Murder of Anita Cobby

Anita Lorraine Cobby (née Lynch), a 26-year-old nurse from Blacktown, Sydney, was abducted just before 10:00 p.m. on 2 February 1986 while walking home from Blacktown railway station after finding the station telephone out of order and no taxis available. A group of five men driving a stolen white HT Holden Kingswood forced her into their car. Witnesses, including a teenage boy and his family, saw the abduction and called police, but the attackers evaded a search of the area by hiding in long grass near a paddock in Prospect.

Inside the vehicle, Cobby was beaten, repeatedly raped, and forced to perform sexual acts on all five men. She was driven to a secluded paddock on Reen Road, Prospect, where she was further assaulted. According to a taped confession later obtained from one of the attackers, John Travers, he became concerned that Cobby could identify the men and persuaded the others that she should be killed. Travers cut her throat, an act the forensic pathologist described as nearly decapitating her; the examiner testified she was likely still conscious and would have taken two to three minutes to bleed to death.

Cobby was reported missing by her family on 3 February after she failed to return home or appear for work. Her naked body was discovered on 4 February by a farmer in a paddock in Prospect and was identified by her wedding ring. Her estranged husband, John Cobby, was initially suspected but quickly cleared. The case generated intense public reaction; the NSW Government offered a A$50,000 reward, and a radio host publicly read leaked autopsy details on air, further inflaming public sentiment.

Police investigation, aided by a tip-off regarding the stolen car, led to the identification of John Travers, Michael Murdoch, and brothers Michael, Gary and Les Murphy. On 21 February 1986, Travers, Murdoch and Les Murphy were arrested; Michael and Gary Murphy were later also taken into custody. A key break came when Travers' girlfriend, referred to as "Miss X," agreed to wear a concealed recording device during jail visits and obtained confessions from Travers and later Murdoch. In total, 22 days elapsed between the murder and the arrest of all five suspects.

The trial began on 16 March 1987 in the Supreme Court of New South Wales; Travers changed his plea to guilty before proceedings started. An initial jury was discharged after prejudicial press coverage regarding Michael Murphy. A subsequent 54-day trial for the remaining four men concluded on 10 June 1987 with guilty verdicts for sexual assault and murder against all five men. On 16 June 1987, each was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Presiding Justice Alan Maxwell described the crime as "one of the most horrifying physical and sexual assaults" and a "calculated killing done in cold blood."

In the aftermath, Cobby's parents, Garry and Grace Lynch, co-founded the Homicide Victims' Support Group and campaigned for tougher sentencing laws. Garry Lynch died in 2008; Grace Lynch died in 2013. Of the convicted men, Michael Murphy died in prison in February 2019; the other four remain in maximum-security custody in New South Wales as of the most recent reporting.