GONE BUSH [01/07/2001] PRODUCER – SARAH HALL REPORTER – KAREN PICKERSGILL Karen Intro: He was big, he was brooding, and in the 1970’s, he was one of the best All Blacks around. But for years, Keith Murdoch has been ‘missing in action’. The burly prop forward disappeared when he was sent home after a violent incident on tour in Wales, getting off the plane in Australia, vanishing into the Outback. Three decades on, the man who hated attention is back at the centre of it, wanted for questioning in connection with the death of an aborigine. Where has Murdoch been all these years? What does he know? And where has he gone this time? We went to outback Australia to find out. KAREN (V/O): Cardiff, 1972. Keith Murdoch's last match. It's a long haul to Tennant Creek, a long way from anywhere. 500 kilometres north of Alice Springs, we've come to the very centre of the Northern Territory. The barren heart of Australia, the place where Keith Murdoch has lived on and off, out of the public eye for years. But all that's changed with the death of young Aborigine, Kumanjai Limerick. (TO CAM) The scandal of the former All Black and whether or not he had anything to do with this, has taken on a life of its own and set tongues wagging in the worst possible way. It's not even been established yet that there was a murder. Limerick may simply have fallen to his death. Still the gossip and the headlines aren't letting the facts get in the way of a good yarn. TERRY HINGSTON: There's not a shred of evidence against the poor guy. DENISE UNWIN: I reckon what the media's doing here in Australia, I reckon it's a witch-hunt. KAREN (V/O): Tennant Creek is where Australia's last goldrush happened in the 1930s. It's still a tough little town, cattle country to the east, desert plains to the west. It's a place where Aborigines outnumber Europeans. And they reckon, where men outnumber women six to one. It's a town where everyone knows about everyone else, yet people don't pry into your past. 20/20's inquiries here were met with sometimes outright hostility. The people of Tennant are protective of their own. A perfect place for a man like Murdoch, looking to escape the infamy which ended his All Black career, his past a secret from all but a few. TERRY HINGSTON: He's probably the most famous sportsperson to ever live in Tennant Creek. No one knew about it y'know. Except for a few of us. It was good. We liked it. KAREN (V/O): Terry Hingston is one of only three or four locals who really knew Murdoch, who knew about his stellar rugby career, that famous try in ’72. The way it all ended when Murdoch was sent home in disgrace for punching a hotel security guard during post-match celebrations. TERRY: No one else knew that he had 43 caps for New Zealand, this and that, that try that he did, it was the best try, the last one, but he said it was the best try, line try he ever had. KAREN: So he used to talk to you jokers about that? TERRY: He wouldn't talk about rugby much at all, football. Not much, just bits here and there. Didn't really mean a lot to him I don't think now. He might've been a bit pissed off at getting sent home, so I think he just gave it away. KAREN (V/O): Murdoch is no longer the 17 stone juggernaut of old, but still, apparently, a big man. This is the latest photograph taken at a pyjama party at the pub. TERRY: Big gentle giant. Looks like Santa Claus. Looks nothing like he did, but big, healthy, good looking guy, went about his own business, always wore a trucky type blue tee-shirt and blue work shirts and thongs. KAREN (V/O): The New Zealander first came to Tennant Creek about ten years ago and has drifted in and out of the town ever since. TERRY: Mainly he was always looking for work. Quiet, kept to himself, didn't have any possessions or pets, or anything like that. Just an old car. He used to spend a lot of time in his room, up to 18 hours a day some days he'd spend in his room. Stinking hot day y'know, this is Tennant Creek. We could never work out what he was doing. He wouldn't even have a fan in there. He's a tough bugger. KAREN (V/O): His quiet life in Tennant Creek came to an end three weeks ago when he failed to show at the inquest into the death last October of Kumanjai Limerick. Murdoch was to have been a witness. Suddenly he was under suspicion. (TO CAM) The police are being guarded in what they say about Murdoch and his involvement, if any, in the case. They did question him, twice, early on in the investigation. But all detectives will say is they regard him as a 'person of interest', a critical witness who's wanted at the inquest when it resumes here July 25th. (V/O): Detective Sergeant Scott Pollock. DET. SGT SCOTT POLLOCK: The coroner is seeking an answer as to how Mr Limerick came to be at Nobles Nob mine which is quite some distance from Tennant Creek, how he got out there if he didn't walk. And Mr Murdoch may be able to assist in that regard. KAREN (V/O): So how is it the 70’s rugby star turned outback nomad got caught up in all of this? For that, we must go back seven months. The dead man came from Wuppa Camp, an Aboriginal settlement on the outskirts of Tennant Creek. There are dozens like this dotted through the Northern Territory. It's desolate and it's primitive. There's running water but little else. Australians are commemorating 100 years of nationhood this year, celebrating their achievements. You wouldn't know it here. We found our way to the Limerick home. We'd been warned by the local police they might be wary of outsiders. In fact they welcomed our camera and questions, happy that someone was taking an interest. They feel the police never adequately investigated their son's death, that it seemed no one really cared about a dead Aborigine. Kumanjai was one of Angus and Margaret Limerick's four sons, the fifth child of eight. ANGUS LIMERICK: When he get a few beers then he do something wrong. But even, they said my son was an alcoholic, but my son wasn't an alcoholic. He was a boy that come in town from the outstation, and have a few beers with his friends, and go back to the outstation. KAREN (V/O): The police are focussing on Murdoch because he was one of the last people to see Limerick alive. The young man had broken into Murdoch's rundown bungalow which he shared with a couple of mates. While we were in town there was no sign of life at the house. Limerick and his friends were notorious for breaking into houses and stealing beer and cigarettes. But this night, Murdoch caught him red-handed. There was an altercation. Neighbours heard the yelling, someone getting a bit of a hiding. Three weeks later, the body of the 20-year old Aborigine was found slumped over a rock at Nobles Nob, an abandoned goldmine 16 kilometres from Tennant Creek. He lay near a lake of contaminated rainwater at the bottom of the mine. Blazing temperatures meant his body was badly decomposed, making it difficult for police to determine exactly how he died, though there was evidence of head injuries. (TO CAM): So what did happen to Kumanjai Limerick? There are two or three theories. One that he was out here on his own and simply fell down the mine. Another that he was murdered, and his body dumped. And a third, that he was given a beating and left out at the mine to walk home, a bit of bush justice, except he never made it. (I/V): Is there any reason your son would have been at Nobles Nob by himself? ANGUS LIMERICK: There was no reason for him to go out there. We don't know how he got out there see. KAREN: Do you have any theories on how he got out there? ANGUS LIMERICK: Well we think, maybe he was taken out there by someone you know, against his will you know, and we want to find out. KAREN (V/O): What is significant and hasn't been widely reported is that a man thought to be Limerick was seen alive at the mine two days after the fight at Murdoch's house. But the Limericks are convinced their son was killed by someone, deliberately or accidentally. (I/V): You're sure it was not an accident? MARIE GREEN: No it wasn't an accident. It was a foul play. KAREN (V/O): Marie Green is the dead man's sister. The family isn't publicly pointing the finger at Murdoch, but does wonder why he never showed at the inquest. MARIE GREEN: If he's got nothing to hide, why is he running. The family needs to know. Why is he running away if he didn't do anything to my brother, and if he's being put as the suspect, why doesn't he come back. KAREN (V/O): But of those in town who knew Murdoch, no one believes he was responsible, or that the reclusive giant is in hiding. (I/V): Is it suspicious that Murdoch's up and left town? Should we read anything into that? TERRY: That's what he does. He goes around the country working. That's what he does. That's where he went, the last time I seen him that's where he was going... bush, to work. He didn't just up and take off. There's another bloody story, fairy, this should start off as ‘once upon a time’, you know. KAREN (V/O): When Murdoch left Tennant Creek in April we know he headed north. The last confirmed sighting was in the one-horse town of Mataranka, 500 kilometres up the road. Locals remember him camping out with his car at the gas station for about a week, until he was offered work and lodgings at the pub. DENISE UNWIN: Hey! Be quiet out there I am trying to be a movie star. KAREN (V/O): Bold and brassy, Denise Unwin sees and hears all that goes on from behind the bar at the Old Elsey Wayside Inn. It's a classic bush pub and she's a good sort, kind of an outback Bet Lynch. (I/V): You say he was a nice guy? DENISE UNWIN: He was. I reckon what the media's doing here in Australia I reckon it's a witch hunt. They're hounding him for something. Maybe he might have been a great star in his day but why not leave him alone. I don't think he's done anything wrong. I don't think anyway. KAREN (V/O): She remembers Murdoch fondly, keen to see pictures. DENISE UNWIN: Like that except for he's bigger. He's all white. His eyebrows are white, his mo is white, he's all white. He's got a big face, big neck, big, big legs, big arms. Nice fella. KAREN: Good looking fella? DENISE UNWIN: Very nice. Well he was. He was a nice fella. KAREN: Apparently he was quite a ladies man? DENISE UNWIN: I don't know, he wasn't interested really in women. There were plenty of women around at the time but I don't think he was interested. I don't think he was gay either but still, we don't know that. We didn't ask them questions. KAREN: So what did he do the time he was here? He can't have worked all the time? DENISE UNWIN: He did. He'd used to go to work and go back to his donger, that was it. Then he'd come around the bar, he'd go and get his meal of a night time, then yeah have a drink and go back. KAREN: Did you get the feeling at all, if I can use the phrase, that he was on the run, in hiding, laying low? DENISE UNWIN: Well if he was in hiding or on the run, why would you be working in the main street? Look at the people who come through the place. So if he was hiding he was hiding in the wrong place. KAREN (V/O): Unlike some of the locals, Murdoch wasn't a big drinker. Typically, he didn't get close to anyone in the six or seven weeks he was in Mataranka. They told us he was quiet, he was liked, and never any trouble. DENISE: This is where Keith used to work. They called him Spud here actually. KAREN: Spud? DENISE: Yeah Spud Murphy. He looked like a spud really. He was a big gentle giant. KAREN: So it's pretty tropical up here isn't it? DENISE: Yeah it’s beautiful. Well this is what he used to clean, all this. KAREN: So tell me exactly what did he do - his job was? DENISE: He used to clean all this, hose it all down, pick all the rubbish up around here, make sure it was all clean. He used to clean all the toilets up here, the males and females toilets up here. KAREN: This was just everyday routine? DENISE: Everyday routine, yes. He used to do all the gardens around here as well, water them all, he used to burn the rubbish off here. He used to take the rubbish to the tip as well, so he was trusted with the vehicle, to take it to drive anywhere he wanted to drive. And this is where he used to live up here in this donger here. KAREN: What do you call it? DENISE: It’s a donger? KAREN: That's an Aussie word for what? DENISE: A demountable. This is where he lived. I can even take you inside. And this is the car that he used to drive to the tip when he used to take the rubbish to the tip. KAREN: Did he pay to stay here, or was it all part of the job? DENISE: No that's part of your job, that's with your board. KAREN: He wouldn't have got paid a hell of a lot of money for what he did, I suppose? DENISE: No, well all depends. It was an hourly rate. And this is where he lived. KAREN: Can I go in? DENISE: Yep, you can come in. And this is actually where he actually did live was right here. KAREN: Pretty basic! DENISE: Yep. Well he had three rooms to choose from but this is where he stayed. The door was always open, it was only shut late of the night time. His car was parked just out there. KAREN: You don't know whether he had visitors, any friends come and stay? DENISE: No nothing. Very quiet man, very inside himself. KAREN: Kept to himself. DENISE: Yep. I don’t think he's hiding but. I really don't. KAREN (V/O): This is the part of Australia known as "the Never Never". And since Murdoch left as he arrived, suddenly and without warning, he's never never been seen again. (I/V): So the last time you saw him was when? DENISE: The day before that he left here. ’Cos I didn't even know that he'd gone. Come to work the next day and he was gone, he was gone at five o’clock in the morning. KAREN: And what did he do his last day here? DENISE: Just did his normal job. I don't even think he picked his wages up. KAREN: Just left? DENISE: Just left, out of the blue didn't tell anyone he was going. KAREN (V/O): When Murdoch vanished that morning, no one knows which way he headed. There was talk he'd been spotted at a remote station back down the highway. But his whereabouts since leaving Mataranka are really anybody's guess. Suspiciously, Murdoch's credit card and bank accounts haven't been touched for a month. And until he shows, he remains under a cloud of suspicion. DET. SGT POLLOCK: I tend to believe that he's possibly still in the territory, perhaps working on a station, working casually. KAREN: Do you reckon he'll show, show up? DENISE: I don't know. Is he still alive? He hasn't been sighted for three weeks, so is he still around? Where is he? Cos he wouldn't be able to just sell his car. Not unless he sold it to black fellas, aboriginals. KAREN: How important is it that Keith Murdoch comes back to Tennant Creek and tells the inquest what he knows? MARIE GREEN: It's very important. I want to know what happened. It’s very important to the family to know how he got out there, who else is involved in his death. TERRY: What's gotta happen is that this coroner's gotta make a finding, and clear the air, you know. So I s'pose it is important that they do find him and find out what happened to the guy. KAREN (V/O): If Keith Murdoch is true to form, he'll drift back into Tennant Creek, in his own time, not before. That's his style. Then again, if the man who hates attention and now finds himself at the centre of it doesn't want to be found, he couldn't have picked a better place to disappear.