Magistrate Halts Questions About Murder Accused

Sydney Morning Herald

Thursday February 16, 1989

By TONY HEWETT

JABIRU: A magistrate yesterday prevented a Crown prosecutor from questioning a witness about conversations he had in a cell with Dennis Dumbiri Rostron, who is charged with murdering five members of his family in Arnhem Land last year.

The Crown prosecutor, Mr Jack Karczewski, attempted to question Mr Billy Yalawonga in the Northern Territory's Court of Summary Jurisdiction about conversations he had with Rostron on October 4 last year, the night Rostron surrendered to police following a nine-day search for him in rugged southern Arnhem Land.

Rostron, 25, is charged with murdering his father-in-law, the acclaimed Aboriginal bark painter Dick Murrumurru, 67; Dolly Murrumurru, mother-in-law to Rostron; his wife, Cecily, and their two children, Preston, 3, and Zorac, 21 months.

Mr Karczewski told the court on Tuesday that Rostron gunned them down at the Marlgawo outstation on September 25 last year.

Another man, Mr Andrew Narrorga, died of a heart attack as he fled the outstation.

Rostron's counsel, Mr Dennis Norman, the senior solicitor with the Northern Aboriginal Legal Aid Service, objected to Mr Karczewski questioning Mr Yalawonga about conversations he may have had with Rostron on the night he was arrested.

Mr Norman said information Rostron may have communicated to the witness should not be considered evidence against his client because if the information was to be regarded as evidence, it had not been gathered in an appropriate manner and in circumstances where an accused was aware that what he was saying may be used against him.

In ruling out further questioning of Mr Yalawonga, the magistrate, Mr Clive McPherson, said Mr Yalawonga had spent the night in a cell with Rostron as a"friend at the request of police" to ensure the safe welfare of the accused.

"There is no suggestion of unfairness," Mr McPherson said.

Following Rostron's arrest, Maningrida Aboriginal Health worker Mr Jimmy Singleton, a relative of the accused, accompanied the police and Rostron to an area on the outskirts of Maningrida where a shotgun was found.

"Is this the firearm that you recovered?" Mr Karczewski asked Mr Singleton, holding a shotgun with a scratched barrel and a chipped butt.

"Yes, it's the same one," Mr Singleton said.

Mr Karczewski told the court on Tuesday that this was the gun allegedly used by Rostron to kill the five Aborigines at Marlgawo. He had also allegedly used a .308 calibre rifle to shoot Dolly Murrumurru a second time, as she had survived an earlier blast from the shotgun.

Mr Singleton told the court yesterday that the police made three audio cassettes of interviews with the accused, at which he (Mr Singleton) was present to help Rostron in case he did not understand what police were asking

Mr Singleton said police had taken him with Rostron to Marlgawo, where they video taped the accused re-enacting his alleged crimes.

The Jabiru sittings of Rostron's committal proceedings concluded yesterday, the court having heard evidence from 13 Aboriginal witnesses, including six people who alleged they saw the shootings.

The committal will resume tomorrow in Darwin when Detective Senior Constable Nick Hambleton, who was in charge of the police investigation, will give evidence.

The audio tapes will be tendered and it is likely that the court will conduct a screening of the video tape taken by police at Marlgawo.

In his opening address, Mr Karczewski told the court on Tuesday that Rostron had considered killing his family on September 24.

© 1989 Sydney Morning Herald

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