Four die in bloodbath at remote farmhouse

Press, 27 December 1979, Page 6

Four die in bloodbath at remote farmhouse

NZPA Sydney l Four people died early yesterday and a farmhouse and other property were destroyed by fire in a mur-der-suicide at Broke, in the Hunter Valley 280 km northwest of Sydney. The police said the twohOur drama began at about 5 a m. when a 46-year-old m?n went to a caravan on a fanning property and spoke to a man, aged 34, and a woman, aged 25.

The man. who was armed with a 22 rifle and shotgun, shot the man in the caravan and ordered the woman to a nearby farmhouse in which a 55-year-old farmer and his wife were sleeping, police said.

' The man shot both the farmer and his wife. The fracas woke a 13-year-old boy who was asleep in the house. The police said the 25-year-old woman screamed at the boy to run for his life. They said the gunman at one stage caught the boy, but he broke free. The gunman fired at the boy but he was not injured and escaped to a neighbouring property. The woman, meanwhile, hid under the farmhouse and (later fled to the nearby property. The gunman also accosted a farmhand, but the police said the man escaped after jumping through a window. At this stage the gunman

set fire to the farmhouse, incinerating the bodies of the farmer and his wife. He also set fire to the caravan and a dairy. When the police arrived, they were kept at bay by several shots from the gunman. The police said the man then set fire to a car and got inside. They heard a series of shots and later found the charred body of the man in the car with a rifle between his knees. The Sydney police said the names of the victims would not be released until the next of kin had been informed. Relatives of the I dead are holidaying overseas.