Case file
Silk–Miller police murders
On the night of 15–16 August 1998, Sergeant Gary Silk, 34, and Senior Constable Rodney Miller, 35, were participating in Operation Hamada, a Victoria Police Armed Robbery Squad operation investigating a series of restaurant armed robberies committed over a seven-year period. The officers were staking out the Silky Emperor Restaurant in Cochranes Road, Moorabbin, in an unmarked patrol car. After an earlier vehicle fled the scene when spotted, Silk and Miller later followed and pulled over a Hyundai Excel hatchback at 12:08am. As Silk approached the passenger side, the driver produced a revolver and shot Silk in the chest and pelvis. When Miller attempted to return fire, a shot fired through the rear window struck him under the arm. The gunman then exited the vehicle and fired a fatal shot to Silk's head. Miller, though mortally wounded, returned fire at the fleeing vehicle and managed to walk back toward the restaurant before collapsing; he told responding officers two gunmen had been involved. He died at Monash Medical Centre later that morning.
The investigation, code-named Operation Lorimer, examined glass fragments left at the scene, which were traced to a specific Hyundai hatchback model manufactured in South Korea. The vehicle was found to be registered to the daughter of Bandali Debs, a known criminal. Ballistics evidence linked bullets from the murders to earlier armed robberies under investigation in Operation Hamada, and indicated two firearms had been used.
On 24 September 2001, Bandali Debs and Jason Joseph Roberts, the boyfriend of Debs' daughter, were charged with the murders of Silk and Miller along with numerous armed robbery offences. Their trial began in the Supreme Court of Victoria on 17 February 2003, and on 23 February 2003 both men were found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Separately, Debs was later convicted in May 2007 of the murder of Kristy Mary Harty, and in December 2011 of the murder of Donna Ann Hicks, receiving further life sentences.
Beginning in 2015, and reopened in November 2017, the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) investigated alleged misconduct during the original Lorimer taskforce investigation under Operation Gloucester, holding public hearings from February 2019. Roberts's conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal in November 2020 after it was found that a police officer, Senior Constable Glenn Pullin, had destroyed his original statement and submitted a backdated one, undermining evidence about the number of offenders. A retrial in 2022, running four months with 90 witnesses, resulted in a not-guilty verdict for Roberts on both murder charges on 11 July 2022, after 22 years in custody. Roberts remained to be sentenced on 10 admitted armed robbery charges. Debs' conviction for the Silk and Miller murders was not overturned.
Key facts
- Victims
- Kristy Mary Harty, Donna Ann Hicks, Rodney Miller, Gary Silk
- Date
- 1998
- Location
- Cochranes Road, Moorabbin, Victoria, Australia
- Case status
- overturned
Case timeline
1991-02-20
Start of a series of armed robberies at restaurants later investigated as Operation Hamada.
1998-08-15
Sergeant Gary Silk and Senior Constable Rodney Miller begin a stakeout of the Silky Emperor Restaurant in Moorabbin as part of Operation Hamada.
1998-08-16
Silk and Miller are shot after pulling over a Hyundai Excel; Silk is killed at the scene, Miller dies later that morning at Monash Medical Centre.
2001-09-24
Bandali Debs and Jason Joseph Roberts are charged with the murders of Silk and Miller and related armed robbery offences.
2003-02-17
Trial of Debs and Roberts begins in the Supreme Court of Victoria.
2003-02-23
Debs and Roberts are found guilty of the murders and sentenced to life imprisonment.
2007-05
Debs is convicted of the murder of Kristy Mary Harty and sentenced to a further life term.
2011-12-12
Debs is found guilty of the murder of Donna Ann Hicks and receives another life sentence.
2015
IBAC begins investigating alleged improper practices during the Lorimer taskforce (later closed for lack of evidence).
2017-11
IBAC reopens the investigation as Operation Gloucester after new evidence emerges.
2019-02-04
IBAC holds public hearings into alleged misconduct by Victoria Police officers connected to the case.
2020-06-23
Roberts's appeal against his conviction is heard by the Victorian Court of Appeal.
2020-11-10
Roberts's conviction is quashed and a retrial ordered due to evidence tampering by a police officer.
2022-07-11
At retrial, a Supreme Court jury finds Roberts not guilty of both murder charges.
Best coverage
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People
Bandali Debs
CONVICTEDConvicted in February 2003 of the murders of Silk and Miller and sentenced to life imprisonment; later convicted of two further murders.
Kristy Mary Harty
VICTIMTeenager murdered by Bandali Debs around June 1997, for which he was convicted in May 2007.
Donna Ann Hicks
VICTIMMother of three murdered by Bandali Debs in April 1995, for which he was convicted in December 2011.
Rodney Miller
VICTIMVictoria Police Senior Constable killed during the 1998 Moorabbin stakeout.
Jason Joseph Roberts
ACQUITTEDConvicted in 2003 of the murders of Silk and Miller; conviction quashed in 2020 due to evidence tampering, and found not guilty at retrial in July 2022.
Glenn Pullin
LAW ENFORCEMENTSenior Constable found to have destroyed his original statement and submitted a backdated one, misconduct that led to the quashing of Roberts's conviction.
Gary Silk
VICTIMVictoria Police Sergeant killed during the 1998 Moorabbin stakeout.
Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.
Places
Common questions
- What happened to the victim?
- Victoria Police Sergeant Gary Silk and Senior Constable Rodney Miller were shot dead during a stakeout in Moorabbin, Australia, in August 1998; a lengthy investigation led to convictions in 2003, but one conviction was later quashed over evidence tampering and overturned at retrial in 2022.
- Where did the murders happen?
- Cochranes Road, Moorabbin, Victoria, Australia.
- Who was convicted?
- Bandali Debs (Convicted in February 2003 of the murders of Silk and Miller and sentenced to life imprisonment; later convicted of two further murders.).
- What is the current status of the case?
- Status: overturned.
Related cases
View all cases
Sources
- ENCYCLOPEDICSilk–Miller police murdersWikipedia · 2026-07-07
- PRESSContemporaneous coverage — The AgeThe Age · 2026-07-07
- PRESSBackground — Operation Gloucester (July 2020)ibac.vic.gov.au · 2026-07-07
Record history
- First published
- JUL 10, 2026