Murders most foul: Brutal crimes, the killers on loose, and the cash on offer to find them
For years, the sadistic killers responsible for some of the Gold Coast’s most brutal crimes have evaded capture. Rewards of up to $500,000 are now available to anyone who helps detectives crack the baffling cases.
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Rewards of up to $500,000 are available for anyone who can help police solve some of the Gold Coast’s greatest murder mysteries.
The cash is on the table to anyone who can provide information on any of a dozen crimes which have baffled officers, in some cases for decades.
Anyone with information is urged to contact police at any station or by contacting Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000.
MURDER OF ANN MAREE KROPP AND CHRISTOPHER LEIGH NANCARROW
REWARD: $250,000
On the evening of January 30, 1999, Anne-Maree Kropp, 24, and Christopher Nancarrow, 27, left a friend’s house in Oxenford.
The pair, who had moved to the Gold Coast from Maitland in New South Wales just 12 months previously, would never be seen alive by friends or family again.
Two days later their bodies were found at their Springbrook Rd home, with injuries revealing they had suffered horrific deaths.
Ms Kropp was found in the house naked, bashed and with stab wounds to her neck which had severed arteries.
Knife wounds suffered by Mr Nancarrow, who was found lying outside by a hedge, had penetrated his heart and severed two ribs.
No motive was ever established for the murders, during which police said they believed the couple had put up a fierce struggle.
In 2011 Allan Richard Carnell, 46, and Andrew William O’Grady, 44, faced court over the deaths. Both pleaded not guilty and were acquitted by a jury after just over an hour of deliberation.
Police are still hoping to finally solve the case, with a $250,000 reward available to anyone who comes forward with information that leads to a conviction.
MURDER OF MARGARET ROSETTA ROSEWARNE
REWARD: $250,000
It has been 47 years since Margaret Rosewarne was last seen alive. But police have not given up hope of finally solving the mystery of her brutal murder.
Margaret was only 19 years old when she made the fateful decision to hitchhike from Broadbeach to Burleigh on the evening of May 5, 1976.
Her savagely beaten body was found 16 days later at Newcastle St, just off Reedy Creek Rd.
She was believed to have been the last of seven women between Brisbane and Northern NSW murdered by an offender dubbed the ‘hitchhiker killer’.
There were signs of a struggle and her underwear were missing – a trademark of the evil killer who was believed to have kept them as a ‘trophy’.
The hitchhiker killer has never been identified and a $250,000 reward remains available for anyone who can help solve the mystery of Margaret’s murder.
MURDER OF FREDERICK HUGH ROSSON, AKA CHARLES ALEXANDER ‘SLIM’ JOHNSTON
REWARD: $250,000
Anyone with information about the death of Charles ‘Slim’ Johnston is likely to unlock the mystery of not just one murder case, but two.
Mr Johnston was shot in the head in a rear garage at his Nerang home on Thursday March 14, 2002. The weapon used to kill the 68-year-old, a CZ 9mm pistol, was his own – he had advertised it for sale in ‘The Personal Trading Post’ and that day had a planned meeting with two men interested in buying it.
Adding to the mystery, a Toyota Celica coupe seen at Mr Johnston’s home had been stolen from another man, Iain Stewart Hogg, just days earlier.
Currumbin man Mr Hogg had gone missing on March 10, with police suspecting he also met with foul play.
His body has never been found, although his blood was found on the banks of the Tweed River on March 11, leading police to believe he was dumped in the water.
Com-fit images of two suspects were released, but nobody has ever been charged with the murders. A $250,000 reward is available for anyone who can help police crack the case.
MURDER OF COLIN DAVID WOODHOUSE
REWARD: $250,000
In 2007, Detective Senior Sergeant Doug Lawlor told the Bulletin “at least one person knows who killed Colin Woodhouse”.
But three decades on from his murder, police are still no nearer to understanding who killed him, or why.
At about 12.30am on Christmas Eve 1992, Mr Woodhouse left Myer in Pacific Fair after a long day at work to drive to his home in Worongary.
Police believe that about 1km from his home, he was flagged down by a man standing beside a white Nissan Skyline sedan.
When he stopped he was shot three times at close range with a .303 rifle.
An identikit image of the killer was released by police, based on the description of a member of the public who had seen the man with the Nissan Skyline.
He was described as 40 to 50 years of age, 180cm tall, of medium build and with short hair and a moustache.
However no trace of the man has ever been found, or any motive for the killing established.
MURDER OF PETER GEORGE WADE AND MAUREEN AMBROSE
REWARD: $250,000
If he is still alive, John Victor Bobak would be 73-years-old. And still watching his back.
Gold Coast police have never given up trying to find Bobak over the execution-style murders of bookmaker Peter George Wade and his partner Maureen Ambrose in a Surfers Paradise unit on December 23, 1991.
Both were 53-years-old at the time of their deaths. Wade was shot three times, once through his left shoulder and upper arm. Ambrose was shot once in the face at point-blank range.
Ronald Henry Thomas, 43, was found guilty of the callous shooting. He was previously convicted of the murder of a nightwatchman during an armed robbery in 1967 and had spent much of his life behind bars.
But he had not acted alone, with police believing Bobak was his accomplice in what was described as a professional hit.
They have been looking for Bobak ever since, with a $250,000 reward available to anyone who helps them find him.
MURDER OF GENNADI BERNOVSKI
REWARD: $250,000
It’s been described as a whodunit murder mystery reminiscent of a John le Carré novel. But the final chapter in the story of Gennadi Bernovski’s death has yet to be told, with police still working to find his killers.
Mr Bernovski, a former KGB colonel who had immigrated to Australia six years earlier, was gunned down in the driveway of his palatial Benowa Waters home as he took out the rubbish on the evening of Tuesday July 25, 2000.
Mr Bernovski was hit three times, once in the knee and twice more into his abdomen.
He managed to crawl up the driveway and into the doorway of his home, screaming out to his wife Svetlana that he had been shot. Despite best efforts of emergency services, he died at the scene.
Two men and possibly a woman, dressed in what was described as wetsuits, were seen running from the scene. It led to a theory that Mr Bernovski was gunned down by “frogmen” who made their escape through the Gold Coast’s canals – although police have since poured cold water on the suggestion.
Investigations into the killing have centred around possible Russian Mafia links and Mr Bernovski’s business dealings.
A business associate, Oleg Kouzmine, was spoken to by police in the days after the murder. He returned to Russia a short time later.
An arrest warrant was taken out against Kouzmine in April 2001, but he has not been back to Australia since, although he wrote a letter to Gold Coast detectives professing his innocence and criticising police.
A $250,000 reward remains in place for anyone helping police to finally close the book on the intriguing tale.
SUSPECTED MURDER OF STEVEN WAYNE MILLIGAN
REWARD: $250,000
It’s 23 years since the death of Steven Milligan, but police still have no idea how or why he died.
The 20-year-old went missing on April 18, 2000 when he left his Oxenford home for a walk from which he would never return.
His badly decomposed body was found three weeks later in bushland not far from the house.
Police immediately treated his case as suspicious, because Mr Milligan’s partially burnt clothing was located some distance from his body.
However why anyone might have wanted to kill the champion snowboarder has always been a mystery.
A $250,000 reward is on offer for anyone who can help police solve the baffling case.
MURDER OF PHILIP JAMES CARLYLE
REWARD: $250,000
On the morning of Sunday, April 13, 1997, Philip Carlyle, a partner in IT start-up Atnet, made the fatal decision to go to work at his Robina office for a couple of hours. He would never make it home.
Later that day, his family became alarmed when there was no sign of the 48-year-old. Security guards searched the premises and at about 8.15pm found him slumped against a wall in an airconditioning plant room amid a pool of blood.
He had been shot four times in the head with a .32 revolver at close range – twice in the back of the head, once in his left temple and once in his left eye.
There was no sign of a struggle or a break-in and a full cup of coffee sat on Mr Carlyle’s desk.
Mr Carlyle had been a serial entrepreneur, however his businesses were not always successful. In the 10 years leading up to his death, records showed he had been a director of eight businesses, all of which had failed or been wound up.
The father-of-three was believed to be hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt when he died.
In June 2017 Mr Carlyle’s former business partner Neil Pentland was arrested by police and charged with his murder. Mr Pentland was acquitted in 2020, with Supreme Court Justice Glenn Martin rejecting the prosecution’s case.
It means the murder remains a mystery, with a $250,000 reward remaining for anyone who can provide vital information.
MURDER OF OWEN EDWARD CRABBE
REWARD: $500,000
On Friday 28 May 1982, Owen Crabbe took a bus from Brisbane to the Gold Coast, where he intended to spend the weekend.
It was a journey he had taken many times before.
But this journey was to be his last. Two days later Mr Crabbe was found dead by cleaners at the Beachcomber Hotel in Surfers Paradise, naked and lying face down on the floor with his throat slashed.
Police said at the time it appeared there had been a deadly fight in the room, which was splattered by blood – not all of it Mr Crabbe’s.
“A bed had been overturned, furniture was knocked over and cushions were scattered around the room,” Detective Inspector Kevin Dorries said.
“There must have been a fierce struggle before he died.
“He (Crabbe) had numerous cuts on his head, a smashed nose, broken jaw and cheek, a cut windpipe and his trousers were tied around his neck.”
Mr Crabbe was last seen alive at the Conexion Club about 12.30am on the Sunday.
Police initially suspected a younger man had become angered by Crabbe’s sexual advances and murdered him, with a sketch of the suspect released to the public.
However he may also have been a victim of a violent theft, with no trace found of $665 he withdrew just days earlier.
Police continue trying to solve Mr Crabbe’s murder, working to trace mystery DNA found at the scene and last year releasing an updated image of the man they wish to speak to about the case.
MURDER OF MICHAEL CLEAVER DAVIES
REWARD: $250,000
More than 100 people had reason to be unhappy with Michael Davies.
But to date, police have not been able to find out who killed the 54-year-old at his Paradise Point unit on the morning of Wednesday April 17, 2002.
The commercial pilot and keen inventor was shot in the back of the head, execution-style, by a gunman using a 9mm calibre pistol.
It was later reported that Mr Davies had run up debts of almost $1m, with his business Brown House Holdings owing money to 108 people.
Among them was a top-level crime organisation with Middle Eastern links which was heavily involved in importing amphetamines.
Police also investigated possible links with a notorious crime family.
But to date nobody has been charged with the brutal killing, with a $250,000 reward on offer for anyone who can help police crack the case.
MURDER OF ROBERT JAMES GIRVAN
REWARD: $250,000
With a wife and two young children, Robert Girvan was a much-loved family man.
But there was another side to his life, with police saying he was “actively involved” in the Gold Coast’s drug scene and was a frequent visitor to the city’s nightclubs.
His family were shocked when his naked body was found by fishermen on the beach near Marina Mirage at about 6.30am on Saturday July 31 1993.
They had last seen him at 7pm the night before, but were unable to tell detectives where he was headed that evening.
His death was originally thought to be a drowning, but a fresh needle mark on his forearm, signs of a scuffle and drugs metres from his body signalled foul play.
An autopsy revealed the former chef had been injected with amphetamine before he died.
His car, a yellow Holden Gemini sedan, was found abandoned outside Mt Warren Park State School in Beenleigh the day after his body was discovered.
Detectives working the case said Mr Girvan may have been held under the water, or injected with drugs and left to drown, but either way it was a “cold and brutal” crime.
A $250,000 reward remains outstanding for anyone who can help police find his killer.
MURDER OF GABRIEL INGRID JAHNKE AND MICHELLE ANN RILEY
REWARD: $250,000
In life, Gabriel Jahnke and Michelle Riley, were said to be inseparable.
Tragically, the two best friends, aged just 19 and 16, were also united by their cruel and untimely deaths.
On October 5 1973 the girls decided to hitchhike from Brisbane to check out the night-life in Surfers Paradise and Coolangatta. They would never make it.
Eight days later, two children made the gruesome discovery of 19-year-old Gabriele’s decomposed body on the side of the Pacific Highway at Ormeau.
On October 23, Michelle’s body was found in bushland off the Mount Tamborine Highway at Loganholme.
Both girls had suffered fractured skulls and were found with their clothes pulled up.
The pair were believed to have been victims of the notorious ‘hitchhiker killer’, a monster linked to the murders of seven women, all of them under 20-years-old.
His identity has never been revealed, and almost 50 years on, a $250,000 reward is still available for anyone who can finally unmask the savage perpetrator.
Originally published as Murders most foul: Brutal crimes, the killers on loose, and the cash on offer to find them
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