At first the police had very little to go on. Nothing of any importance was found at the crime scene. The killers had taken Anita’s clothes. When the police attempted to trace Anita’s movements they spoke with Elaine Bray and Lyn Bradshaw. No one knew if she had caught the train, had been abducted at the station or if she decided to take a cab. The murder received much media attention and the public was restless. The government of New South Wales offered a reward of $50,000 for information that would lead to the capture of those responsible. A task force was created to sift through the leads and tips that were starting to pile up. Then, several witnesses stepped forward. At 9:50pm witnesses had heard a scream. They ran outside and saw a woman struggling as a man was forcing her into his car. The police felt sure that what the witnesses had seen was the abduction of Anita Cobby. The task force was flooded with tips and the detectives ran down every one.
A week after Anita had been found one of those tips turned out to be the break that the task force needed. A man told the police that he knew of some men who had stolen a car several nights before the murder. They had since painted the car and changed the wheels. The man gave the police the names of John Travers, Mick Murdoch and Les Murphy. Hearing the name John Travers set off alarm bells among members of the task force. The police had been looking for Travers in connection to a rape that had occurred eight months earlier. When investigating Travers they uncovered a history of violence. Finding Mr. Travers was proving to be difficult. When he learned that the police had been looking for him regarding the earlier rape he had vamoosed to the western part of the continent. If he was back in New South Wales and if he was responsible for what had happened to Anita, the police did not want to alert him. They kept a tight lid on the new information. Meanwhile the authorities in New South Wales had increased the reward to $100,000.
Never underestimate the power of money and some people’s lust and greed for it. With the reward clearly in mind another informer gave the police a few addresses where he thought that John Travers might be found. Early in the morning the police staged simultaneous raids on residences in the nearby towns of Wentworthville and Doonside. It was in a house in Wentworthville that the police found Travers and Mick Murdoch in bed together. They also came across a bloodstained knife. In Doonside Les Murphy was arrested. All three admitted to stealing cars but predictably denied any involvement in the Anita Cobby murder. The detectives felt certain that they had the men responsible but lacked evidence. With that in mind Murphy and Murdoch were charged only with auto theft and were released on bail. The task force put a surveillance team on them in the hope that Murphy and Murdoch would lead them to the stolen car where the detectives expected to find evidence of the abduction. Meanwhile John Travers was being held on suspicion of rape in the incident that occurred eight months earlier. He continued to deny knowing anything about what happened to Anita. Then he made the mistake that would seal his fate.
John Travers
Gary Murphy
Leslie Murphy
Michael Murdoch
Travers gave the detectives the phone number of a woman who he would like to have visit him in prison. When they called the woman, well, she had a story to tell. She told the detectives that Travers had told her about a number of rapes that he had committed. Travers had also told her about how he used a knife on his victims. She told them that she had no doubt that Travers was the one responsible for what happened to Anita. She lived in fear of Travers but agreed to help them nail him. She was fitted for a wire and went in to visit John Travers. During the visit he told her in very explicit terms what he and his gang had done to Anita Cobby. Based on the taped “confession” the police picked up and re-arrested Murphy and Murdoch. Both men quickly confessed. Travers himself then made a full confession. All three were charged in the abduction, rape and murder of Anita Cobby. Soon after this the other two Murphy brothers, Gary and Mick were arrested and charged.
Despite the mountain of evidence against them, which included their own full confessions, all five of the defendants pleaded not guilty. Just minutes before the trial was to begin in March 1987, Travers changed his plea to guilty, This left the other four to stand trial. The defence consisted of all four men attempting to minimize their responsibility while placing as much of the blame as was possible on Travers. It didn’t matter. The three Murphy brothers as well as Murdoch were found guilty.
We have been having trouble with how to explain what happened to Anita that night without being overly explicit. The judge, Chief Justice Maxwell, said it all better than anyone. These are his words just before he sentenced all five men to life in prison… “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.” After issuing the sentences he 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.”
In 2008 the killers applied for a predetermined release date. They were turned down. The public, and indeed the Australian justice system has not forgotten the brutality of the murder or the lack of remorse. Anita’s parents went on to be the founders of Victims of Homicide Support Group. Before Anita’s death there had been no such support for families of murder victims. The couple was also in the forefront of a movement seeking longer sentences for murderers. Anita’s father Gary died in 2008 and her mother Grace passed away in 2013.
Michael Murphy on his way to court
Death in a Bottle Part One: The Tylenol Murders
Chicago, Illinois: 1982 - On the morning of September 29, 1982, 12 year old Mary Kellerman went to her parents room and complained about “not feeling very well.” Like many parents before them, Mary’s gave her a Tylenol capsule and sent her back to bed. By noon Mary was dead. A little later in the day 27 year old Mary Weiner dropped dead in her home in Winfield, just outside of Chicago. Still on the same day paramedics were called to the home of Adam Janus in Arlington Heights. He was found on the floor having trouble breathing and his blood pressure was dangerously low. The paramedics worked on him all the way to the hospital but the 27 year old postal worker died soon after arrival. That same evening Adam’s family gathered at his home to mourn the loss and to make funeral arrangements. Adam’s grief stricken 35 year old brother Stanley and his 19 year old wife Theresa both attended. Both were feeling under the weather and suffering from headaches possibly brought on by the stress of Adam’s sudden death. Stanley found a bottle of extra strength Tylenol on Adam’s kitchen counter. Stanley and Theresa both took one capsule and both quickly collapsed on the kitchen floor. They were rushed to Emergency where Stanley died later that evening. Theresa died two days later. That same day Mary McFarland and Paula Prince both died in Chicago in separate incidents. When the first responders (fire fighters and paramedics) were talking that night about the sudden deaths they discovered a common thread. All of the people involved had very recently taken Tylenol just before collapsing.
Investigators quickly collected all of the bottles of Tylenol and discovered that they had been tampered with. Cyanide was found inside the bottles. The amounts found in the bottles we
re up to 10,000 times the amount required to kill a normal human being. It was now up to the investigators to determine how the cyanide was introduced into the bottles. Investigators worked with Johnson & Johnson (the manufacturer of Tylenol) and determined that the cyanide was not introduced during the production process. This meant that someone had to have purchased the bottles, slipped in the cyanide and then returned the tainted bottles to the store’s shelves. Johnson & Johnson issued a recall of more than 31 million bottles of Tylenol capsules worth more than $100 million dollars. Chicago police and the media issued warnings to the public to avoid Tylenol. They also warned against using any products that contained acetaminophen.
With the Tylenol now off of the shelves and the public warned about the danger, the search for the person or persons responsible began. There were few leads to go on until a letter was received demanding one million dollars be delivered to a Chicago post office box. The letter threatened more deaths unless this payment was made. The letter was traced to James Lewis who was promptly arrested and charged with attempted extortion. While authorities still suspected Lewis in the killings, there was no evidence to charge him. He was sentenced to 20 years on the extortion charge and was released on parole in 1995 after serving 13 years.
In 2009, 27 years after the Tylenol murders and 14 years after Lewis was released, investigators obtained a warrant to search his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 2010 they obtained a sample of his DNA. In 2011, nearly 30 years after the murders the FBI requested a DNA sample from none other than Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber. Kaczynski’s first criminal acts had taken place in and around Chicago in the late 1970’s and his mother owned a home there in 1982 when Ted was a frequent visitor. Still, as of this writing in 2014 there have been no arrests and no charges filed in the Tylenol murders.
Following the murders Johnson & Johnson repackaged it’s product in new triple sealed packages. Within two years Tylenol was once again the number one over the counter pain relief pill in the United States. Another result of the Tylenol murders was that product tampering now became a federal offence.
Death in a Bottle Part Two: The Excedrin Murders
In 1986 there was a great fear in the USA that the Chicago Tylenol scare was about to repeat itself. This time the product that was tampered with was Extra Strength Excedrin. On June 5 a 911 call was placed by Stella Nickell from her home in Auburn, a suburb of Seattle, Washington. Her husband Bruce had collapsed shortly after taking an Excedrin capsule for a headache. Bruce was rushed by helicopter to a Seattle hospital but died shortly after arrival. An autopsy was performed with the cause of death being declared as emphysema. Six days later Sue Snow was found unconscious on her bathroom floor by her daughter. Sue, like Bruce Nickell, was taken by helicopter to a Seattle hospital and also died shortly after arriving. This time the autopsy discovered cyanide in her blood. It was soon learned that Sue had taken Excedrin shortly before collapsing.
Stella Nickell circa 1986
Bristol-Myers, following in the footsteps of Johnson & Johnson, recalled more than 30 million bottles of Excedrin valued at more than 100 million dollars, The police picked up the bottle of Excedrin from Sue Snow’s home and publicized the LOT number. LOT numbers are identification numbers that are assigned to a particular quantity of material from a single manufacturer. LOT numbers typically are found on the outside of packaging. Investigators found one more bottle in Johnny’s Market in Kent, Washington that had been tampered with. Now the story takes a turn. Stella Nickell called to inform the police that she had a bottle of Excedrin with the same LOT number that was being publicized. Police recovered two bottles of Excedrin from the Nickell home. Both bottles were found to contain cyanide. The investigators then asked the coroner to double check his findings in the Bruce Nickell autopsy. The coroner did just as asked and found that there was cyanide in a blood sample taken from Bruce Nickell. The cause of death was changed from emphysema to death by cyanide poisoning. One might think that this would not matter much to the grieving widow but, as so often is the case with our little stories here, one might be wrong. You see, Stella was in possession of an insurance policy on her hubby that would pay out an extra $100,000 if his death was proven to be accidental. Emphysema just didn’t work for Stella so she figured she would help things along.
In all, a total of five cyanide laced bottles of Excedrin had been discovered. It seemed to be a stunning coincidence that Stella Nickell bought two of the bottles, two weeks apart in different stores. Coincidence turned into storm clouds of suspicion when it was discovered that the particular cyanide used was an algae killer product that was used to clean aquariums. It just so happened that Stella had several aquariums in her home. Now the spotlight was shining brightly on Stella. The algae killer was traced to a store where the clerk remembered selling it to Stella and giving her instructions on how to use it. We’re guessing that those instructions were on how to use it to clean aquariums and not on how to kill your husband. With the focus of the investigation now completely on Stella, the FBI found two more insurance policies that Stella had taken out on the life of Bruce Nickell. Stella’s take would now be $175,000. Now remember that $100,000 of that would only be paid out if the death was considered accidental. Investigators now believed that Stella planted the cyanide laced bottles in the stores after Bruce’s death so that another death would cause the coroner to look again at Bruce’s autopsy. The plan worked. There was another death. It did cause the coroner to once again look at his autopsy results and those results did indicate cyanide poisoning. That, however, is where Stella’s luck ran out. Stella had a 27 year old daughter from a previous marriage. That daughter, Cindy Hamilton, now came forward with a story that would seal Stella’s fate. She informed the police that Stella had talked to her about knocking off her husband for the insurance money. She went on to say that Stella wanted them to be able to open their own tropical fish store with the insurance money. The FBI decided to take a closer look at the insurance documents and it was determined that Bruce’s signature on them was indeed a forgery.
Under the new federal laws that were put into place after the 1982 Tylenol murders in Chicago, Stella Nickell was found guilty of product tampering and sentenced to 90 years. She was the first woman convicted under the new product tampering laws put into place after the Tylenol murders. She is eligible for parole in 2018 at which time she will be 73 years old. If released the authorities still have the option of charging her with murder in the deaths of her husband and Sue Snow. Stella Nickell is serving out her time in the Federal Correctional Institute in Dublin, California.
Death in a Bottle: The Sudafed Murders
On the evening of February 2, 1991 a 911 call was placed from an apartment in Tumwater, Washington. The caller was Joseph Meling who reported that his wife Jennifer had just collapsed. When the paramedics arrived Joseph told them that Jennifer had taken the over the counter decongestant Sudafed just prior to collapsing. Jennifer was rushed to the hospital and survived. Doctors found traces of cyanide in her blood and immediately informed the police. Nine days later, 40 year old Kathleen Daneker died suddenly in Tacoma, Washington. The coroner found cyanide in her blood as well. A week after that, on February 18, Stanley McWhorter, 44, collapsed and died in Lacey, Washington. All of the dots were not connected until the beginning of March but when they were things began happening fast. Burroughs-Wellcome recalled all Sudafed products while the police and the FDA began removing all of the Sudafed products from all of the stores in the state of Washington. For their trouble they found one tainted capsule in a Pay n Save store in Tacoma. Victor Meo, a Seattle district investigator commented, “that is where we saved one life.” Two more packages were turned in to authorities and were found to have one tainted capsule in each package. Both had been turned in by people who had purchased them in Tacoma.
Investigators now began the process of interviewing the friends and families of the victims. It soon came to light that there had been problems in the Meling marriage. Je
nnifer’s co-workers told the police that Jennifer had been worried that Joseph was going to “put her head through the wall.” They began concentrating their attention on Joseph and soon learned that he had purchased a pound of sodium cyanide from the Emerald City Chemical Company in nearby Kent. Further investigation revealed that Joseph had recently taken out a life insurance policy on his wife which totaled $700,000. The district attorney now had his man and Joseph Meling was charged with two counts of product tampering causing death, four counts of product tampering with intent to cause bodily harm as well as three charges of insurance fraud. His wife filed for divorce but the couple reconciled during the trial and Jennifer even testified on behalf of the defence. It didn’t matter. Joseph Meling was found guilty and sentenced to life without parole. Meling has always claimed that he is innocent but his conviction was upheld in 1995 by a federal appeals court.
The Easter Sunday Murders
Scene of the Crime Page 9
