On 10 June 1987, the jury returned a guilty verdict on all four men after a nine-hour deliberation. Mick Murdoch and the three Murphy brothers showed little emotion as they were led from the court.
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| Mr. & Mrs. Lynch, Anita Cobby's parents, after the verdict |
The week between their conviction and their sentencing was not a good one for the gang. Convicts do not approve of such behavior. There is a code among men in prisons. Child molesters and packs of men who rape and murder young women are on the top of the hit list. They are referred to as "rock spiders." Every one of Travers' gang was attacked and beaten by other prisoners.
On 16 June 1987, John Travers and his gang were sentenced in the Supreme Court. Hundreds of people had queued for hours to hear the sentence. Justice Maxwell did nothing to hide his contempt as he addressed the five murderers standing before him.
'There is no doubt that apart from the humiliation, the degradation and terror inflicted upon this young woman, she was the victim of a prolonged and sadistic physical and sexual assault including repeated sexual assaults anally, orally and vaginally.
"Wild animals are given to pack assaults and killings."
"This is one of the most, if not the most, horrifying physical and sexual assaults I have encountered in my 40 odd years associated with the law. The crime is exacerbated by the fact that the victim almost certainly was made aware, in the end, of her pending death.
'Throughout the long trial, the prisoners, albeit, to a lesser degree in the case of the prisoner Murdoch, showed no signs of remorse or contrition. Instead, frequently they were observed to be laughing with one another and were seen sniggering behind their hands.'
Justice Maxwell then sentenced each man to life imprisonment and added: "The circumstances of the murder of Mrs Anita Lorraine Cobby prompt me to recommend that the official files of each prisoner should be clearly marked "never to be released."
If the Executive deems it proper in the future to consider their files, then I would echo the advice proffered, in a case in which the facts were not entirely dissimilar, by a former and distinguished Chief Judge at Common Law, that the Executive should grant to the prisoners the same degree of mercy that they bestowed on Anita Lorraine Cobby in the Boiler Paddock, Prospect, on the night of the 2nd of February 1986.
I do not think that the community would expect otherwise.
John Raymond Travers, Michael James Murdoch, Leslie Joseph Murphy, Michael Patrick Murphy and Gary Steven Murphy are in maximum security in the toughest prisons throughout New South Wales. And there they will die.
They are never to be released.
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