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rebecca@rebeccayoung.org

 

   

bogle chandler

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Murraybank Field Station
 

21 December, 1962: Murraybank, Sydney, Australia

The Murraybank field station was at West Pennant Hills, 24km northwest of Sydney's CBD. The facility included a radio telescope and receiver, and was maintained by the CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation).

   
12 Waratah Street
 

31 December, 1962: 12 Waratah Street Chatswood, Sydney, Australia

A new Year's Eve party was an established custom at the Nash household.
This year the theme was 'The Nash Galleries'. The party invitation asked guests to bring along a piece of "art", created by themselves as a talking point with the other guests.

   
Fuller's Bridge
 

1 January, 1963: Fullers Bridge, Lane Cove, Sydney, Australia

Fuller's Bridge is one of the bridges that crosses the Lane Cove River in suburban Sydney. It was only a few minutes drive from Ken and Ruth Nash's house in Chatswood. At 4.30 am, when Bogle's car arrived at the bridge, it was daylight, and there were at least a dozen New Year's revellers about in the Fuller's Bridge area.

   
Lane Cove River
 

1 January, 1963: Lane Cover River, South East of Fuller's Bridge, Sydney, Australia

The river bank was a tangle of trees and scrub through which a hard dirt track, about a car-width wide, ran several muddy feet from the bank edge. It was an uninviting place. An assortment of litter, broken bottles, and rotting newspapers lay among the weeds.

   
Lane Cove River
 

7 May, 1963: City Coroner's Court, 102 George Street North, Sydney

The inquest into the deaths of Margaret Chandler and Gib Bogle involved 14 days of hearings and over 50 witnesses. Forensic experts tested for and excluded all known poisons, snake bite, spider bite, heart attack, asphyxiation, radiation poisoning, and any conventional physical violence. However, Dr. Livingstone Thomas, a medical officer at the city morgue, criticised the 32-hour delay in performing the autopsies, and resigned in protest at the antiquated facilities used in the investigations.

Mr J.J. Loomes, the City Coroner, concluded the inquest with this statement: "I can say with certainty that each of the deceased died an unnatural death, but as to its manner and cause I am unable to say." The deaths remain unsolved.