Sydney southwest crimes, unsolved mysteries which rocked the community
It’s one of Greater Sydney’s most talked-about regions with its growing housing estates and rural charms. But it also has a seedy underbelly with its own dark secrets — these are the crimes that have shaken the communities of southwest Sydney.
Macarthur
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Beneath its rural charms and developing urban sprawl, Macarthur’s underbelly has quite a history of dark secrets and unsolved mysteries.
Here are some of the biggest crime stories that have shaken the community to its core.
2013 MURDER OF SCOTT HAMMOND
The violent death of Scott Hammond — a man described by a Sydney judge as “well known although not liked by all” — in 2013 prompted a five-year police investigation that ended with the arrest of a long-time friend.
Kenneth Christopher Washbrook admitted to murdering his former cellmate on June 29, 2013, in his Tahmoor home and was sentenced last year to jail for 18 years.
Washbrook had pleaded guilty to bashing his friend following his 2018 arrest.
A Sydney court heard the father-of-three bludgeoned Hammond, who was notorious for setting his pitbulls onto neighbours, in a drug-induced frenzy after an argument when Hammond began beating one of his dogs.
Washbrook lost his temper and began striking Hammond with a piece of wood until he could no longer hear his friend’s voice.
During his sentencing last year, the Heckenberg man, then aged 48, told the court: “If I could take my life and change places I would do it in a heartbeat”.
Washbrook will be eligible for parole in November 2031.
ABDUCTION AND MURDER OF EBONY SIMPSON
The brutal rape and murder of nine-year-old Ebony Simpson cast a shadow over the small peaceful town of Bargo, on the outskirts of Sydney, in 1992.
The young girl was abducted on her way from school on August 19 by Andrew Peter Garforth, who would later be convicted of brutally abusing her before dumping her in a remote dam near Wirrimbirra Sanctuary to drown.
That afternoon, Ebony was to meet her older brother at the bus stop and walk back home with him, but his bus was late.
As she neared her home, she spotted what looked like a broken-down car. As she passed it, Garforth grabbed her and put her in the boot of his car before driving to the dam, where he raped her.
He proceeded to weigh her schoolbag with rocks and threw Ebony in the dam with it, where she drowned.
Unbelievably, the next day Garforth would join the search party of more than 200 volunteers and 100 police officers looking for the girl.
Then on August 21, he confessed to the crimes.
Garforth was sentenced to life in prison in 1993 and a year later, the High Court refused his application for special leave to appeal his sentence.
UNSOLVED MURDER OF RACHELLE CHILDS
Nearly 20 years since her body was found on fire in a shallow ditch near Gerroa on NSW’s south coast, the mystery of Rachelle Childs’s murder remains unsolved.
On June 7, 2001, the 23-year-old car saleswoman had finished work at the Camden Holden dealership and headed home to change before making her way to the Bargo Hotel, where she had plans to meet someone.
The Bargo woman’s body was found on fire in a ditch off Crooked River Rd the next day and her car found at the Bargo Hotel on June 9.
Despite exhaustive police investigations and an extended coronial inquest, the circumstances surrounding her death remain a mystery and nobody has ever been charged in connection to her murder.
A NSW Police spokeswoman said the investigation was now the responsibility of the Homicide Squad’s Unsolved Homicide Unit and is currently being reviewed under the new framework.
A $200,000 reward remains on offer for information that leads to the conviction of those responsible for Ms Child’s death.
Anyone who may have information is urged to contact police.
THE UNSOLVED MURDER OF NATHAN GARRIOCK
The 17-year-old murder mystery of Nathan Garriock continues to mystify the Macarthur community.
On June 14, 2003, the 17-year-old was killed at his best friend’s birthday bash in Camden.
Just after midnight, a group of seven men aged in their 20s turned up to the party uninvited and were told to leave — at which point a fight erupted.
Partygoers armed themselves with planks of wood from a pile being used for the bonfire to confront the gatecrashers and the fight spilt onto the street.
Then, several partygoers became injured when a car crashed into a group of people, including Nathan, in the front yard.
Nathan was pronounced dead at Camden Hospital at 1.37am on June 15.
His death certificate said he was found at the scene of a MVA (motor vehicle accident) vs crowd and the cause of death was head injuries.
An autopsy conducted on June 16, 2003 revealed Nathan died from closed head injuries, having suffered blunt force trauma to the front and side of his head.
To this day, no one has been charged over his death. A $100,000 reward remains on offer for information that leads to the conviction of those responsible.
MACQUARIE FIELDS RIOTS
The deaths of two passengers killed in a car driven by Jesse Kelly during a police pursuit sparked the infamous Macquarie Fields riots in 2005.
Kelly, then aged 20, was behind the wheel of a stolen Holden Commodore in February when it slammed into a tree in Macquarie Fields during a police chase, killing Matthew Robertson, 19, and a 17-year-old boy.
Four nights of rioting between residents and police followed, with rocks and firecrackers hurled at police during the violent clashes.
Kelly had fled the scene of the crash and hid in the bush for 12 nights.
In October 2006, police charged him with dangerous driving causing the deaths of his two passengers.
He was sentenced to a maximum of seven years and three months in jail with a non-parole period of five and a half years after pleading guilty.
MURDER OF ERANA NAHU
Glenfield man James Fredes admitted to stabbing his former partner Erana Nahu to death in 2018 after she rejected his advances.
The 60-year-old Glenfield man, who has been remanded in custody, pleaded guilty to murder and is due before the courts next month for a sentence hearing.
A Sydney court heard the pair had once been in a relationship for about 14 years and were living together in Glenfield.
Less than 48 hours before her death, Ms Nahu had told her former partner she was seeing a work colleague.
In the early hours of October 11, Fredes walked into his former partner’s room and laid down on her bed and “tried to initiate intimacy”, according to police facts.
After Ms Nahu rejected his advances, he returned to the bedroom with a 35cm knife and plunged it into her back. She died of her injuries.