Dark Stories: On This Day In True Crime History - Dark Stories True Crime Tours

1905: Pearl Trader Lured Aboard and Murdered in Broome for a Stolen Pearl

Mark Liebglid, a commercial traveller who bought and sold pearls in Perth-region waters for Freedman and Co. and Falk and Co., was lured aboard the abandoned schooner Mist in Broome harbour on 30 August 1905 under the pretence of viewing a stolen pearl. Known for flashing a large money clip, a gold signet ring, and a willingness to buy pearls of questionable provenance, Liebglid was beaten with a slingshot and oars by Charles Hagen, Pablo Marquez, and Simeon Espada, then drowned. His body was found floating near the vessel the following morning.

The stolen pearl at the centre of the plot was believed to have been hidden by a crew member in a coil of rope with its whereabouts never conclusively confirmed.

Schooner Mist showing where Mark Leibglid was thrown overboard

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Australia Broome Execution Murder Organised Crime WA

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2022: Chris Dawson Found Guilty of Murdering Wife Lynette

After five hours of delivering his reasons in a judge-alone trial, Justice Ian Harrison found former rugby league footballer Chris Dawson guilty of murdering his wife, Lynette Dawson, who vanished from their Bayview home near Sydney on or about 8 January 1982. Lynette had been planning to meet her mother the following day; she never arrived. Chris did not report her missing for six weeks, and two days after her disappearance, a teenage student he had groomed moved permanently into the family home.

Two coronial inquests had already concluded Lynette was murdered, but prosecution was twice refused due to insufficient evidence. A podcast revival of the case and sustained public pressure finally brought Dawson to trial. Justice Harrison rejected all alleged sightings of Lynette as wholly unreliable and found a compelling body of evidence that she had not abandoned her family. Dawson was sentenced to 24 years in prison, with a non-parole period of 18 years.

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Australia Cold Case Disappearance Murder NSW Sydney Trial

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1863: Fred Lowry Shot at Cook’s Vale Creek: The Bushranger Who Died Game

Police raided a public house at Cook’s Vale Creek, New South Wales, on 29 August 1863, where bushranger Fred Lowry emerged armed with two revolvers and exchanged gunfire with Senior-Sergeant Stephenson. Lowry, a gaunt six-foot man born in Windsor around 1836 to former convicts, had built a career of horse theft, mail-coach robbery, and prison escape, briefly riding with the Gardiner-Hall gang before forming his own bushranger outfit. Shot in the throat during the exchange, Lowry was captured along with accomplice Larry Cummins, who was found in bed with a loaded revolver. Stolen banknotes from the Mudgee mail were recovered at the scene. Lowry died from his wound the following day. His purported last words, ‘Tell ’em I died game’, cemented his place as the archetypal Australian bushranger.

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Australia Bushranger Cook's Vale Creek Mudgee NSW Organised Crime Police Robbery Shooting

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1870: William Brown Hanged at Toowoomba Gaol for Robbery Under Arms

William Brown, also known as Bertram, was hanged at Toowoomba Gaol on 29 August 1870 for robbery under arms at Mangalore. A German-born drifter who claimed to have left home at the age of twelve and reached Australia as a cabin boy, Brown was linked to a string of robberies in New South Wales and was reported to have spent several years with Gardiner’s gang in the Barrier Ranges. His identity was confirmed by the loss of his left eye, an injury sustained during an earlier term of imprisonment.

Throughout his final days, he refused to reveal his true name or identify his associates, remarking that his friends would probably never learn what had become of him. Brown was only twenty-one when he was executed.

Toowoomba Garden City welcome sign for Carnival of Flowers

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Australia Bushranging Execution Organised Crime QLD Robbery Toowoomba

1905: Pearl Trader Lured Aboard and Murdered in Broome for a Stolen Pearl

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2022: Chris Dawson Found Guilty of Murdering Wife Lynette

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1863: Fred Lowry Shot at Cook’s Vale Creek: The Bushranger Who Died Game

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1870: William Brown Hanged at Toowoomba Gaol for Robbery Under Arms

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