Michael James Murdoch

One of Travers' faithful followers was another misfit named Michael (Mick) James Murdoch. Mick worshipped Travers. His mother, Rose Murdoch, hated the hold that Travers had over her boy and warned Mick repeatedly that Travers would only get him in jail.

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Travers and Mick Murdoch were the same age and had been inseparable since they were kids. They considered themselves to be blood brothers. They even looked alike and had the same hairstyles and wore the same clothes. They put tattoos on each other with a battery-operated kit. A standard joke among their friends was that if it was Murdoch who tattooed Travers' penis, then how did he get it erect to do it? There were inferences that they could have been more than just friends, but they denied it.

Like Travers, Mick Murdoch came from a broken home and had been in trouble with the police since he was 12. His first conviction had been for smoking marijuana with Travers.

At 33, Michael (Mick) Patrick Murphy was the oldest member of Travers' gang, but he was by no means the smartest. Serving 25 years in prison for 33 convictions of breaking and entering and burglary, his most recent escape attempt had been successful. And he hadn't even planned it. A situation arose where Murphy and another prisoner were put in a position of trust outside the gates of Silverwater prison and they decided to make a run for it. Mick Murphy had been on the run for six weeks at the time of the murder of Anita Cobby.

Mick Murphy had spent about half of his life behind bars. The eldest of nine children, Mick was expected to set an example for his younger brothers and sisters. But he fell afoul of the law early in his teens and was rarely out of prison in the years to come. Heavily tattooed like Travers, Mick Murphy was a thug who had no regard for anyone but himself. He was known throughout the western suburbs as a man to be avoided.

Gary Steven Murphy

Two of Mick Murphy's younger brothers, Les and Gary Murphy, made up the remainder of Travers' gang. Both were known criminals. Four years younger than Mick, Gary Steven Murphy was a habitual criminal with an extensive record dating back to his early teens. His crimes included car theft, receiving stolen goods, breaking and entering, assault and escaping lawful custody.

Gary fancied himself as a fighter, was always brawling and had been barred from most of the clubs and hotels in the district. Once he had had one too many drinks, he would look for a fight. Most times he got more than he gave, much to the delight of the onlookers. The neighborhood was always pleased when the police came to take Gary Murphy away to prison.

Leslie Joseph Murphy

The youngest of the Murphy trio, 24-year-old Leslie Joseph, looked as though he couldn't hurt a fly. But like Mick and Gary, he had a fierce temper and couldn't keep his mouth shut, as a result of which someone or other was always giving him a belting. The skinny little criminal's record included many counts of theft, car stealing and sexual intercourse without consent. It was common knowledge that Les didn't have much luck with the girls and the only way he could get sex was to pay for it or get it by force.

Always a tough guy when his burly mates were around, Les Murphy was frightened when he was on his own, and he lived on the reputation of brothers Gary and Mick. Like the rest of the gang, the tiny Les Murphy had spent much of his adult life behind bars. The brothers had seen more of each other behind bars than on the outside.

When they weren't in prison, the Murphy brothers spent their time around the Blacktown and Mount Druitt area in Sydney's west. With Mick on the run and his two brothers recently released from prison, it was a rare occasion for the Murphy boys to be together in freedom, but that fateful night of Sunday, 2 February 1986, the three Murphy brothers ganged up with Murdoch and Travers in a stolen car and went looking for a victim.

They found Anita Cobby. As a policeman said later: "She just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

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