Anita Cobby murder: Kids touched by murder to get recovery centre

Blacktown is where Anita Cobby was born and raised, and where the 26-year-old nurse was raped and murdered and it will now be the site of a refuge for kids touched by the brutality of homicide.

Murderers: John Travers, Michael Murphy, Leslie Murphy, Gary Murphy and Michael Murdoch.

Blacktown in Sydney’s west is where Anita Cobby was born and raised, and where the 26-year-old nurse was brutally raped and murdered in 1986.

But Blacktown is now set to become a place of refuge for children affected by homicide.

Garry and Grace Lynch dedicated their lives to supporting victims’ families and ensuring their daughter’s memory lived on, even after their deaths.

The Homicide Victims Support Group (HVSG), co-founded by them, will continue their work and honour their dream on Tuesday, the 30th anniversary of Ms Cobby’s murder.

Cobby was brutally murdered in February 1986 after being abduced outside Blacktown train station. Picture: Supplied

The 26-year-old nurse was found beaten, raped and murdered in a field two days after she disappeared.

Murderers: John Travers, Michael Murphy, Leslie Murphy, Gary Murphy and Michael Murdoch.

Fundraising will officially begin for a world-first residential trauma facility specifically aimed at supporting the children touched by homicide.

“Gary and Grace Lynch made me and many others promise Anita would not be forgotten after they died,” HVSG executive director Martha Jabour told AAP.

“This is one way of honouring Garry and Grace’s wishes.” It will also honour the work of the Lynches, being named Grace’s Place.

The support group has offered counselling and support for adults since it was founded by the Lynches and the family of nine-year-old murder victim Ebony Simpson in 1993.

But several years ago Ms Jabour identified a generation of children of victims or siblings who missed out on much-needed help. “I didn’t see it until many years down the track of working with these groups,” she said.

Mr and Mrs Lynch helped set up the Homicide Victims Support Group with the family of murdered schoolgirl Ebony Simpson.

Children who were very young when they lost a loved one struggled with life transitions as they got older, whether in school, getting married or having their own children, she said. The 24/7 residential facility will include 12 bedrooms as well as program and counselling rooms.

“(It’s about) reinforcing to these young people that life is worth living, and we want to be able to help them form a new life without a person who they love who has been murdered,” Ms Jabour said.

It will also focus on bringing back a sense of fun for a child whose innocence has been lost because of a brutal crime.

Ebony Simpson was murdered by Andrew Garforth in 1992.

The support group is in negotiations with Blacktown City Council to find a suitable place.

“Blacktown is where Anita Cobby’s parents got married and lived, where Anita and (her sister) Kathryn grew up, and where Anita was abducted from,” she said.

“It’s about putting something good back into Blacktown after something so horrific has happened there.” Public support has already overwhelmed the group with businesses offering support, including an architect offering to draw up the plans pro-bono.

The project is expected to cost $3-6 million and could be open as soon as September 2018.