Douglas Crabbe
| Douglas John Edward Crabbe | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1947 |
| Occupation | Truck driver |
| Criminal penalty | 5 x Life imprisonment Non-parole period 30 years |
| Criminal status | Incarcerated |
| Conviction(s) | Murder x 5 |
Douglas John Edward Crabbe (born 1947) is an Australian murderer currently imprisoned in Perth for a multiple murder which occurred when he drove his 25-tonne Mack truck into the crowded bar of a motel at the base of Uluru, on 18 August 1983. Five people were killed and sixteen seriously injured.
Crabbe worked as a truck driver and began driving at the age of 14.
In February 1983 Crabbe was arrested and charged for assaulting a car load of youths at a service station near Tennant Creek. The youths were harassing the service station's console operator and also provoked Crabbe, who retaliated by jumping up and down on the bonnet of the victim's car.
On 24 March 1983, Crabbe attended a country and western function in Curtin Springs and became involved in two fights involving police. During Crabbe's later murder trial a witness testified that on his second ejection from the Curtin Springs establishment Crabbe was informed he was barred, to which he replied "If that's the case, I'll drive my truck through the pub." Crabbe denied that he had said this.
On the evening of 18 August 1983, Crabbe spent an hour at the Inland Motel bar before being refused service for intoxication. The bar was part of the Inland Motel, a short distance from the base of Uluru. It was on the eastern side of the rock, a few minutes walk from the camp site from which Azaria Chamberlain disappeared in 1980 but which had closed by August 1983. Crabbe, then aged 36, walked behind the bar and confronted bar staff before being involved in a fight and being ejected from the premises at 12.30am.
He then walked approximately 500 metres to his parked Mack truck, and drove it to the nearby Uluru Motel, where he unhitched one of two attached trailers. Crabbe then drove the truck and one trailer back to the Inland Motel. According to witness Martin Fisher:
"Crabbe then maneuvered the 25 ton Semi and trailer, at speed, around a blind bend, through a car park, around a minibus, turned and drove it through the Besser brick wall into the crowded bar, crushing the people there. Leaving the engine running, he then got out of the truck, smiled down at one of his victims, stepped over some bodies and ran. This was at 1.10am. It had been 40 minutes between being thrown out and driving the truck into the bar. He was captured the next morning walking out of the bush 22 kilometres away."
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Wikipedia