| Port Arthur Massacre |
Article Index for Port Arthur |
Articles about Port Arthur Massacre |
Website Links For Port Arthur |
Information AboutPort Arthur Massacre |
|
The Port Arthur massacre is the name given to a murder spree that occurred on 28 April 1996 at the ruins of the Port Arthur Prison Colony , a popular historic tourist site in the town of Port Arthur in south-eastern Tasmania , Australia . The massacre resulted in the deaths of 35 people and the serious injury of 37 more. Martin Bryant , a 29-year-old from New Town , pleaded guilty to the crime and is currently serving a Life Sentence without possibility of parole in Risdon Prison . TIMELINE OF EVENTS The murder Spree began on the morning of April 28 1996 at the Seascape guesthouse north of Port Arthur, where Bryant murdered the elderly couple who owned the business. It is believed that Bryant's late father had earlier made several offers to purchase this guesthouse. After Bryant's father committed suicide, Martin Bryant seemed to believe that this refusal had caused his father to become depressed. After leaving the guesthouse, Bryant drove to another property and enquired after the owner, a Mrs Larner. She had also earlier declined to sell her farm to Bryant senior. Fortunately for Mrs Larner she was away when Bryant called. He then travelled to the nearby Port Arthur historic site where he paid for entry, and parked his car near the Broad Arrow café where he purchased a meal. He ate on a deck area outside the café. At around 1:30 PM Bryant re-entered the "Broad Arrow Cafe" and removed an AR15 rifle from his bag and commenced firing. Bryant rapidly fired 29 rounds, killing 22 people, 19 from head shots. Bryant then moved to the car park and fired at random people, killing several. He shot and killed the driver of one of the several tour buses parked side by side in the car park and three passengers, as well as several others who were taking cover in and around the buses. At some point Bryant swapped his AR15 for a FN FAL military rifle, kept in the boot of his car, where he also stored a magazine-fed shotgun. Bryant eventually drove his Volvo out of the carpark towards the park entrance. Along the way he left the car and, at point blank range, murdered a mother, Nanette Mikac and her two small children Alannah, 6, and Madeline, 3, who were trying to escape. Bryant then went to the tollbooth at the entrance to the historic site, held up the driver of a BMW at gunpoint, murdered the four occupants and drove the car towards the Seascape guesthouse. At a petrol station along the way he saw a Toyota with two occupants, a man and a woman. Bryant forced the man at gunpoint into the boot of the BMW, then shot the woman dead. He then drove the BMW on to the guesthouse, arriving a few minutes before 2:00 PM. Here he shot at several passing vehicles, injuring two more people. Bryant then released the man from the boot of the BMW, handcuffed him to a railing inside the guesthouse, and set the BMW on fire. Within two hours two Policemen approached the guesthouse but were pinned down in a roadside ditch for several hours. Six hours later a team from the Tasmanian Police Special Operations Group had arrived, and an 18-hour standoff ensued. CAPTURE AND PROSECUTION Bryant was captured the following morning when he set fire to the guesthouse and ran outside, his clothes on fire. It came to light that the man who was thought to be his hostage had been shot dead during or before the standoff. Bryant initially pleaded not guilty to the 35 murders but after the prosecution began presenting evidence, changed his plea to guilty. He is now serving a sentence of life imprisonment in Hobart's Risdon Prison without possibility of parole. In Australian terms his prison papers are marked "Never to be Released". Australians reacted to the event with widespread shock and horror, and the political effects were significant and long-lasting. Both federal and state governments, some of which (notably Tasmania itself and Queensland ) were opposed to Firearm Control , quickly took action to restrict the availability of firearms. Under Federal Government co-ordination all States And Territories Of Australia banned and heavily restricted the legal ownership and use of self-loading rifles, self-loading shotguns and pump-action shotguns together with a considerable tightening of other gun laws. Family members of victims, notably Walter Mikac (who lost his wife and two children), spoke out in favour of the changes. Much discussion has occurred as to the level of Bryant's by a psychiatrist appointed by the Crown (prosecution), Dr Sale, but this diagnosis was disputed by Prof Mullen, a forensic psychiatrist working with Bryant's defence team {Link without Title} . Bryant was assessed as fit to stand trial as a mentally competent adult. There were no indications that he could be regarded as criminally insane at the time of the offences; as he clearly knew what he was doing (of his own free will), and that it was wrong. See the M'Naghten Rules . After Bryant's imprisonment, several other prisoners boasted of their intention to murder him in jail. For his own safety, Bryant was held in near- Solitary Confinement in a specially built cell from his sentencing in November 1996 until July 1997 . His motivation for the massacre remains a closely-guarded secret known only to his lawyer, who is bound not to reveal confidences without his client's consent. Martin Bryant is only allowed to listen to music on a radio outside his cell, and is denied access to any news reports of his massacre. Photographers allowed in to take pictures of him in his prison cell were forced to destroy the film in his presence when the Governor found out. Interviewers lie to him that they are not talking about him.[http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/bbing/stories/s10603.htm Some news media (such as Seven News , and the Sydney '' Daily Telegraph '') report that people who observed the 10th anniversary memorial deliberately pretended to suffer from " Amnesia ", forgetting the gunman responsible for the massacre, Martin Bryant. AFTERMATH AND ANALYSIS The Port Arthur tourist site reopened a few weeks later, and since then a new restaurant has been built. The former Broad Arrow Cafe has been converted into a "place for quiet reflection", and the surrounding grounds converted into a Memorial garden. The massacre at Port Arthur created a tragic kinship with the Scottish town of Dunblane , which had suffered A Similarly Horrific Event only weeks previously. The two communities exchanged items to place at their respective memorials. The defense psychiatrist in the case has revealed that the Dunblane massacre was a trigger in Bryant's mind for the Port Arthur Massacre. {Link without Title} Alternative theories A range of Conspiracy Theories have emerged providing alternative explanations about the massacre. Most theories suggest that Bryant was not acting alone, or that the Government Of Australia ordered secret agents to conduct the massacre. The most prominent advocate of these conspiracy theories was the late John F. Kennedy . {Link without Title} These alternative theories have generally been discredited by the mainstream media and the authorities as utterly ridiculous and without foundation. The , One Nation leader Pauline Hanson caused controversy when she claimed that the Commonwealth had ruled out "a full investigation" when "a lot of people are asking questions" about Port Arthur. {Link without Title} SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|