Terry Hickson guilty of murdering Dapto Dogs bookie Charles Skarratt
Terry Hickson has been found guilty of murdering a Sydney greyhound bookmaker 30 years ago, stabbing Charles Skarratt to death in a botched robbery after the bookie returned from the Dapto racetrack.
NSW
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Three decades after a wealthy greyhound bookmaker was butchered at his Sydney home, a broke punter has been found guilty of his murder.
Terry John Gordon Hickson stabbed Charles Skarratt to death in 1989 during a botched robbery in his Woolwich garage after the Dapto Dogs veteran returned home from the racetrack.
An initial police investigation and an inquest failed to nab the culprit until crucial DNA evidence linked Hickson to the heinous crime, and on Thursday a NSW Supreme Court jury found him guilty of the 72-year-old’s murder.
While Mr Skarratt’s now adult children are relieved their dad’s killer has finally been brought to justice, they won’t be celebrating.
“The way our father’s life ended is so incredibly sad,” Vicki, Peter and Julie said in a statement.
“Now is the time for healing.”
The trio thanked detectives “from the bottom of our hearts” for their tireless dedication, “both now and 30 years ago when the technology needed to solve this crime did not yet exist.”
Hickson’s blood was found on Mr Skarratt’s sock and car boot, which prosecutor Craig Everson described as perhaps the “most damning and powerful piece of evidence” against him.
The 60-year-old said he must have cut his finger while breaking into Mr Skarratt’s Audi at the racetrack hours before he was killed, but that didn’t fool the jury.
“We would also like to extend our appreciation to 12 total strangers who took their responsibility as jurors seriously and remained focused and diligent throughout this long process,” Mr Skarratt’s family said.
After two days of deliberating, the jurors accepted the Crown case that Hickson ran off with $25,000 in “easy money” to pay off debts and support his gambling and cannabis habits.
Hickson was finally charged in 2017, and during his three-week trial his former girlfriend gave evidence that he confessed to knifing Mr Skarratt when he’d put up a fight during the mugging.
Tania Morsman said Hickson left her Wollongong flat with a balaclava and a knife on the night of December 21, 1989 and she washed his blood-soaked overalls hours later.
Ms Morsman told the court her then lover said he’d been stalking a bookie at the iconic Dapto venue in a plot to fleece him for cash to pay his criminal defence lawyers.
Two former associates also gave evidence that Hickson spoke to them about the death the following weekend.
But the Berkeley man, who was on the dole at the time, labelled this “impossible” because he’d been in weekend detention at Long Bay jail.
“Words cannot express our gratitude to everyone who so bravely came forward to testify. You are incredible and in our hearts,” Mr Skarratt’s children said.
Mr Skarratt’s second wife discovered his bound and beaten body lying among $20 bills at their lower north shore home and Hickson blamed the widow for orchestrating her own husband’s murder to cash in on his multimillion-dollar estate.
At the time Monika Karpel, who was initially a suspect herself, told police that Mr Skarratt’s first wife “was so beaten up by hatred and bitterness” that she’d one day end up killing him.
Hickson, who nodded and thanked the judge as he was taken down to the cells, will be sentenced on February 28.
Originally published as Terry Hickson guilty of murdering Dapto Dogs bookie Charles Skarratt