3. The Gatton Murders
Here we have a case that has remained unsolved for centuries, but is every bit as eerie as strange murders in contemporary times. On December 26, 1898, Michael Murphy intended to return to his home in Gatton, Queensland, Australia with his two younger sisters, after a dance they planned to attend was cancelled. They were never made it home.
The next morning, a deputy was called to investigate a bizarre scene. Michael and his sisters had all been murdered in a field by the side of the road, and their bodies were positioned in a strange manner that has NEVER been repeated in any crime again. Michael and his sister Ellen were lying back to back, nearly touching each other, while the other sister, Norah lay in the same East/West orientation, on a neatly spread rug, 28 feet to the east. Both women had their hands tied behind their backs with handkerchiefs. Completing a triangle of sorts, the family’s horse cart was facing South, 17.5 feet from Michael and 36 feet from Norah. Their horse had been shot in the head and still lay between the shafts. The legs of all three siblings were arranged with the feet pointing west.
The police botched the crime scene, so much evidence was lost, but nobody has ever come up with a decent theory as to why this seemingly average family was killed, or why their assailant would have gone to such great lengths to arrange their bodies in a curious, triangular manner.