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Family court bomber found guilty of 3 murders
Thirty years on from the murders of a justice, a justice’s wife and a member of church, the Supreme Court of NSW has found a former firefighter guilty.
Naomi Neilson
Between 1980 and 1985, Leonard Warwick shot and killed Justice David Opas outside his home in Sydney and triggered two separate bombs that killed a Jehovah’s Witness minister, Graham Wykes, and Pearl Watson, the wife of Justice Ray Watson.
The Family Court of Australia acknowledged the guilty verdict in a statement, including destruction of property relating to the maliciously bombing of a court. The court said it hopes the results could provide “relief and resolution” to the victims’ families.
“These events constituted a very dark period in the history of the court and has resulted in horrific and unnecessary deaths, attempted murder as well as destruction of property,” the Family Court said.
“Throughout this period, the judges and staff of the court have demonstrated enormous courage by keeping the doors open and continuing to deal with the work required of them in what must have been a frightening time.”
Mr Warwick has denied the two dozen offences since his arrest in 2015. The trial, which heard from over 150 witnesses, was plagued by delays. In 2019, Mr Warwick told the court he ran out of money to fund his defence and it was stalled until Legal Aid lawyers could step in and pick up the half-completed casework.
On behalf of former Chief Justice of the Family Court, the Honourable Elizabeth Evatt AC praised the law for taking its course and finding Mr Warwick guilty of murder.
“Mr Warwick’s malevolent violence against the Family Court and those connected with it destroyed many lives and caused deep grief and irreparable harm to his victims and their families and to many of us in the court,” Ms Evatt said.
“The families of David Opas, Pearl Watson and the other victims of Warwick’s violence must have a sense of relief now that he has been brought to justice. However, none of us who have been so deeply affected by his crimes can ever forget those who were his victims. Nothing can repair the grave harms he has caused so many.”
Naomi Neilson
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
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