The Tara murder: Young mum faced fiance's killers
THE fiancee of a Tara man shot dead in a chilling murder that rocked western Queensland says she still does not feel safe, even with the attackers behind bars.
News
Don't miss out on the headlines from News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
THE fiancee of a Tara man shot dead in a chilling murder that rocked western Queensland says she still does not feel safe, even with the attackers behind bars.
Mother-of-three Michele Wood, 24, who was held hostage by her fiance's killers during the ordeal, said she was too scared to let strangers inside her home and was considering changing her name.
Ms Wood has been reliving a nightmare since the brutal murder of her 38-year-old partner, John Frank Hoghes, on May 3, 2007.
Last week Ms Wood spoke publicly about the killing for the first time, recounting the night of terror that began with a frantic phone call to her home in Tara – 300km west of Brisbane – from John Hoghes' son, John Jr.
"Little John called me and said 'they're here, they're here' and he hung up the phone," she said.
"They" were Michael Crothers, 48, Colin Robert Rogers, 48, and David Robert Heathcote, 24.
The trio had travelled from Gatton to bash John Hoghes' other son, Matthew, then 19. Matthew had recently split with his pregnant girlfriend – David Heathcote's sister, Sarah – and the Gatton trio were out to teach the young man a lesson he would never forget.
When they arrived at the Hoghes brothers' Tara home, a terrified John Jr called his father for help.
John Hoghes didn't hesitate, grabbing a metal pipe before taking off in Michele's car.
"He left really quickly. I said good luck but we didn't get to cuddle. We didn't know that was going to happen," Ms Wood said.
The events that followed were like a horror movie. John arrived at his sons' house to find Crothers wielding a shotgun.
A Brisbane court heard that John said: "Don't point that s--- at me." Crothers fired, hitting John with a fatal blast to the chest.
The terrified Hoghes brothers were then severely beaten by Heathcote and forced to load their father's body into the boot of Ms Wood's car. The body was dumped in bushland nearby, then the brothers – now bloodied and handcuffed – were driven by Crothers and Rogers back to their father's house, where Michele was waiting.
"The next thing I remember is my car coming back up the driveway and it didn't park where John would normally park it. That's when I knew something was wrong," Ms Wood said. "When I looked out underneath the car I saw boots, big orange boots, and I stepped back and a guy (Crothers) came around the corner with a shotgun.
"I thought they (John, Matthew and John Jr) were all dead.
"Then I yelled out 'John, John, what's happening?' and a man said 'John's not with us'."
Crothers and Rogers then dragged the handcuffed brothers into the house, where their feet were tied together. Ms Wood was ordered to sit on the couch.
"He (Crothers) then asked me who I had called and I said 'no one'," Michele said.
"He said he had to kill us all to get rid of witnesses.
"I begged him . . . I said 'I'm 21, I have three children, I've got my life ahead of me. Please don't do this'.
"I just kept begging all through the night."
Ms Wood said the men appeared sober but angry and one of them paced as he muttered that he had to kill them.
"He kept saying 'what am I going to do now? I have to get rid of the witnesses' and the other guy said, 'I've got your back'."
With Matthew Hoghes pretending to be dead, Ms Wood calmly tried to reason with the intruders and bargain for her freedom.
"I told them that I wouldn't call the police. I told them I would lie. I told them I would say the boys had an argument and it got out of hand and they hurt their dad.
"I managed to convince them that I wouldn't call the police."
Mercifully, Ms Wood's three young daughters remained asleep in another room throughout the three-hour ordeal.
Eventually the men agreed to leave. They emptied the shotgun, asked Ms Wood to draw a map of the fastest way to Toowoomba and left with her phone.
"I said to the boys, 'quick, we've got to go now in case they come back'.
Ms Wood put her youngest, three-month-old Angel, in a pouch across her chest.
"I had Rose (then 23 months) and Montana (then 5) in my arms," she said.
She then ran across 28 hectares of bushland to find help.
"I just kept running. It was a full moon so I could still see. I heard the sound of cars coming and I thought they had changed their mind and come back," she said.
On October 9, Crothers, Rogers and Heathcote, as well as Heathcote's mother, Yvonne Heathcote, were convicted by a Supreme Court jury of murdering John Hoghes. Yvonne Heathcote, 43, a mother of eight, was found to be the mastermind of the crime.
All were given life sentences, with non-parole periods of 15 years.
For Ms Wood, however, the fear remains.
"I feel good that they have been jailed but I am also scared that people they know will come after me.
"I don't think I will ever be safe again. In 15 years' time when their sentence is up, that's when I will probably have to change my name and run away again."
For now, Ms Wood has the task of bringing up Mr Hoghes' two daughters, Rose, 4 and Angel, 2, on her own.
"Rose often says 'Daddy, Daddy, I want Daddy' and I tell her he is always with you, he is in your heart," she said.
"I'm proud that he went to protect his boys but I just wish he didn't have to die.
"Protecting your children is great but being there for them is even greater."