61 Year Old Husband Kills Wife in Greenvale

Crime:  Murder
Occurred:  1 February 2010
Sentenced:  4 February 2011
Where: Family home in Greenvale
Convicted: Omer Bayram
Victim:  Sirin Bayram

What happened?
After a marriage that lasted almost 25 years, Omer and Sirin were separated but continued to live in the same house, despite increasing hostility.  Omer offered Sirin $250,000 as a full property settlement, but the marital pool was worth far more and Sirin was adamant that she wanted at least half the assets and this would involve the sale of the family home.  One Monday morning, Omer and Sirin argued in the kitchen about selling the house.  Omer grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed Sirin five times in the chest and thigh.  She died soon after of blood loss. About half an hour later Omer rang 000 to tell the authorities that he had killed his wife.

Sirin on the right

Victim's background
Sirin was born in Cyprus and was 50 years old when she was killed.  She came to Australia in 1985, pregnant with her first child, and had two children in total (now aged 24 and 22).  She worked full time at Ericsson as a factory hand and clerk, contributing towards the house repayments and family savings.  Two days before her death she told her brother that she had found a new house in Epping she was going to buy, and was packing her things to begin a new life.

Convicted's background
Omer was the son of a shepherd, born in Cyprus and one of seven children.  He moved to Australia at the age of 23 after a stint in the British Amy in Libya.  He was 61 when he killed his wife.  Working nightshift at Dunlop rubber while his wife worked day shift, the two never saw each other much throughout their marriage.  In 2008, the Dunlop tyre plant closed down and Omer purchased a taxi licence.  As a member of the Craigieburn Art Group, two members provided character references at his sentencing hearing, stating that he was a gentleman.  He has no prior convictions.  His children were initially supportive of him when he was first arrested (visiting him in remand) but since then there has been a falling out over financial matters.

Outcome of trial: Omer pleaded guilty to murder and a trial was not required.

Sentence:  16 years before eligible for parole (19 max).  Omer has already served over a year of his sentence in remand.

You can read the judgement here.  Media coverage is available here and here.

Non-Payment of $2000 Debt Costs Life

A heroin addict was killed during an argument over money owed.

Crime:  Manslaughter

Occurred:  13 June 2004

Sentenced: 4 February 2011

Where: Convicted's home - not identified (body found in Thomastown)

Convicted: Bassam Tiba

Victim: Richard Haddara


What happened?
Richard owed Bassam's brother, Zain, some money.  Richard accepted $2000 in exchange for supplying electrical equipment, but never provided the equipment or returned the money.

On Sunday 13 June 2004, at Bassam's residence, Bassam had an argument with Richard over the money and stabbed him once in the chest, which pierced his heart and killed him.  Bassam put Richard in the back of Richard's car and drove it over to Zain's house, who jumped in the car and urged Bassam to go to the hospital.  Bassam drove in that direction but decided to dump the car at a carpark in Thomastown instead. He travelled on foot to another brother's house (Mohammed) and the next day flew out of Australia with his family, using Mohammed's passport.  He was extradited from Honiara in the Solomon Islands in December 2008.

Victim's background
Richard was a heroin addict who met Bassam in prison.  Before his death he was avoiding Bassam and his brother and was either unwilling or unable to pay back the debt owing.

Convicted's background
Bassam was born in Lebanon and came to Australia at the age of 12 with his parents and seven siblings.  He left Preston Tech after completing Year 10.  In 2000 he was imprisoned for four years and six months (before eligible for parole), for savagely beating his wife with a hose and a metal tipped cane.  His wife stayed loyal and waited for him while he was in prison.  He was out on parole for a month when he stabbed Richard to death.  After the killing he fled to Lebanon and then Egypt, working as an English teacher with his wife.  When he is released from prison he wants to return to his wife and children who remain in Egypt.  Currently in restrictive custody, he has been confined to his cell for 18 hours a day since May 2010, following an incident in prison involving other members of the Haddara family.

Outcome of trial: Bassam was originally indicted for murder, but once the charge was changed to manslaughter he pleaded guilty so there was no need for a trial.

Sentence:  6 years and 6 months before eligible for parole (max 10 years).

You can read the judgement here.  This killing has taken place in the midst of family feuding in the northern and western suburbs (major players including the Haddaras, Bibas and Chaouks).  You can read about it here, here and here.  The death toll points to another major gang war currently playing out around us.

Three Year Old Killed in Lalor

A three year old boy died in the back of a car boot.

Crime:  Manslaughter
Occurred:  4 March 2010
Sentenced:  2 February 2011
Where: Lalor area
Convicted:  Gursewak Dhillon
Victim:  Gurshan Singh

What happened?
Gursewak and his family lived with another family at 28 David Street in Lalor.  At around 11.30am on a Thursday morning, he opened a door without realising that Gurshan Singh, a three year old son of the other family, was on the other side.  The door struck the boy in the head and knocked him unconscious.  Gursewak, who had outstanding immigration violations, was scared that he would get in serious trouble from migration authorities if the police or ambulance attended the house.  He put the boy in the boot of his car and drove around the area for two hours, in which time the Gurshan either suffered from fatal heatstroke (the boot would have reached temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius) or asphyxiated.  At one stage Gursewak drove past the Northern Hospital but did not stop in.  He eventually ran out of petrol and flagged down a lift to the petrol station from a motorist while the boy remained in the boot. At this stage he checked the boot to see that Gurshan was no longer alive.  He dumped the corpse in long grass at Oaklands Junction, near Melbourne Airport.  A truck driver discovered the body at 6:20 that same evening.  Meanwhile, Gursewak returned to David Street where he denied any knowledge of the boy's whereabouts until three days later.

Gurshan and his mother

Victim's background
When Gurshan was discovered missing, a statewide campaign was launched to look for the three year old child.  When he was struck by Gursewak his mother was in the shower and his father was at the local library.  Since arriving in Australia two months beforehand, Gurshan was at times sick from the Melbourne heat.  On the day of his death he had not eaten anything.  His parents expressed their devastation through a victim impact statement which was considered in the judge's sentence.  They have returned home to India.


Convicted's background
Gursewak was 24 years old when he killed Gurshan.  He grew up in India and came to Australia on a student visa in 2006.  Gursewak did not complete his studies (which may have led to his immigration problems) and found work as a courier and taxi driver instead.  His wife and daughter lived with him in Melbourne for a time but are now in India.  

28 David Street Lalor where the initial incident occurred

Outcome of trial: Gursewark pleaded guilty before his committal hearing so a trial was not necessary.  He did not apply for bail while awaiting sentencing.




Sentence:   Three years before eligible for parole (five years max).  He has already served nearly one year of his sentence in remand.  Upon being freed he will be deported back to India.

You can read the judgement here.  Media coverage is available here and here.

Where the body was found

Glenroy Man Beaten and Set Alight

A 48 year old man was beaten in his boarding home and later set alight.

Crime:  Intentionally causing serious injury (victim later died)
Occurred:  8 March 2009
Sentenced:  2 February 2011
Where: 116 Loongana Avenue, Glenroy
Convicted:  Darryl McHarg and Wayne Arthur
Victim: Shaun Moloney

What happened?
Darryl McHarg and his girlfriend, Wayne Arthur and Shaun Moloney all lived in a boarding house together.  Darryl and Wayne formed the belief that Shaun had sexually assaulted Darryl's girlfriend's son (although there was no basis for this belief).  They entered his room in the early hours of 8 March and, after a heated argument, beat him unconscious, punching him in the abdomen, face and head.  Believing him to be dead, they put him in the back of a car and drove him out to an empty suburban block in Strathmore and set him on fire, this act ultimately killing him.  At the time of the attack Shaun had a blood alcohol reading of 0.51% and the pathologist speculated this also could have contributed to his death.

Shaun Moloney shortly before his death

Shaun Moloney in 1987

Victim's background
Shaun Moloney was 46 years old when he was killed. He used to work for Ansett and travelled the world.  Following the death of a close friend he spiralled into depression.  He was known to frequent pubs around the Pascoe Vale area and was described by an investigating police officer as someone who 'certainly...liked a beer'.  Described by family as friendly and generous, he lived on a disability pension but freely loaned people money.

Wayne's background
Wayne was 49 at the time of the attack.  He was raised in Melbourne and had three siblings.  He caught meningitis as a child and developed treatment-resistant epilepsy, which contributed to his social isolation in adulthood while he lived on a disability pension. He had one previous conviction for intentionally or recklessly causing injury and resisting police. He is single with no children.

Darryl's background

Darryl was 30 years at the time of the attack.  He was born to a 16 year old mother and his father was killed in a motorcycle gang fight when Darryl was six.  At the age of three he was a subject in pornographic photographs and was sexually abused throughout the rest of his childhood.  His list of abusers included his grandmother.  He left school before completing Year 8 and began using a range of drugs including heroin.  He has a series of prior convictions in three different states including assault, threatening to kill, carrying a controlled weapon and motor car offences.  It is believed his history of sexual abuse contributed to his irrational belief that Shaun had been sexually abusing Darryl's girlfriend's son.  Darryl has one daughter, who was born after his fatal attack on Shaun.

Outcome of trial: There was no trial because both men pleaded guilty to intentionally causing serious injury. It is believed it would have been very difficult to convict the men of murder because they thought Shaun was already dead when they set him alight.  Another theory is that the causal connection between the fire and the death could not be established because it was also possible the high alcohol content in Shaun's blood killed him.  In any event, as a private agreement between the prosecution and defence, we may never know why this deal was made.

Sentence:  Both offenders received three and a half years imprisonment until eligible for parole (max six and a half years).  They have served about 18 months of their sentence while in remand.

You can read the judgement here.  Media coverage is available here and here.