Cape York crimes: Donna Steele murder, Brad and Bevin Simmonds disappearance among most shocking
Cape York has been the scene of many horrific crimes, including the chilling fishing trip disappearance of a dad and his young son. Here’s a look inside some of the region’s most shocking crimes.
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THE vast Cape York region has been witness to many horrific crimes that have brought the remote Far North to a standstill.
For all its untouched beauty, many parts of the rugged northern wilderness have long held dark and sordid secrets, calculated killers and shocking tales of despair.
Here’s a look at some of the most chilling incidents in recent times.
THE VANISHING OF BEVIN AND BRAD SIMMONDS
It is one of the Far North’s most notorious and baffling double murders.
A father and son disappear without a trace at the mouth of a remote Cape York river against a backdrop of family rivalries and love twists inside two local fishing clans.
On the morning of June 5, 2003, Bevin Simmonds and his 10-year-old son Brad went to check offshore shark nets near the Coleman and Mitchell rivers, just south of Pormpuraaw — and were never seen again.
To this day they remain missing.
Rival barramundi fishers Michael Gater and his mother Joan were charged with their murders but acquitted by a Supreme Court jury in 2005.
No murder weapon, bodies or boat have ever been found.
In another twist, Karumba fishermen Brian Dunnett, who was close to Bevin Simmonds and had allegedly threatened Mr Gater, was found shot dead in a Weipa public toilet block three years after the murder trial.
Police later determined Mr Dunnett committed suicide, while Mr Gater said he was “1000 miles away” at the time.
DONNA STEELE MURDER
It has been four years since Donna Steele, a much loved 42-year-old Cooktown mum, was reported missing from her home on the outskirts of the Far North town.
Her family’s worst fears were realised days later when her body was found floating in the nearby Endeavour River.
The discovery would kick start one of the largest murder investigations ever conducted in Cape York, and shine a light on a crime that truly shocked Queensland.
Baby faced Cairns footballer turned cold blooded killer, Matthew Ross White, would eventually be charged with her murder after DNA technology broke the case.
A DNA sample, taken from a piece of red twine found near Ms Steele’s body, would return an exact match for Mr White.
He later confessed to police that he drove to Cooktown and hid under Ms Steele’s bed wearing a stocking over his head. He strangled her with the red twine and a silk scarf in a twisted attempt to extort money.
He then coldly wrapped her limp body in a doona and drove her to the crocodile-infested Leggett’s Crossing, weighing her down with rocks before fleeing.
White pleaded guilty to murder and is serving a life sentence.
THE GOLD PROSPECTOR
In July 2012, Bruce Schuler was out prospecting for gold with three friends on a remote Cape York cattle station
It would be the last time anyone would see the 48-year-old father-of-two alive.
The station’s former owners, Stephen Struber and Dianne Wilson-Struber, are serving lifetime jail sentences for his murder.
Mr Schuler’s body has never been found, but the evidence that led to the pair’s conviction pointed to something very sinister occurring on their 134,000ha Palmerville property.
The crown’s case at the Supreme Court in Cairns rested on the testimony of Mr Schuler’s prospecting friends, who reported hearing two gunshots after a vehicle matching the station’s leaseholders pulled up near where they were scouring for gold.
The court would also hear that Mr Struber confronted one of them about seven days prior, ordering them to get off his land.
A jury found the rugged Palmerville couple guilty of murder after a two-week trial.
“It has been well over a century since the turbulent, sometimes violent days of the Palmer River gold rush,” Justice Jim Henry said, in sentencing the pair to life imprisonment.
“That in this day and age, long removed from those frontier days, it beggars belief that station leaseholders could become so detached from standards of civilised behaviour and could’ve engaged in such cowardly and callous behaviour as this.”
None of the items Mr Schuler was carrying before he vanished have ever been found, including metal detecting equipment, a set of car keys, a silver flat link chain necklace and clothing.
HORROR AT ROSSVILLE
It was a shocking murder suicide that broke the hearts and minds of a tight knit community just south of Cooktown.
The bodies of Troy Harvey, 45, and son Koah, 4, were found at a River Rd property in Rossville on a September morning, a little over a year ago.
Police allege the troubled father had killed his son following an assault on the boy’s mother earlier that day.
Two crime scenes were established at the property and another local residence, with investigations involving multiple detectives, scenes of crime and scientific officers.
Detective Inspector Jason Smith, speaking at the time, said the crime had shaken residents to their core.
“People in Rossville have been devastated by these tragic events,” he said.
Mr Harvey took to social media several weeks prior, saying he suffered a “nervous mental breakdown” brought on by long term alcohol and drug use.
Koah’s heartbroken mum, Natsuko Kurihara, posted an emotional tribute following his death, asking him to forgive her.
“I’m so sorry I couldn’t save you,” she wrote.
The horrific tragedy will long haunt the small town of around 200 people.
THE AURUKUN RIOTS
The scars of a number of ugly incidents are still visible in the troubled Cape York community of Aurukun.
The small indigenous town has made headlines for all the wrong reasons in recent times and continues to be a tinderbox of anarchy, violence and bloodshed.
In 2015, teachers were evacuated and a principal threatened with an axe in a shocking escalation of violence.
Houses, cars and police vehicles were smashed on multiple occasions after around 200 people went on a frightening rampage.
Rocks, metal bars and an axe were used to smash the front of the police station, with allegations of police brutality believed to have triggered the riots.
The violence returned on New Year’s Day in 2020 when more than 100 women, children and the elderly fled, with the flames from their torched houses licking at their backs.
The shire council went into lockdown and a code black was issued to State Government agencies warning of the danger of personal threat to those working in the area.
FUNERAL TRAGEDY
A Kowanyama community was left shattered on October 7, 2016 when the unthinkable happened at a family funeral.
Garry Paul Hudson, 57, was jailed for 12 years for killing a woman and seriously injuring eight others after he deliberately drove into a home filled with people mourning his deceased partner.
Mr Hudson – angered by a dispute over the funeral’s location – took his Toyota Landcruiser ute and twice drove at speed ploughing into the lounge area of the home, which saw his partner’s body spill from the coffin amid scenes of absolute terror at the Kowanyama St residence.
Traumatised family and witnesses have been left scarred forever by the unspeakable crime.
After a four-day trial in 2018, Mr Hudson was acquitted of murdering Delanne Zingle, pleading guilty to her manslaughter and dangerous operation of a vehicle causing grievous bodily harm to eight others.
The court heard his extreme over-reaction to the family dispute had caused lasting, catastrophic consequences.
STABBING DEATH OF JUANITA PAUL
The tragic and brutal stabbing death of Juanita Paul sent chills across the Cape.
Kowanyama man Lenfred Leighwayne Tommy has twice stood trial accused of her murder, and twice a jury has been discharged after failing to reach a unanimous verdict.
He has since pleaded guilty to her manslaughter and is awaiting sentencing.
The court heard Mr Tommy stabbed his former girlfriend so violently the knife was driven clean through the arm of the defenceless woman.
The attack happened following a late night drinking session at a Kowanyama house on June 26, 2019.
Ms Paul suffered up to seven stab wounds, including one that caused the large blade to slice completely through her arm while she cowered on a mattress.
Mr Tommy is alleged to have fled the scene to seek refuge in the home of a local government councillor before surrendering to police.
Mr Tommy had smoked cannabis and drunk cask wine before becoming enraged by her refusal to join him in the living room of the Karrenganang St house, the court heard.
During sentencing submissions, Mr Tommy’s violent and depraved criminal history was detailed, which included a four-year term of imprisonment for assault with intent to rape against a 13-year-old girl, and multiple other sickening assaults on Ms Paul.
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