The Longest Criminal Case in Australian History

It almost took 40 years to solve this case

Leonard Warwick — Image courtesy of Debi Marshall

In less than five years, from 1980 to 1985, many legal Australian judges suffered attacks from a man who felt mistreated by the system. The attacks ranged from:

• Shootings resulting in deaths
• Bomb related murders in homes
• An explosion at a Jehovah’s Witnesses Church
• A court bombing taking the lives of many people
• Multiple retirements of employees fearing for their lives

The Australian authority figure knew the man behind these gruesome criminal offenses (among many others). But, the authorities couldn’t arrest him because they only possessed circumstantial evidence.

Circumstantial evidence (like fingerprints) is not sufficient alone to convict a criminal. The police needed direct evidence to support their claim. So the criminal, Leonard Warwick, continued to roam the streets for almost forty years after committing these crimes.

Why did Leonard Warwick commit these crimes?

Leonard Warwick was born in 1947 in Helensburgh, New South Wales. He lost his mother at the age of three years.