Silk-Miller police murders - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Silk-Miller murders (also known as the Moorabbin Police murders) was the name given to the murders of Victoria Police

Victoria Police

Victoria Police is the primary law enforcement agency of Victoria, Australia. , the Victoria Police has over 12,190 sworn members, along with over 400 recruits, reservists and Protective Service Officers, and over 2,900 civilian staff across 393 police stations.-Early history:The Victoria Police...

Officers Sergeant Gary Silk and Senior Constable Rodney Miller in Cochranes Road, Moorabbin, Victoria

Moorabbin, Victoria

Moorabbin is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 15 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Kingston. At the 2006 Census, Moorabbin had a population of 5,170....

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

on 16 August 1998.

On the night of the murders, the Police Officers were staking out the Silky Emperor Restaurant near the corner of Cochranes and Warrigal Roads, Moorabbin at approximately midnight when they were gunned down at close range.

Operation Lorimer

Police investigations into the murders were named Operation Lorimer. Victorian Police Minister Andre Haermeyer

Andre Haermeyer

Andre Haermeyer is an Australian politician. He was the Australian Labor Party member for Kororoit in the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 2002, prior to that representing the Yan Yean electorate in Melbourne's north from 1992.Before being elected to Parliament, Haermeyer worked for the...

announced an A$500,000 reward for information on the murders, and later said he would consider increasing the reward.

Evidence left at the scene of the crime included pieces of glass, suspected to be from the getaway car used by the killers. Police tested this glass and discovered it came from a late model

Late model

A "late model car" is a car which has been recently designed or manufactured, often the latest model. The term is broadly used in car racing, and often appears in common use, as in "The officer was driving an unmarked, late model sedan."There is no precise...

Hyundai

Hyundai Motor Company

Hyundai Motor Company is a Korean multinational automaker based in Seoul, South Korea which, along with Kia, comprises the Hyundai Kia Automotive Group, the world's fourth largest automaker as of 2009. As of 2011, it is the world's fastest growing automaker for two years running...

hatchback. After extensive investigations, which took the team to the Hyundai factory in South Korea

South Korea

The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

to obtain vital prosecution evidence, Police narrowed down the exact make and model of the vehicle involved in the shootings from the glass samples. The vehicle was registered to the daughter of known criminal, Bandali Debs

Bandali Debs

Bandali Michael Debs is an Australian murderer, currently serving two consecutive terms of life imprisonment for the murder of two Victoria Police officers in August, 1998. Debs is currently detained at HM Prison Barwon.-Personal life:...

Arrests

On 24 September 2001, Bandali Debs

Bandali Debs

, a father of five from Narre Warren, Victoria

Narre Warren, Victoria

Narre Warren is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 42 km south east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Casey. At the 2006 Census, Narre Warren had a population of 25,667. Narre Warren has a population density of over 2000 people per square...

and Jason Roberts, an apprentice builder

Construction worker

A construction worker or builder is a professional, tradesman, or labourer who directly participates in the physical construction of infrastructure.-Construction trades:...

, of Cranbourne, Victoria

Cranbourne, Victoria

Cranbourne is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 43 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Casey. At the 2006 Census, Cranbourne had a population of 14,750....

faced charges relating to the murders of Silk and Miller as well as 13 other charges of armed robbery relating to offences alleged to have occurred between March and July 1998.

Guilty verdict

Debs and Roberts were found guilty of the murders and sentenced to life imprisonment

Life imprisonment

Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...

. Both are currently serving their sentence with time spent at maximum security Victorian prisons HM Prison Barwon

HM Prison Barwon

HM Prison Barwon is a maximum security Australian prison located at 1140 Bacchus Marsh Road, 6 km from the township of Lara, , Victoria, Australia. Barwon provides accommodation and services for maximum security mainstream prisoners including a 20-bed facility for high security prisoners and a...

and Port Phillip Prison

Port Phillip Prison

Port Phillip Prison is a maximum security prison located at Truganina, Victoria, Australia. It is Victoria's largest prison, able to accommodate up to 824 prisoners. The prison is privately operated on behalf of the Government of Victoria by G4S Australia Pty Ltd.-Construction and...

Aftermath

Former Police Officer Joe D'Alo was a member of the task force investigating the shootings. He left the Force and authored a controversial book titled One Down, One Missing (ISBN 1-74066-141-9) about the crime. Assistant Commissioner of Crime, Simon Overland

Simon Overland

Simon Overland APM is the former Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police in Australia. He previously worked with the Australian Federal Police, and then with Victoria Police, focusing on Melbourne's gangland wars. On 2 March 2009 he was named by Premier John Brumby as Victoria Police Chief...

said of the book,

"Victoria Police does not endorse or support this book. We were only told of the book after it had been written and the deal finalised with the publisher. We're extremely disappointed that a serving Police Officer would be involved in this publication without the knowledge or support of many of his task force colleagues."

In May 2007, Debs was convicted of a third murder of an intellectually handicapped teenager named Kristy Mary Harty in Upper Beaconsfield around June 1997. This led to his term in prison being without the possibility of parole.

Australian Rules Football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

clubs Hawthorn

Hawthorn Football Club

The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League . The club, founded in 1902, is the youngest of the Victorian-based teams in the AFL. The team play in Brown & Gold vertically striped guernseys...

and St Kilda have played off for the Blue Ribbon Cup since 1999. The cup is dedicated to those who have lost their lives while on duty. The best player from the match receives the Silk-Miller Medal. Both men were passionate supporters of the sport. This annual game ensures that the legacy of the two men continues to live on in the lives of Victorians.

External links

DPP v Debs & Roberts [2003 VSC 30 (24 February 2003)]
Blue Ribbon Day
Victoria Police

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Operation Lorimer

Arrests

Guilty verdict

Aftermath

See also

External links