1984: The Milperra Massacre: Seven Dead in Father’s Day Bikie War at Sydney Tavern

On Father’s Day, 2 September 1984, a heavily armed convoy of Comanchero motorcycle club members descended on the Viking Tavern car park in Milperra, a south-western suburb of Sydney.

The Comancheros had been at war with the newly formed Bandidos, a breakaway chapter, whose split from the Comancheros founder had curdled into open conflict. When both clubs converged on a swap meet that day, gunfire erupted in the car park. Seven people died, including a 14-year-old girl caught in the crossfire, and twenty-eight others were wounded.

The Milperra Massacre became the bloodiest single clash in the history of Australian outlaw motorcycle clubs.

Biker
Biker

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1830: Bushranger Jack Donahue Shot Dead at Bringelly After Five Years as an Outlaw

On 1 September 1830, the notorious Irish-born bushranger Jack Donahue, known as one of the Wild Colonial Boys, was shot dead during a confrontation between his gang and mounted police near Bringelly, New South Wales. A party of eight closed to within a hundred yards of Donahue and friends undetected. When the bushrangers spotted them, Donahue pulled off his hat and defied the officers: ‘Come on, you cowardly rascals, we are ready, if there’s a dozen of you.’ After a standoff of nearly half an hour, shots were exchanged. A carbine ball and pistol ball fired by a mounted trooper struck Donahue in the left temple and neck, killing him instantly.

An inquest was held the following day at the Fox and Hounds Bar in Sydney, with his death being ruled justifiable homicide.

Donahue had been one of the most wanted men in the colony for five years as the figurehead of the Wild Colonial Boys. His death ended one of the most romanticised outlaw careers in early Australian history.

Drawing of the body of bushranger Jack Donahoe, c.1830. Attributed to Thomas Mitchell. Lithograph. Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales. Public domain.
Drawing of the body of bushranger Jack Donahoe, c.1830. Attributed to Thomas Mitchell. Lithograph. Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales. Public domain.

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1934: The Pyjama Girl: A Body in a Culvert and a Mystery That Lasted Decades

On 1 September 1934, the body of a woman with a bullet through the neck was found in a culvert beneath near Albury, New South Wales.

Dressed in silk pyjamas, she remained unidentified for a decade, preserved in formalin and viewed by thousands before police named her as Florence Linda Agostini, an English-born woman who had lived on Darlinghurst Road in Kings Cross and later moved to Melbourne with her husband Tony Agostini.

Tony Agostini confessed to killing Linda and was convicted of manslaughter, sentenced to six years. He served just over three years before being deported to Italy.

Photograph of Linda Agostini(Linda Platt) - Pyjama Girl Mystery
Photograph of Linda Agostini(Linda Platt) – Pyjama Girl Mystery

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1830: A Daring Escape and a Public Hanging in Colonial New South Wales

In February 1829, a man from the Shoalhaven region of New South Wales killed English sawyer John Rivett in the Kangaroo Valley, claiming self-defence after a dispute over a trade and a personal grievance. He and his accomplice evaded capture for months, using their knowledge of the densely forested hilly terrain to outrun colonial authorities.

Arrested in May 1829, the accused made a bold escape aboard a ship bound for Sydney, stealing the keys to his chains from a sleeping guard before jumping overboard with his companion. Recaptured and tried, he was found guilty of wilful murder and publicly executed by infamous hangman Alexander Green on 30 August 1830.

White bark gumtrees by Shoalhaven River under storm clouds
White bark gumtrees by Shoalhaven River under storm clouds

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On This Day in True Crime History

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