Wettenhall family murders

On March 18, 1992, three members of the Wettenhall family — Darcy Wettenhall, 50, his son Guy Wettenhall, 23, and Janet Wettenhall, 81 — were killed in a triple shooting at Stanbury, the family's stud farm in Ceres, Victoria. Stanbury had been in the Wettenhall family since 1951, when it was purchased by Rupert Wettenhall and his wife Janet, and was regarded as one of the top stud farms in Australia, producing award-winning Corriedale sheep. At the time of the murders, the farm was operated by Darcy and his son Guy, while Janet Wettenhall continued to live on the property.

Wayne Garry Walton, a 23-year-old man with prior convictions for theft, was charged with the murders. Walton had worked as a farm hand and labourer at the Wettenhall stud farm after meeting Darcy Wettenhall at the Gill Memorial Home for Men, a homeless shelter in Melbourne. Walton became involved in a sexual relationship with Darcy Wettenhall prior to the killings. He was apprehended by police the day after the murders while driving a stolen car and in possession of items taken from the Wettenhall family's farm, and was subsequently charged with three counts of murder.

Walton died by suicide, by hanging using a television cable, inside a management and supervision section of Pentridge Prison's B Division on February 22, 1993, while awaiting trial for the murders. Because he died before any trial or verdict, no conviction was recorded in relation to the killings.

Separately, Darcy Wettenhall is described as having been in a secret, decade-long relationship with a former neighbour and stud farm employee, and an autopsy on Darcy Wettenhall revealed he was HIV positive at the time of his death.

The murders effectively ended the Wettenhall family's stud farm operations. The Stanbury property was sold by auction in December 1992, purchased by former Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria president Stephen Spargo and his wife Jill. The property, which contains a sandstone home built in the 1850s and a heritage-listed two-storey shearing shed, was again placed on the market in 2015.

A non-fiction book about the case, Devils Grip, A True Story of Shame, Sheep and Shotguns, written by Neall Drinan with Bob Perry, was published in 2019. An award-winning Corriedale ram named Stanbury Jacko, donated by Darcy Wettenhall, remains on display at the National Wool Museum in Geelong.