A homeless fruit-picker was yesterday convicted of murder and arson for starting a blaze that killed 15 young people, including an Irishwoman, in an Australian backpackers' hostel in June 2000.
Friends and families of the victims wept and others yelled "Yes!" as a Brisbane Supreme Court jury of seven women and five men reached the verdict after nearly two days of deliberations and 19 days of testimony in the trial of drifter Robert Paul Long ( 38).
Long, a small, bearded man, had denied the murder and arson charges linked to the June 23rd, 2000, fire at the Palace Backpackers' Hostel in Childers, a farming community 190 miles north of Brisbane, capital of the state of Queensland.
One of the victims was Julie O'Keeffe (24) from Limerick. Portrayed by prosecutors as a lonely, sometimes suicidal drifter, Long showed no emotion as the verdicts were read out. His father, Sid, who sat in court through much of the trial, also said nothing.
The mother of one of the victims yelled "Yes!" and hugged members of her family. The mother of Melissa Smith, a 26-year-old British backpacker from Thatcham, Berkshire, left the court in tears.
"It's a relief in a way for everyone that somebody will pay the price for taking those lives," said Mr Bill Trevor, mayor of Isis shire, which includes Childers. "I feel for the parents who lost children, Not even this verdict can bring them back. Their hurt and pain are very clear."
Long could get the maximum penalty, life imprisonment, when presiding Judge Peter Dutney passes sentence on Monday. Australia has no death penalty.
He was charged with starting the fire and with the murder of Australian twins Kelly and Stacey Slarke, who died in the blaze as it tore through the 100-year-old building, reducing it to a charred wreck.
The fire also killed seven backpackers from Britain, two from the Netherlands, another Australian and one each from Ireland, South Korea and Japan. But prosecutors agreed to charge Long with only two murders for the sake of expediency.
The British backpackers were: Mike Lewis (25), from Bristol; Gary Sutton (24), from Bath; Sarah Williams (23), from Aberfan, South Wales; Natalie Morris (28), from Cefn Coed, South Wales; and Melissa Smith (26), from Thatcham, Berks; and Claire Webb (24) and Adam Rowland (19), from England.
The court heard the evidence of more than 50 witnesses from around the world, including backpackers who survived the blaze, forensic experts and police.
Long was arrested five days after the fire and police told the trial he confessed to starting the fire after they shot him in the arm.
Thinking he had been fatally wounded, Long told police: "I'm dying anyway. I started that fire.