Wonnangatta murders

The Wonnangatta murders occurred in the remote Wonnangatta Valley in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, in late 1917 and 1918. The victims were Jim Barclay, manager of Wonnangatta Station, and John Bamford, a cook and general hand employed by Barclay in December 1917. Barclay, in his late 40s, was a widower described by contemporaries as a hardy and well-liked bushman. Bamford, an Englishman in his late 50s who had lived locally for twenty years, was regarded with suspicion by some locals and known for a volatile temper, though a later book on the case notes there is no evidence to support rumors that he had killed his wife.

The two men were last seen alive in late December 1917, after traveling to Talbotville to vote in the 1917 conscription referendum. They stayed overnight with storekeeper Albert Stout before returning toward Wonnangatta on the morning of 21 December 1917.

Neighbour Harry Smith found the station deserted on 22 January 1918 and again on 14 February 1918, at which point he raised the alarm. A search organized by station owners Arthur Phillips and Geoffrey Ritchie led to the discovery, on 23 February 1918, of a badly decomposed body near Conglomerate Creek, identified as Barclay from remaining clothing and personal items. The body had been buried in a shallow grave that had been partially uncovered by animals. Police later found a discharged shotgun in Barclay's room and strychnine in a pepper container at the homestead. Bamford's horse was found running wild, without saddle or bridle, on the Howitt high plains.

A post-mortem determined Barclay had been killed by a shotgun blast to the back. At the inquest, Detective Alex McKerral theorized that Bamford had shot Barclay following an argument, then changed clothes and fled on horseback. The inquest returned a verdict of murder by person or persons unknown, estimated to have occurred between 21 December 1917 and 4 January 1918. A statewide search for Bamford followed, including the arrest of a delusional vagrant, James Baker, who had falsely claimed responsibility.

In early November 1918, Bamford's body was discovered under a pile of logs near Howitt Plains Hut by a search party including Mounted Constable Hayes, Harry Smith, William Hearne, and Jim Fry. A post-mortem found a bullet lodged in his skull, and an inquest again returned a verdict of murder by person or persons unknown.

Multiple theories have circulated regarding the killings, including that Bamford killed Barclay and was later killed in revenge by an associate of Barclay's, or that both men were victims of stock thieves — a theory a police report reportedly refuted based on the recovery of the only missing livestock. Police suspicion fell at times on neighbour Harry Smith, but no charges were ever laid against him or anyone else. The case remains formally unsolved.