Twist in outback Netflix blockbuster Last Stop Larrimah

An Aussie doco about a mystery murder has become an unexpected hit on Netflix, with the director revealing what could have happened to a vanished local.

Last Stop Larrimah has become an instant hit on Netflix.

It tells the story of Paddy Moriarty, a loudmouthed beer-loving larrikin, who vanishes with his dog Kellie in 2017.

A tourist who gave Mr Moriaty a barbecue chicken for his dog at the Pink Panther pub, the only drinking hole in town, was the last person to see him alive.

Sad, but perhaps not a big deal in Australia where 38,000 people go missing every year.

What makes Mr Moriaty’s story so intriguing is that he lived in Larrimah, a tiny outback town 534km south of Darwin, with just 11 residents.

With such a tiny population, you’d be forgiven for thinking everyone is best friends.

That’s where you’re wrong.

In the small community, Mr Moriaty had plenty of enemies and the documentary Last Stop Larrimah hones in on their potential motives.

Paddy Moriarty and his dog Kellie went missing in December 2017. Picture: HBO

Fran Hodgetts

From the outset Fran Hodgetts appears to be the chief suspect with the best motive to kill Mr Moriaty.

Ms Hodgetts ran the Devonshire Tea House where she would sell pies filled with crocodile, camel or buffalo.

She had a long-running feud with Mr Moriaty, her direct neighbour, who she accused of poisoning her plants and even once throwing a dead kangaroo into her bedroom.

During an inquest into Mr Moriaty’s death a former employee of Ms Hodgetts said she used to say “I’ll kill Paddy”, although the employee said he did not take the threats seriously and added that Ms Hodgetts used to say she would also kill her husband Billy.

Ms Hodgetts emphatically denies any involvement in Mr Moriarty’s disappearance.

“As much as I hated the man, I can swear to God I don’t know what happened to him,” she said in the documentary.

Fran Hodgetts had an ongoing feud with her neighbour Paddy but denies she had anything to do with his disappearance.

Richard Simpson

Pub barman Richard Simpson was close friends with Mr Moriaty but neighbours speculated that the pair could have had a falling out over Mr Moriaty getting more shifts at the pub than him.

They also pointed to the fact that Mr Simpson was close enough to Mr Moriaty to get near his dog, who generally hated everyone else.

As for what happened to Mr Moriaty’s body, there was talk that whoever killed him could have fed him to the pub’s crocodile.

When asked about the suggestion he killed Mr Moriaty, Mr Simpson said: “I didn’t do it. Me and Paddy had a few arguments about this, that or the other but never had a cross word that evening.

“(Locals Karen and Mark Rayner) said I killed Paddy because I wanted to run the Larrimah pub and that’s really insulting because anyone who knows me knows I f**king hate working!”

Barry Sharpe, the owner of the Larrimah Hotel & Pub and a beefy pet crocodile. Picture: HBO

Owen Laurie

Owen Laurie moved in with Ms Hodgetts after her marriage with Billy Hodgetts broke down.

He would do her gardening, although she didn’t pay him, and said he made her feel safe.

Karen and Mark Rayner said they witnessed a row between Mr Laurie and Mr Moriaty over Mr Moriaty’s dog a few days before he went missing.

Mr Laurie was the only resident to decline to take part in the documentary.

After Mr Moriaty’s death police taped his nearest neighbours and a recording of a man’s voice was played to his inquest.

“F***king killed Paddy, hit him on the head,” the recording said.

“Smacked him on the f***ing nostrils with my claw hammer.

“I killerated old Paddy … I struck him on the f***ing head and killerated the bastard … basherated (sic) him.”

Mr Laurie has denied that it is his voice on the recording and strongly denies killing Mr Moriaty.

Fran's gardener, Owen Laurie, denied he killed Paddy. Credit: Netflix

Inquest

At Mr Moriaty’s inquest, Coroner Greg Cavanagh said the evidence showed that Mr Moriaty and his dog, Kellie, had both died the evening they went missing.

“In my opinion, Paddy and his dog were killed in the context of and likely due to the ongoing feud he had with his nearest neighbour,” Mr Cavanagh said.

“He likely died on the evening of 16 December 2017. He had ridden home from the hotel, put the mostly-eaten chicken in the microwave, put his wallet on the table, his hat in the usual place, the dog food in the dog bowl and got his own meal out of the freezer.

“He then went outside with the dog. There is no evidence as to where he went, however, in my view it’s likely that the new plants at Fran’s place were of some attraction to him.”

What does the director think happened?

Director Thomas Tancred said he developed his own theories on what happened while he was filming the documentary.

Speaking to film website Screen Rant he said: “I was constantly coming up with theories”. “Also, there’s a lot of stuff, obviously, that can’t get into the film even though it’s two hours.

“People would pull me aside and tell me things; people would tell me really interesting things about people I didn’t even really think would be a part of this or were capable of doing such a thing. Also, it’s such an interesting world out there.

“It’s not in the film anymore, but at one point there was a story of this white van that was in town. There are these sinkholes that are near Larrimah, and somebody told me he could be thrown in there. The whole time I was coming up with theories in my head too,” Mr Tancred said.

“And that’s the thing about the film too; it’s a whodunit. You have to explain all those theories to get to the end, to hopefully find out what happened.”