The Society Murders was the name given to the 4 April 2002 murders of husband and wife millionaire

Millionaire

A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. It can also be a person who owns one million units of currency in a bank account or savings account...

 socialite

Socialite

A socialite is a person who participates in social activities and spends a significant amount of time entertaining and being entertained at fashionable upper-class events....

s Margaret Mary Wales-King, 69, and husband, Paul Aloysius King, 75 in Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

, 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...

, by their son, Matthew Wales. The crime and subsequent trial received widespread media coverage throughout Australia and later became the subject of both a book and a television film.

Double murder

On April 4, 2002, the victims, Margaret Wales-King and her husband Paul King attended the home of Margaret's son and daughter-in-law, Matthew and Maritza Wales for a family dinner engagement. On the evening of the same day, Matthew Wales killed the couple by striking them to the back of the neck after drugging their soup to make them drowsy. Autopsies also indicated that the couple had been strangled. The couple were initially reported missing and on 10 April, their vehicle was found abandoned in Middle Park

Middle Park

Middle Park may refer to:*Middle Park, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne in Australia**Middle Park , a former football stadium located in Melbourne, Australia*Middle Park, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane in Australia...

. On 29 April, the couple’s bodies were discovered buried in bushland near Marysville, Victoria

Marysville, Victoria

Marysville is a small town, 34 kilometres north-east of Healesville, in the Shire of Murrindindi in Victoria, Australia. The town, which previously had a population of around 500 people, was devastated by the Murrindindi Mill bushfire on 7 February 2009. On 19 February 2009 the official death toll...

.

Confession and arrest

On 11 May, after confessing to police, Matthew Wales was charged with the murder of his mother and stepfather. His wife, Maritza, was charged with being an accessory after the fact to both the alleged murders. Wales had participated at the couple’s funeral just three days earlier and was photographed weeping and embracing his elder brother.

Guilty plea and sentencing

Matthew Wales pleaded guilty and was convicted of the murder of both Margaret Wales-King and Paul King. He was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment with a non-parole period of 24 years. The trial judge found Wales murdered the couple because he resented his mother for using her wealth to manipulate him. His wife pleaded guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice and received a two-year suspended sentence. She was found not to have played any part in the actual murders.

Book and film

In 2003, Melbourne barrister Hilary Bonney wrote a book about the murder entitled The Society Murders: The True Story of the Wales-King Murders. The book was later adapted as a television film, Society Murders for Network Ten

Network Ten

Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...

. It was written by Greg Haddrick

Greg Haddrick

Gregory Bevan Haddrick is an Australian-born Logie Award winning screenwriter and film and television producer....

 and Kylie Needham for the production company Screentime, it starred Georgie Parker

Georgie Parker

Georgina "Georgie" Parker is an Australian television actress. She grew up in the suburb of St. Ives.-Personal life:...

, Alex Dimitriades

Alex Dimitriades

Alex Dimitriades is a Greek Australian film and television actor.-Early life:Dimitriades was born in Sydney, the son of first generation Greek immigrants and is the youngest of three siblings . He grew up in the suburb of Earlwood...

, Matthew Le Nevez

Matthew Le Nevez

Matthew Le Nevez is an award-winning Australian actor.-Early life :Le Nevez was born in Canberra in 1978 and attended The French-Australian School, Telopea Park School and St Edmund's College, Canberra before accepted into NIDA aged 17...

, Terry Norris

Terry Norris (actor)

Terry Norris is an Australian actor who interrupted his career for 10 years with a stint in state politics.-Acting career:...

 and Julia Blake

Julia Blake

Julia Blake is a British-born actress based in Australia.Blake was born in London, England. She is married to Terry Norris. She is the mother of actresses Sarah and Jane Norris....

.

The book was written without co-operation from the Wales-King family and was based largely on court evidence and police documents.