Here Are The Stories Behind The Unsolved Deaths Of Gay Men And Trans Women In Sydney

The Special Commission of Inquiry into unsolved anti-LGBTQI hate crime deaths in Sydney and NSW between 1970 and 2010, is scheduled to start hearing from witnesses on Monday, November 21, 2022.  Justice John Sackar will preside at the public hearing

Among those who will give oral evidence include historian Garry Wotherspoon, Sydney resident Les Peterkin, Bondi Badlands author Greg Callaghan, former Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby co-convenors Barry Charles, Bruce Grant, Dr Gary Cox, Carole Ruthchild, former ACON Beat outreach worker Ulo Klemmer and POLARE editor Eloise Brook. 

Trigger Warning: This story discusses anti-LGBTQI hate crimes, which might be distressing to some readers. For 24 hour crisis support and suicide prevention call Lifeline on 13 11 14. For Australia-wide LGBTQI peer support call QLife on 1800 184 527 or webchat.

“All of the deaths with which this Inquiry is concerned, many of them lonely and terrifying, were of people whose lives were tragically cut short. Many had also suffered discrimination or worse while alive. Some of the deaths were obviously murders, others may well have been,” Counsel Assisting the Inquiry Peter Gray said in his opening address earlier this month. “The response of the community, of society, of its institutions, to these deaths was sadly lacking.”

The Commission has indicated that it will look into the unsolved deaths, including the 88 that were considered by Stike Force Parrabell and has asked for anyone who might have information to come forward.

“If you have had something weighing on your mind for years about these things, now is your chance to do something to make some amends. Now is the time to break your silence,” said Gray.

“Justice in these cases has been long-delayed, and long-awaited. This may be the last chance for the truth about some of these historical deaths to be exposed. We need to hear from anyone who can help us do that.”

Here are some of the stories of gay men and trans women who were suspected to have been victims of anti-LGBTQI hate crimes in Sydney and NSW between 1970 and 2010.

Mark Stewart (18)

Local fishermen found 18-year-old Mark Stewart’s (formerly Mark Spanswick) body at the base of the cliffs between Shelly Beach and North Head, near Manly on May 11, 1976,

The area was a well-known gay beat and was also the site of several other gay hate deaths, including that of gay American mathematician Scott Johnson. 

Mark grew up in Fiji, where his father worked, before moving to New Zealand and then to Brisbane. He checked into the Hilton Hotel on George Street in Sydney on May 9, 1976. Not much is known of what happened between May 9 and the morning of May 11, 1976, when his body was found. 

A coroner’s inquest in July 1976 concluded that Mark had died of multiple injuries sustained as a result of falling from the clifftop. The coroner did not find evidence to rule if the death was accidental or intentional.

Paul Rath (27) 

Manly resident Paul Rath’s (27) body was found at the base of the cliffs near Shelly Beach, Manly on June 16, 1977. Paul was involved with the local Catholic Church and was last seen by one of his brothers at the family home a day before his body was found. 

According to his family, “Paul would often walk in the Shelly Beach area and he would sit at the clifftop in order to relax”. The cliffs near Sydney’s northern beaches were a well-known gay beat. 

The Coroner in 1977 concluded that Paul had accidentally fallen to his death. The Special Commission revealed that it “is anticipated that there will be evidence before the Inquiry which may indicate possible reasons to doubt the correctness of that finding. That evidence will include Paul’s body having been found in a crouching position, neatly wedged in some rocks about 20 metres or so from the base of the cliff, as well as evidence as to the nature of some of his injuries.”

Richard Slater (69)

Newcastle resident Richard Slater (69) died on December 22, 1980, at Newcastle Hospital from “significant head injuries” he suffered after he was attacked at a toilet block in Birdwood Park in central Newcastle three days earlier. 

The toilets were a well-known gay beat and there is a possibility he was attacked on the assumption that he was gay. A man was arrested for the attack in 1982, but the case never went to trial due to a lack of evidence. 

Gerald Cuthbert (27)

Gerald Cuthbert (27) was brutally stabbed to death at his former boyfriend’s apartment in Paddington Sydney on October 17 or 18, 1991. Cuthbert’s former boyfriend, who he remained friends with after their five-year relationship ended, was away that weekend. 

“Cuthbert’s injuries were inflicted by what looks to have been extreme and frenzied violence. He was stabbed more than 60 times and his throat was slit.”

Wendy Wain

Trans woman and drag performer Wendy Wain’s body was found by her friend on April 30, 1985. Wendy, who worked at a cabaret bar called Pete’s Beat on Oxford Street, was shot dead at close range at her apartment in King’s Cross. 

Gilles Mattaini

Gilles Mattaini, a French national living in Bondi was last seen by a neighbour near Marks Park, a well-known gay beat in Sydney, in September 1985. His body was never found and he was not reported missing until 2002. In 2005, a coroner determined that Mattaini was dead and was probably murdered. Mattaini worked at the Menzies Hotel in Sydney as a barman. 

The Bondi-Tamarama-Marks Park area is the site of many unsolved deaths of gay men that is being looked into by the Special Commission. 

William Antony Rooney (35)

William Antony Rooney (35) was originally from Scotland and lived with his partner Wayne Davis in Sydney. 

On February 13, 1986, Rooney and Davis went to Tattersalls Hotel in Wollongong, where they drank beer and then parted company around 10 pm. 

Rooney was found early next morning in Crown Lane lying between a toilet block and a wall, with blood oozing out of his mouth and from injuries on his face and head. He died on February 20, 1986, at Wollongong Hospital.

William Allen  (48)

Retired out gay school teacher William Allen was brutally bashed by a gang of unidentified men on the night of December 28, 1988, in Alexandria Park, a well-known gay beat. He managed to escape his attackers with the help of a passerby and made his way home where he was found dead the next day. 

In January 1990, eight teenagers – boys between 16 and 18, were charged with kicking and punching Richard Johnson to death. Dubbed ‘the Alexandria eight’, three of the boys were convicted of murder and five of manslaughter. The police did not find evidence to link the accused to Allen’s death.  

John Hughes (45)

Known to his friends as ‘Skinny John’, 45-year-old out gay man John Hughes was found brutally murdered in his apartment in the Kings Cross-Potts Point area. Though the death was caused by asphyxiation, his body was found bound with an electrical cord a pillowslip over his head, a belt tightened around his head, and multiple head injuries caused by a blunt object. 

Hughes’ sometime flatmate was charged with the murder and a witness testified that he had referred to Hughes as “a faggot” who “deserved to die”. A jury acquitted the accused, who is now dead. 

Ross Warren (25)

Ross Warren (25), a news presenter from Wollongong, was last seen driving along Oxford Street, Sydney’s iconic gaybourhood on July 22, 1989. Two days later his car keys were found on the rocks below the cliffs at Marks Park in Tamarama. His body was never found. 

In 2005, the Coroner described the police investigation as “grossly inadequate and shameful”. The Coroner found “Warren was a victim of homicide, probably by gay hate assailants”.

John Russell

Out gay Sydney resident John Russell worked as a barman at the Bronte Bowling Club. On November 22, 1989, Russell went to Bondi Hotel for farewell drinks with a friend and left the hotel around 11 pm. His body was found the next morning, lying on the rocks below the Bondi to Bronte walking path at Marks Park. The area was a well-known gay beat and the site of unsolved murders of other gay men. 

Photos of the crime scene showed human hairs, possibly from another person, on one of Russell’s hands. The hair was bagged for analysis but was lost and never forensically examined. 

In 2005, the Coroner concluded that Russell’s death was caused by “gay hate assailants”.

Simon Blair Wark

Out gay man Simon Blair Wark was last seen alive at Double Bay on January 9, 1990. The next day, his body was found floating off Dobroyd Point near Manly. 

The police ruled Wark’s death was a suicide. 

Robert Malcolm (41)

Robert Malcolm (41), worked at the GPO in Martin Place. Malcolm’s body was found in a pool of blood in the early hours of January 10, 1992, in a derelict house on Eveleigh Street. He died a few days later at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. 

The cause of death was head injuries. “Malcolm’s injuries were extremely severe, including complex fractures to the base of the skull and the right side of the face, damage to the right eye, deep lacerations to the face, broken and missing teeth, and a fractured rib,” the Commission said. 

Cyril Olsen (63) 

Out gay man Cyril Olsen (63) was seen by a witness, walking without his trousers or shoes, bleeding from his head and face “obviously distressed” and “dazed”. Olsen declined help saying he was ok. Minutes later his body was found floating face down in the water near the Cruising Yacht Club at Rushcutters Bay Park. 

The cause of death was drowning but the post-mortem “noted significant lacerations, abrasions and bruising, including a deep laceration, to the depth of the bone, on the top of his head.”

The police officer investigating the case told the Coroner that Olsen could have been a victim of a robbery or gay bashing. 

Kenneth Brennan (53)

Out gay history teacher Kenneth Brennan (53) was last seen attending the popular gay sauna Kingsteam Sauna on June 1995. The next day, Brennan’s partner of five years, who was staying at the home of a mutual friend, found his naked body at the entrance to the couple’s apartment in Elizabeth Bay. 

Brennan had been stabbed multiple times with a knife and had died of multiple stab wounds to his chest.

Carl Stockton (52)

Surry Hills resident Carl Stockton (52) was a closeted gay man. On November 6, 1996, he was found sitting in the backyard of a house that backed into the laneway behind Bar Cleveland in Redfern. He was a regular patron at the bar. 

The owners of the house helped him into the laneway. Around 1.15 am he was found lying on his back outside Bar Cleveland. He died in the hospital five days later. 

The autopsy revealed, “massive head injuries, with three separate areas of impact, as well as bruising on the legs, chest and arms.”

Scott Miller (21)

Footballer Scott Miller (21) moved from Orange to Sydney to study Sports Science at the University of Western Sydney.

Miller was at the annual Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras with friends on March 1, 1997, and later visited various pubs around The Rocks. 

On Monday, March 1, Miller’s body was found in a wharf area near Darling Harbour, at the base of a steep drop below a park in Miller’s Point. The coroner concluded that Miller’s death was a homicide and he had “died of multiple injuries inflicted by a person or persons unknown”.

Samantha Rose

Trans woman Samantha Rose worked as a computer analyst for Westpac Bank. Rose’s body was found at her Kensington home on the morning of December 22, 1997. 

There was no forced entry into to the unit, which indicated that Rose might have known her assailant. She had suffered injuries to her head, including fractures to the skull, “consistent with numerous heavy blows to the head with a blunt object”.

Crispin Dye (41)

Cairns resident and musician  Crispin Dye (41) was visiting his mother in Sydney for Christmas in 1993.

On December 22, 1993, Dye, the former manager of rock bands AC/DC and Rose Tattoo, was out drinking with friends in and around Oxford Street. The next morning around 4 am Dye was found lying on his stomach in the laneway behind Kinselas nightclub. He died in hospital two days later. 

 The autopsy found “multiple significant injuries, including fractures to the skull caused by a blunt instrument.”

If you have any information about the anti-gay and anti-trans hate crimes that occurred between 1970 and 2010 in NSW, you can contact:

• The Special Commission on its website
• Email [email protected] 
• write to The Special Commission of Inquiry into LGBTIQ Hate Crimes, GPO Box 5341, Sydney NSW 2001.

If you feel distressed reading the story, you can reach out to support services.

For 24 hour crisis support and suicide prevention call Lifeline on 13 11 14

For Australia-wide LGBTQI peer support call QLife on 1800 184 527 or webchat.