury acquitted Mr Rolfe of murdering Mr Walker. He has since left the police force. Over the course of the coronial inquest, which has faced several delays, text messages between Mr Rolfe and colleagues, littered with derogatory language were revealed, as were racist award certificates, which triggered a probe in early 2024 by the NT corruption watchdog. It has been a gruelling, shocking and devastating process for family and the community, Ms Fernandez-Brown said, as they prepare for Coroner Elisabeth Armitage's findings, to be handed down in Yuendumu on Monday. "Racism killed Kumanjayi. Racism from NT Police, the NT government, from Zachary Rolfe," Ms Fernandez-Brown said. "Yet none of them have ever been held to account for Kumanjayi's death. "We are heartbroken and exhausted after many long years, but we are hoping change is coming." During the inquest, Mr Walker's family called for an independent police ombudsman to be established, self-determination for Yuendumu and other Aboriginal communities, investment in culturally-safe alternatives to prison and punitive policing, the banning of guns in community and a reckoning with the over-incarceration of Aboriginal people in the territory. Senior Warlpiri Elder Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves, said if the NT Police Commissioner Martin Dole or other officers intended on going to Yuendumu for the findings, they should come without guns, and no "empty words". "If he (Dole) is just coming to say sorry he is not welcome - how many times have they said sorry and still harmed us," Mr Hargraves said. "If Dole comes with news of real change that would be different. If he said police would put down their guns like we wanted, yes, he would be welcome. "But they are now giving out more guns to more police to shoot our people." 13YARN 13 92 76 Lifeline 13 11 14
