A cattle farmer suspected of the execution-style killings of three of his neighbors will be held for the next three months after it was found that his weapons license renewal was denied by police before the restriction was lifted on appeal a decade before the tragedy.
Darryl Valroy Young, 59, appeared via video link in Proserpine Magistrates Court on Monday, charged with the alleged killings of his neighbors Maree and Mervyn Schwarz, as well as Maree’s son Graham Tighe, four days earlier in the small rural town of Bogie in Queensland’s Whitsundays area.
Another son, Ross Tighe, survived after reportedly being shot in the stomach and is now ‘up and about’ after fleeing 40 kilometers to his next neighbor for aid.
The magistrate scheduled a special session prior to the start of court on Monday morning to deal with the subject without the presence of the media.
Young was denied bail and will be transported from the watch house to a penitentiary institution in Queensland until his next scheduled hearing on November 1.
It has recently been revealed that Queensland Police refused to renew Young’s weapons permit in 2010.
At the time, police thought he was ‘not a fit and suitable person’ to retain a gun permit, and the renewal was deemed ‘not in the public interest.’
However, when Young successfully appealed, the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal lifted the restriction, saying that he required the weapons to kill wild animals that wandered into his property and for his company.
Young said he had breached no rules that would bar him from possessing a firearm.
‘I would ask the Tribunal to overturn the rejection letter since I have not breached any laws that would prevent me from acquiring a weapons permit…’ There is nothing in the gun regulations that I have breached that prevents me from getting a gun license… ‘I need my firearms license for my company,’ he wrote.
‘I’m hoping the tribunal reverses the ruling so I can get my license.’
Young held a shooters license that he subsequently revoked before obtaining a guns license in 1998.
The guns license was renewed in 2005, but police refused to renew it in 2010.
It’s unknown if Young had any additional dealings with the Queensland Police firearms licensing section after the restriction was lifted 12 years ago.
It comes as the Daily Mail Australia uncovered that many inhabitants of Bogie, which was created during a gold rush, think they are sitting on a gold mine, including the suspected shooter.
Bogie has a population of roughly 200 people, with just 37 households.
According to police, Young and his neighbors were embroiled in a dispute about property borders on nearby properties.
Most property holdings in Bogie, a little village centered on a single long, twisting gravel road, do not seem to have defined boundary boundaries. Locals describe it as a “bit of give and take.”
In May 2021, the Schwarz family bought 29,000 hectares of land next to Young’s 7,700 acre property. They were the land’s sixth owner in 16 years. Young claimed on social media in 2017 that he discovered massive amounts of gold on the Shannonvale Road property at the center of Thursday’s suspected mass shooting.
He posted three images on Facebook, one with a hand holding 17 flecks of gold and another with a big nugget, with the caption: ‘Some gold I discovered in Shannonvale this week after my exploration licences came through (sic).’
‘Won’t be working for long if this continues,’ he wrote.
It was then discovered that the photographs were obtained from a random Google image search.
Bogie was founded in 1871 when a stockman from a neighbouring station discovered gold along what is now known as Normanby Road.
When the Normanby gold mine originally opened, around 30 miners were there. They worked the area on and off for the following 41 years, hoping to strike gold.
As additional settlers were drawn to the region by the prospect of striking it rich, a small settlement with a hotel, dairy shop, bakery, three shops, two butchers, and a blacksmith was developed.
However, the isolated and brutal nature of the terrain rendered it impossible to maintain.
Most residents left the town soon after arriving in search of more successful gold mines, but several families in Bogie remain hopeful that gold will be discovered on their land one day.
Locals claim the solitary twisting, gravel road through Bogie is an unnerving journey even on the best of days.
A lone bouquet of flowers placed on the intersection of Peter Delemothe Road and Normanby Road – the sole entrance in and out of the remote neighborhood – now stands as a sorrowful reminder of Thursday’s horrible massacre.
The 77km dirt route is a cell phone dead zone, and there are large gaps between houses.
The first few homes on the street are marked with warning signs. ‘Do not enter,’ ‘Retreat,’ and ‘Entry by invitation only’ were written on them.
The Schwarz family farm is located around 70 kilometers along the narrow winding Normanby Road, which is littered with rocks and gravel and surrounded by dry stream beds.
The kangaroo gangs and cattle herds that often border the road may make for a risky drive.
The rocky terrain also made the first police probe on Thursday more difficult than anticipated.
They were driven into unknown territory, and first responders were forced to explore the dry stream banks and overgrown landscape for clues.
Police were able to reach Young and four other persons who were hauled in for questioning after a lengthy search.
Young is accused with three charges of murder and one count of attempted murder.