William Darcy Reid guilty: What happened to victim Travis Davis?
THIS young man decided to move to Queensland to get away from drugs and start afresh. Ultimately, it was that decision that cost him his life.
TRAVIS Davis’s decision to move to Cairns to get away from drugs and start afresh ultimately resulted in his death.
But what really happened the day he died at Mona Mona on October 15 in 2013 will only truly be known by three people. And as the jury was told, “one is dead”.
His murderer, Kuranda man William Darcy Reid was found guilty on Friday after a two-week Cairns Supreme Court trial. Just 22, he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
The reaction within the courtroom was emotionally charged. Immediately after the jury delivered its verdict, his mother yelled “He didn’t do it,” while Reid sobbed into his hands.
Reid was 19 years old when he murdered Mr Davis in bushland near Kuranda, something he has always denied.
Reid had been living with his then-girlfriend Austasia Kapteyn, also 19, at a property near Kuranda. Kapteyn was a central witness in the trial. She told police Reid had killed Mr Davis, although she did not directly witness the attack.
Police photographs of the property showed a derelict and isolated campsite made up of rusted and collapsed shacks surrounded by dense bushland at Mona Mona, about 15km northwest of Kuranda. There was no running water or electricity and the pair had to rely on friends and family for lifts.
Reid and Kapteyn began dating in Year 11 and “Will” was her first boyfriend. The relationship ended when he moved away, but they rekindled their romance when Reid returned from Tasmania in August, 2013.
In September, they started living together at Reid’s mother’s home before moving to the Mona Mona property, owned by Kapteyn’s aunt, about October 3.
Mr Davis said goodbye to his family and left Biloela to travel to Cairns on September 19, 2013 in his Toyota HiLux ute. He travelled with limited possessions but by his side was his pet dog Dexter.
The 28-year-old was about 5ft 10in (1.78m) and of a slight build. He wore bilateral hearing aids and glasses.
His mother said he had been the victim of a one-punch incident in 2010 when he had received a broken jaw and she believed he became depressed after the attack.
Mr Davis had moved because he wanted to create a new life after he had become involved with amphetamines.
“He was going to stop using amphetamines and get his life on track,” his mum had said.
The last time she spoke with her son was over the phone on October 14. His parents had the impression Cairns was not working out that well for Travis, who told them he was “doing it a little bit tough” and they suggested he come home.
They never heard from him again. His father reported him missing on November 12.
Travis’s body was discovered, 12 days later, on November 24 down a gully about 100m as the crow flies from a fire pit within the campsite. An exact cause of death cannot be determined because the body was so badly decomposed.
A victim impact statement from his mother, Sue-Anne Davis, was read to the court.
She wrote: “It feels like we’ll never be happy again.
“Some days no amount of medication can stop my tears and my world crumbling around me.
“We are shattered and now as a family we are broken... he didn’t deserve to die like this.”
Originally published as William Darcy Reid guilty: What happened to victim Travis Davis?