Three murdered, one injured in axe attack in Australia

June 30, 2008

The manhunt for John Walsh, a father of a police officer in his late 60s, has ended without further incident at a motel on the Mid-Western Highway near Hay, New South Wales in Western NSW. The Toyota sedan which he was thought to be driving was found in the motel carpark and has been seized for examination by forensics.

The manhunt began after an axe attack which left police officer Shelly Walsh injured and left her elderly mother thought to be in her late 60s and two children, a boy thought to be aged 7 and a girl also thought to be aged 5 years old, dead in the small New South Wales town of Cowra.

New South Wales Police originally thought he was heading to Newcastle, New South Wales or Canberra, Australian Capital Territory and was believed to be driving in a silver Toyota Avalon.