Grieving father Martin Bradshaw dies waiting for justice for daughter Anthea, murdered in Brunei in 1994

For 27 years Martin Bradshaw hoped the killer of his daughter Anthea Bradshaw-Hall would be brought to justice. He died waiting.

Anthea with husband Jeffrey.

For 27 years, Martin Bradshaw clung to the hope the killer of his beloved daughter, Anthea, would be brought to justice.

Like all his family, he was tormented and troubled by the knowledge police had a suspect in her murder in Brunei in 1994 but that little was being done to advance the case and justice might never be served.

Knowing his health was failing in recent years, he desperately wanted resolution before he died. Sadly, this never came.

Last Monday was Anthea’s birthday. She would have been 53. It was also the day Mr Bradshaw lost his battle to live. He was 80.

“It always astounded me how Martin rarely ever expressed his anger at what had happened to Anthea,” his eldest son, Craig, said.
“He just wasn’t an angry man.

“He was stoic, he was supportive of everything we have done to try to obtain some sort of justice in this.

“Dad never really recovered from losing Annie. His excuse for getting out of bed every morning was to run his news agency at St Morris. He virtually hid in there every day since losing Annie.

“Martin has left us, but Anthea is no longer alone; she can now hug her dad again.’’

Anthea Bradshaw-Hall on her wedding day in 1994.

Anthea Bradshaw-Hall was murdered while visiting Brunei, on the island of Borneo, on July 21, 1994.

A teacher at Fraser Park Primary School at Murray Bridge, she was about to move there with her husband, Jeffrey Hall, who had secured a job as a radiographer at a local hospital. She was found dead in his apartment.

In 2013, the Sunday Mail revealed SA police had launched an inquiry in 2004 into her death after intense lobbying by the Bradshaw family after they discovered there was a suspect in the case.

The investigation included sending a Major Crime detective to Brunei to conduct inquiries and retrieve evidence in the case.

The detective returned with 37 exhibits in the case – mainly clothing – and hundreds of crime scene photos. The exhibits were subjected to forensic analysis for blood spatter patterns, as were the photos.

Police sought opinions on the evidence from their own experts and those interstate.

This resulted in extensive forensic evidence against a suspect.

The evidence indicates Anthea was already dead from strangulation before she was repeatedly stabbed while lying on the floor of the apartment.

Paul, Martin, Rosalyn and Craig Bradshaw at their family home. Photo: Keryn Stevens.

After being presented with the results of the investigation, then DPP Stephen Pallaras QC said he believed there was enough evidence to prosecute a suspect in Australia, but this could only be done if the Criminal Code Act was amended and made retrospective, which occurred in 2015.

This amendment resulted in Australian Federal Police reviewing the case, but this found there was insufficient evidence to proceed with any prosecution.

Federal police declined an offer by SA police to assist in the review.

Federal and SA police have conflicting views on the evidence in the case.
SA police believe a full investigation should have been conducted, rather than just a review.

Like his wife, Ros, and sons Craig and Paul, Mr Bradshaw could not understand the reluctance of authorities in Brunei and Australia to pursue the case.

Anthea Bradshaw-Hall and Jeffrey on their wedding day in 1994.

“I can remember dad’s reaction when the Federal Police told us they were not going to investigate Anthea’s murder following their review after the legislation was amended,’’ Craig said.

“He just sat there utterly stunned, we all were, but dad just sat there speechless.

“He could not understand that no one was going to do anything about the death of Anthea. A fortnight later he had a stroke and struggled ever since.’’

In 2015, Mr Hall – who works for Toshiba in Tokyo – was named in an Adelaide court as a suspect by his lawyer. Mr Hall has strenuously denied he was involved in his wife’s death.

Originally published as Grieving father Martin Bradshaw dies waiting for justice for daughter Anthea, murdered in Brunei in 1994