46 Saturday April 9 2022 | the times
Wo r l d
A cantankerous Irishman whose dis-
appearance placed everyone in his
feuding Outback town under suspicion
was probably killed by a neighbour, a
coroner has ruled.
Paddy Moriarty, 70, who was fond of
a drink and was often spoiling for a
fight, had rowed for years with most of
the 11 other inhabitants of the remote
village of Larrimah, 300 miles south of
Darwin, in Australia’s far north.
The case provided a rare glimpse of
life in the interior, with all the residents
asked in court what they knew about
the former rodeo rider’s disappearance.
His enemies included Fran Hodgetts,
a wild buffalo pie-maker, who had
signed a court-ordered mediation let-
ter agreeing to smile and wave at Mori-
arty but otherwise ignore him. Hodg-
etts had accused Moriarty of dragging
dead kangaroos under her house, poi-
soning her plants and telling travellers
that not even his dog Kellie would eat
her pies.
This week police revealed that Hodg-
etts’s partner, Owen Laurie, a former
boxer, had been secretly recorded say-
ing that he had “killerated old Paddy”.
Moriarty, a single labourer who mi-
grated to Australia in the 1960s and
worked across the Outback, was last
seen on the evening of December 16,
2017, after downing eight beers in Larri-
mah’s one-room Pink Panther bar. He
JOHN LAMPARSKI/GETTY IMAGESOutback neighbour admits he
‘killerated’ Irish troublemaker
rode his motorised quad bike to his
home, across the road from Hodgetts,
then vanished, along with Kellie.
The police considered all the resi-
dents who remained to be potential sus-
pects, with special attention falling on
three with whom Moriarty was known
to have clashed with in the days before
he disappeared.
A Darwin magistrate conducting a
long-awaited coronial inquiry rejected
theories that Moriarty had suffered
misadventure, such as being killed by a
snake, falling into the cage of SneakySam, the town’s captive crocodile, or
getting lost. Instead Greg Cavanagh,
the coroner, said Moriarty was most
probably killed by his neighbours. “In
my opinion, Paddy was killed in the
context of and likely due to the ongoing
feud he had with his nearest neigh-
bours,” he said.
He noted that it was certain Moriarty
had arrived home safely from the bar
because his wallet and the hat he habit-
ually wore were in his house.
Cavanagh said it was likely Moriarty
later ventured outside again with his
dog to vandalise Hodgetts’s garden.“There is no evidence as to where he
went. However, it is likely that the new
plants at Fran’s place were of some
attraction,” the coroner said. He did not
identify Moriarty’s attacker.
The recordings released this week by
Northern Territory police came from a
listening device placed in Laurie’s living
quarters after Moriarty vanished.
He had previously admitted having
an altercation with Moriarty days
before his disappearance and warning
that: “If anyone touches my plants, it’ll
be the first murder in Larrimah.”
On the secret recordings, Laurie is
heard talking to himself while strum-
ming his guitar. “I killerated old Paddy... I struck him on the head and killerat-
ed him... struck him on the head and
killerated him, basherated him. Doof,”
he said.
“You killed Paddy up the bum...
doomed him on the head, donged him
on the head... smacked him on the
nostrils with me claw hammer.”
The song was laden with expletives.
Laurie, appearing before the coroner,
initially denied that the recordings
were of him but then declined to com-
ment further, citing his right to avoid
self-incrimination. “I didn’t say that. I
remain silent. I didn’t say that,” he
yelled.
The coroner referred the case to the
director of public prosecutions, who
will decide if anybody should be
prosecuted in relation to Moriarty’s
disappearance.
Australia
Bernard Lagan Sydney
Sheer artistry A model hides in plain sight at Luchen’s fall/winter New York showPaddy Moriarty
feuded with his
neighbours in
Larrimah for years