Douglas Crabbe
Encyclopedia
Douglas John Edward Crabbe (born 1947) is an Australia
n murderer currently imprisoned in Perth
for a multiple murder which occurred when he drove his 25-tonne Mack truck into the crowded bar of a motel at the base of Uluru
, on 18 August 1983. Five people were killed and sixteen seriously injured.
and began driving at the age of 14.
In February 1983 Crabbe was arrested and charged for assaulting a car load of youths at a service station
near Tennant Creek. The youths were harassing the service station's console operator and also provoked Crabbe, who retaliated by jumping up and down on the bonnet
of the victim's car.
On 24 March 1983, Crabbe attended a country and western function in Curtin Springs and became involved in two fights involving police. During Crabbe's later murder trial a witness testified that on his second ejection from the Curtin Springs establishment Crabbe was informed he was barred, to which he replied "If that's the case, I'll drive my truck through the pub." Crabbe denied that he had said this.
. It was on the eastern side of the rock, a few minutes walk from the camp site from which Azaria Chamberlain disappeared in 1980 but which had closed by August 1983. Crabbe, then aged 36, walked behind the bar and confronted bar staff before being involved in a fight and being ejected from the premises at 12.30am.
He then walked approximately 500 metres to his parked Mack truck, and drove it to the nearby Uluru Motel, where he unhitched one of two attached trailers
. Crabbe then drove the truck and one trailer back to the Inland Motel. According to witness Martin Fisher:
"Crabbe then maneuvered the 25 ton Semi and trailer, at speed, around a blind bend, through a car park, around a minibus
, turned and drove it through the Besser brick wall into the crowded bar, crushing the people there. Leaving the engine running, he then got out of the truck, smiled down at one of his victims, stepped over some bodies and ran. This was at 1.10am. It had been 40 minutes between being thrown out and driving the truck into the bar. He was captured the next morning walking out of the bush 22 kilometres away."
It was estimated that fewer than 50 people were in the bar at the time of the crash. Many of the customers were construction workers from the nearby resort project of Yulara, which was being constructed to replace the Inland Motel and two neighbouring motels to allow the ground around Uluru to revert to its natural state.
Witnesses likened the impact of the truck hitting the motel to that of a bomb exploding. The truck had penetrated the building to the length of one trailer. The truck remained in place after impact, and was the only thing holding up the building's roof. After the crash the dining room adjacent to the bar became an emergency clinic for the injured. Four people were killed instantly in the crash. A fifth person died in a hospital in Alice Springs, Northern Territory
after surgeons worked for five and a half hours to save her life. The 35 year old woman had sustained severe internal injuries.
Crabbe's capture occurred at the Yulara Tourist Village construction site after a search by police and Aboriginal trackers. The Yulara settlement is a distance of several kilometres from the former site of the Inland Motel. William Hugh O'Neill, the catering manager from the Yulara Construction Camp, testified that he found Crabbe walking towards him near the construction camp on the morning of 18 August. Crabbe waited with O'Neill for police to arrive, asking the extent of the damage to the motel. Crabbe was informed by O'Neill that at least four people had died, including "one of my boys from the kitchen".
, from which the officer who took the video said many of the dead had been pulled. Crabbe, charged with five counts of murder at the hearing, sat expressionless as the video was shown.
Ronald Slinn, a building manager from Yulara, told the court he was hit by the truck, jamming his left leg under the front axle. He managed to drag himself out and found his 45-year-old wife Patricia Slinn half underneath with her face downward; she had been killed instantly. A motel guest testified he saw a man, later identified from police photographs as Crabbe, running as if fleeing something. The man told the guest "Okay mate, I'm not going any further. I've gone far enough." After leaving to get help the guest found that the man had disappeared.
At the trial in March 1984 a witness testified that Crabbe had been rude and aggressive in the bar. This witness reported she had later seen Crabbe on the floor of the bar, being held down by three men. A second witness corroborated that a man had been involved in a scuffle with three men. The witness testified that after the truck crashed into the bar he saw the man who had been involved in the scuffle leave the truck's cabin and exit "very quickly" towards the rear of the truck via the gaping hole the truck left in the side of the building. The witness had been knocked down by the truck.
Crabbe offered no reason for his actions. At trial he pleaded memory loss from his removal of the second trailer until waking to the sound of the truck's exhaust amid the damaged bar room after impact. He was convicted of all five counts of murder by a jury. The judge sentenced him to the mandatory term of life imprisonment
on each count of murder, each term to run consecutively. Asked if he had anything to say, Crabbe replied "No, nothing." Crabbe later appealed to the High Court of Australia
, which found that the judge at the original trial had erred in his summing up to the jury and the convictions were set aside and a retrial ordered.
Crabbe pleaded not guilty at his second trial which was held in the Darwin, Northern Territory
Supreme Court
in 1985. This trial concluded on 7 October 1985 when a second jury convicted him on all five counts of murder. Crabbe was again sentenced to five consecutive terms of life imprisonment with a thirty-year minimum (the longest in the Northern Territory's history) backdated to 18 August 1983, the day of the murders and his arrest, to be served at the Alice Springs Correctional Centre.
In early 2005, Crabbe was moved to a prison in Perth, Western Australia after strong pleas from his family, including his sister, Flo. Crabbe will be eligible for release on parole on 18 August 2013 at the age of 66; if he is paroled, he will be on parole for the rest of his life.
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...
n murderer currently imprisoned in Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
for a multiple murder which occurred when he drove his 25-tonne Mack truck into the crowded bar of a motel at the base of Uluru
Uluru
Uluru , also known as Ayers Rock, is a large sandstone rock formation in the southern part of the Northern Territory, central Australia. It lies south west of the nearest large town, Alice Springs; by road. Kata Tjuta and Uluru are the two major features of the Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park....
, on 18 August 1983. Five people were killed and sixteen seriously injured.
Early life
Crabbe worked as a truck driverTruck driver
A truck driver , is a person who earns a living as the driver of a truck, usually a semi truck, box truck, or dump truck.Truck drivers provide an essential service to...
and began driving at the age of 14.
In February 1983 Crabbe was arrested and charged for assaulting a car load of youths at a service station
Filling station
A filling station, also known as a fueling station, garage, gasbar , gas station , petrol bunk , petrol pump , petrol garage, petrol kiosk , petrol station "'servo"' in Australia or service station, is a facility which sells fuel and lubricants...
near Tennant Creek. The youths were harassing the service station's console operator and also provoked Crabbe, who retaliated by jumping up and down on the bonnet
Hood (vehicle)
The hood or bonnet is the hinged cover over the engine of motor vehicles that allows access to the engine compartment for maintenance and repair. In British terminology, hood refers to a fabric cover over the passenger compartment of the car...
of the victim's car.
On 24 March 1983, Crabbe attended a country and western function in Curtin Springs and became involved in two fights involving police. During Crabbe's later murder trial a witness testified that on his second ejection from the Curtin Springs establishment Crabbe was informed he was barred, to which he replied "If that's the case, I'll drive my truck through the pub." Crabbe denied that he had said this.
The multiple murder
On the evening of 18 August 1983, Crabbe spent an hour at the Inland Motel bar before being refused service for intoxication. The bar was part of the Inland Motel, a short distance from the base of UluruUluru
Uluru , also known as Ayers Rock, is a large sandstone rock formation in the southern part of the Northern Territory, central Australia. It lies south west of the nearest large town, Alice Springs; by road. Kata Tjuta and Uluru are the two major features of the Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park....
. It was on the eastern side of the rock, a few minutes walk from the camp site from which Azaria Chamberlain disappeared in 1980 but which had closed by August 1983. Crabbe, then aged 36, walked behind the bar and confronted bar staff before being involved in a fight and being ejected from the premises at 12.30am.
He then walked approximately 500 metres to his parked Mack truck, and drove it to the nearby Uluru Motel, where he unhitched one of two attached trailers
Road train
A road train or roadtrain is a trucking concept used in remote areas of Argentina, Australia, Mexico, the United States and Canada to move freight efficiently. The term "road train" is most often used in Australia. In the U.S. and Canada the terms "triples," "turnpike doubles" and "Rocky Mountain...
. Crabbe then drove the truck and one trailer back to the Inland Motel. According to witness Martin Fisher:
"Crabbe then maneuvered the 25 ton Semi and trailer, at speed, around a blind bend, through a car park, around a minibus
Minibus
A minibus or minicoach is a passenger carrying motor vehicle that is designed to carry more people than a multi-purpose vehicle or minivan, but fewer people than a full-size bus. In the United Kingdom, the word "minibus" is used to describe any full-sized passenger carrying van. Minibuses have a...
, turned and drove it through the Besser brick wall into the crowded bar, crushing the people there. Leaving the engine running, he then got out of the truck, smiled down at one of his victims, stepped over some bodies and ran. This was at 1.10am. It had been 40 minutes between being thrown out and driving the truck into the bar. He was captured the next morning walking out of the bush 22 kilometres away."
It was estimated that fewer than 50 people were in the bar at the time of the crash. Many of the customers were construction workers from the nearby resort project of Yulara, which was being constructed to replace the Inland Motel and two neighbouring motels to allow the ground around Uluru to revert to its natural state.
Witnesses likened the impact of the truck hitting the motel to that of a bomb exploding. The truck had penetrated the building to the length of one trailer. The truck remained in place after impact, and was the only thing holding up the building's roof. After the crash the dining room adjacent to the bar became an emergency clinic for the injured. Four people were killed instantly in the crash. A fifth person died in a hospital in Alice Springs, Northern Territory
Alice Springs, Northern Territory
Alice Springs is the second largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Popularly known as "the Alice" or simply "Alice", Alice Springs is situated in the geographic centre of Australia near the southern border of the Northern Territory...
after surgeons worked for five and a half hours to save her life. The 35 year old woman had sustained severe internal injuries.
Crabbe's capture occurred at the Yulara Tourist Village construction site after a search by police and Aboriginal trackers. The Yulara settlement is a distance of several kilometres from the former site of the Inland Motel. William Hugh O'Neill, the catering manager from the Yulara Construction Camp, testified that he found Crabbe walking towards him near the construction camp on the morning of 18 August. Crabbe waited with O'Neill for police to arrive, asking the extent of the damage to the motel. Crabbe was informed by O'Neill that at least four people had died, including "one of my boys from the kitchen".
Trials
At an October 1983 court hearing a police video taken on 18 August 1983 was shown to the court. It showed the bodies of the four people killed instantly - two men and two women - in the make shift mortuary set up at the back of the motel. It also showed the damage to the bar area of the motel, with clothes and boots embedded in the ground under the truck and near its bloodstained bull barBull bar
A bullbar is a device fitted to the front of a vehicle to protect it and its passengers from damage in a collision with an animal. They vary considerably in size and form, and are usually made of welded steel or aluminium tubing, and, more recently, moulded polycarbonate and polyethylene materials...
, from which the officer who took the video said many of the dead had been pulled. Crabbe, charged with five counts of murder at the hearing, sat expressionless as the video was shown.
Ronald Slinn, a building manager from Yulara, told the court he was hit by the truck, jamming his left leg under the front axle. He managed to drag himself out and found his 45-year-old wife Patricia Slinn half underneath with her face downward; she had been killed instantly. A motel guest testified he saw a man, later identified from police photographs as Crabbe, running as if fleeing something. The man told the guest "Okay mate, I'm not going any further. I've gone far enough." After leaving to get help the guest found that the man had disappeared.
At the trial in March 1984 a witness testified that Crabbe had been rude and aggressive in the bar. This witness reported she had later seen Crabbe on the floor of the bar, being held down by three men. A second witness corroborated that a man had been involved in a scuffle with three men. The witness testified that after the truck crashed into the bar he saw the man who had been involved in the scuffle leave the truck's cabin and exit "very quickly" towards the rear of the truck via the gaping hole the truck left in the side of the building. The witness had been knocked down by the truck.
Crabbe offered no reason for his actions. At trial he pleaded memory loss from his removal of the second trailer until waking to the sound of the truck's exhaust amid the damaged bar room after impact. He was convicted of all five counts of murder by a jury. The judge sentenced him to the mandatory term of 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...
on each count of murder, each term to run consecutively. Asked if he had anything to say, Crabbe replied "No, nothing." Crabbe later appealed to the High Court of Australia
High Court of Australia
The High Court of Australia is the supreme court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia. It has both original and appellate jurisdiction, has the power of judicial review over laws passed by the Parliament of Australia and the parliaments of the States, and...
, which found that the judge at the original trial had erred in his summing up to the jury and the convictions were set aside and a retrial ordered.
Crabbe pleaded not guilty at his second trial which was held in the Darwin, Northern Territory
Darwin, Northern Territory
Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...
Supreme Court
Supreme court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of many legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, instance court, judgment court, high court, or apex court...
in 1985. This trial concluded on 7 October 1985 when a second jury convicted him on all five counts of murder. Crabbe was again sentenced to five consecutive terms of life imprisonment with a thirty-year minimum (the longest in the Northern Territory's history) backdated to 18 August 1983, the day of the murders and his arrest, to be served at the Alice Springs Correctional Centre.
In early 2005, Crabbe was moved to a prison in Perth, Western Australia after strong pleas from his family, including his sister, Flo. Crabbe will be eligible for release on parole on 18 August 2013 at the age of 66; if he is paroled, he will be on parole for the rest of his life.