Malcolm Naden: Who is the man that killed Lateesha Nolan and Kristy Scholes?
AS POLICE launch a search for the body of Lateesha Nolan, we take a look back at the incredible seven years her cousin and killer Malcolm Naden spent on the run in the NSW bush after her 2005 murder.
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WHEN fugitive Malcolm Naden aimed the crosshairs of his rifle scope over the heart of a police officer and pulled the trigger in December 2011, it sparked one of the most intense manhunts in NSW history that eventually led to the dramatic capture of the double murderer.
Naden had been on the run for nearly seven years, the chief suspect in the 2005 murder of his neighbour Kristy Scholes, 24, and wanted for the indecent assault of a young girl in 2004.
He was also considered a suspect in the disappearance and suspected murder of his cousin, Lateesha Nolan, whose body has never been found.
A bone found recently on the banks of the Macquarie River has been identified as coming from Ms Nolan’s body and has sparked a major search for her remains.
The three police officers had no idea they had walked within 15m of Naden’s bushland hiding spot at Nowendoc, 60km north of Gloucester on the state’s mid-north coast, or that he was lying with his gun ready deciding which cop should be shot.
Fortunately the officer who took the bullet, Brad McFadden, moved at the same time Naden squeezed the trigger and he was shot in the shoulder and survived, but Naden had once again managed to escape.
The attempted execution of an officer saw a huge injection of police resources into Naden’s hunt, with teams of heavily armed personnel searching shacks and campsites throughout the rugged bushland.
It would be four long months before the violent fugitive was eventually caught just after midnight on March 22, 2012, not far from where he’d taken aim at McFadden.
He was found in a basic tin cabin with a single bed and the most basic of provisions.
The very visible hunt had captivated audiences across the country, but Naden had been on the run for years before eventually being caught.
He disappeared from Dubbo in 2005 when he was linked to Scholes’ murder and wasn’t seen or heard from in over a year.
But the following year he was spotted at Dubbo’s Western Plains Zoo and all visitors were asked to leave the sprawling tourist attraction as police attempted to bring him in, but he had disappeared once more.
There were no other sightings of Naden for more than two years when police introduced a $50,000 reward for help in his capture, a sum that was doubled after four years on the run.
Naden’s ability to avoid detection for so many years led some police to believe he’d been following tracks and was an expert at bush survival.
But interviews with investigators after his arrest blew those myths to pieces.
“We had a whole number of theories that he was following trails, but he just said he was wandering,” Senior Constable Paul Mangan told The Daily Telegraph in 2013.
“His only motivation was surviving to the next day. It was the same thing every day.”
It surprised investigators that the fugitive had been maintaining his personal hygiene, brushing his teeth, regularly showering and shaving his beard.
But Naden told them it was a lack of food that he feared was going to kill him.
“He didn’t expect to live until the end of the year. He thought he was going to die,” Sargeant Ricky Hennessy said a year after Naden’s capture.
“He would break into a premises, he would gorge himself until he could not physically swallow another bite.”
During Naden’s trial it was revealed that Ms Scholes had fought for her life and suffered during the “sexually motivated” murder.
The court also heard that he considered himself a serial killer and had been dreaming of murder since he was 12 years old.
Justice Derek Price said Naden showed no remorse for his actions and sentenced him to life without parole for Scholes’ murder.
He was also sentenced to at least 21 years for his cousin’s murder.
“Life outside of prison is not an option for him,” Justice Price said.
TIMELINE OF EVENTS FROM 2004 TO 2016
May 2004: Malcolm Naden is linked to the aggravated indecent assault of a young girl in Dubbo.
January 2005: Naden is linked to the murder of his cousin Lateesha Nolan, who remains missing.
June 2005: The body of 24-year-old Kristy Scholes is found in his family’s home at Dubbo. Naden disappears.
December 2005: Police close Dubbo’s Western Plains Zoo after Naden was spotted there. Naden evades capture after a huge police operation before Christmas.
January 2007: Police announce a $50,000 reward for his arrest.
February 2011: Police increase the bounty on Naden to $100,000.
December 2011: Naden shoots officer Brad McFadden at a campsite near Nowendoc — he evades capture. Bounty increases to $250,000.
March 22, 2012: Police capture Naden in rugged bushland west of Gloucester just after midnight.
April 2012: Naden is taken to a dig scene at Butler Falls after telling officers he disposed of Lateesha’s remains at the site — they are not found.
June 2012: Naden is moved into Long Bay Hospital and placed on suicide watch after becoming depressed in Supermax.
March 2013: Naden pleads guilty to the murder of Kristy Scholes and Lateesha Nolan, the indecent assault of a young girl and attempted murder of a police officer.
June 14, 2013: A judge sentences Naden to life with no parole. He thanks the judge.
November 2016: A member of the public finds a bone on the banks of the Macquarie River in Dubbo.
December 2016: DNA tests confirm the bone belongs to Naden’s cousin Lateesha Nolan.
December 6, 2016: Major search resumes for Ms Nolan’s body.
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