Award-winning journalist Bill Poulos delves deep into Australia’s turbulent and lawless past with this collection of stories recalling crimes, murders and tragedies that once made headlines around the nation.
His detailed research takes the reader into townships, settlements and the wide-open spaces of the outback where there is no escape from the shocking and often brutal events he vividly recreates.
Bush Tragedies throws a light on shocking events that occurred far from the big cities – tragedies that disrupted and divided tight knit communities in obscure towns and settlements.
The author takes us well beyond the bare facts of crime and punishment. Postscripts add fascinating backgrounds and outcomes to those involved – the cause and effect of the brutal deeds he describes.
Readers become observers at inquests and trials, even joining the witnesses at the gallows.
We are introduced to rogues and villains, their unfortunate victims, and the lawyers and judges who decide their fate.
This rollicking time capsule brings to life the truly appalling crimes and tragedies that horrified a nation all those years ago.
They are retold in graphic detail from start to finish, complete with the cut and thrust of cross-examinations by police and lawyers.
It can be a tragic world out there in the bush . . .
Table of Content
Acknowledgementsvii
Bibliographyix
Chapter 1I just wanted to put her out of
her misery1
Chapter 2We have the head here, too.
Would you like to see it?27
Chapter 3Even his jewellery and dental plates
are missing71
Chapter 4Thomas Newman: the first man
hanged at Dubbo Gaol91
Chapter 5It’s okay; I know what I’m doing 106
Chapter 6I have some terrible news
about your daughter129
Chapter 7Just a kid working the sheds151
Chapter 8Get up! There’s been a train smash!179
Chapter 9The railways still killed him234
Chapter 10She let out a bit of a grunt,
so I whacked her again245
Chapter 11My God, he’s dead!267
Chapter 12I’m going outside to
get some fresh air304
Chapter 13You short-changed the boy!333
Chapter 14I’ve got you now, you bastard352
Chapter 15The life and times of Jack Timmins363
Chapter 16Double tragedy shocks a town385
Chapter 17I could not let a madman
do for the children397
Chapter 18Where are the children?414
Chapter 19I shot her because I don’t like her 432
Chapter 20Old Veech is next!447
Chapter 21The ghost of little Emma Quinn477
Chapter 22That’s my daddy!485
Chapter 23A man is shooting at Mr Hogan!499
About the author
Bill Poulos is a former freelance features and sports journalist based at Moree in north-western NSW. His passion is the thoroughbred racing industry, and he wrote extensively on this subject for numerous magazines, newspapers and websites across the eastern states of Australia for more than thirty-five years.Bill’s research for a book on the history of horse-racing in north-western NSW was the reason Bush Tragedies serendipitously evolved – historical stories of crime, murder, misery and heartache kept dragging him away from the project at hand. Bill won the John Newfong Award for Outstanding Indigenous Affairs reporting at the 2016 NRMA Kennedy Awards for Excellence in NSW Journalism and was also nominated for three Racing NSW Awards for Excellence in Media (2003, 2005 and 2010), winning in 2010. Bill lives in Moree with his wife Cindy and stepson Yang. Bill and Cindy own and manage a small business in Moree, and Bill writes every chance he gets.
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