Accused Lake Cargelligo triple murderer’s body found by police at Mount Hope
Updated ,first published
A decomposed body believed to be that of triple killer Julian Ingram has been found in the NSW Central West, ending one of the biggest manhunts in the state’s history.
Ingram, 37, had been on the run since Jan. 22, when he fled Lake Cargelligo after shooting to death his heavily pregnant ex-partner Sophie Quinn, 25, his friend John Harris, 32, and his aunt Nerida Quinn, 50, and seriously wounding Kaleb Macqueen, 20, who was 19 at the time of the attack.
Police found the body on Monday afternoon after NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service workers reported Ingram’s abandoned Lachlan Shire Council in the Round Hill Nature Reserve, about 100 kilometers north-west of Lake Cargelligo.
The bushland is located between Lake Cargelligo and Mount Hope, a remote town where numerous sightings of Ingram were reported in the days following the shooting.
Two firearms (a rifle and a shotgun) were found with the body, which has not yet been officially identified but is believed to be Ingram’s. A driver’s license was found in the womb, and the body, believed to have a self-inflicted gunshot wound, was wearing clothes that matched those worn by Ingram on January 22.
“She was gutless,” Cathy Quinn, Sophie Quinn’s mother, said in this byline on Monday.
“We [are] “We are still mourning, but justice will be served.”
Sophie Quinn’s sister Tegan said her family could begin to grieve.
“It feels so real now,” he said.
Police have received hundreds of separate tips since the shootings and searched tens of thousands of hectares of bush and farmland around Lake Cargelligo, home to about 1,200 people. Police had previously carried out extensive searches in and around Mount Hope, but NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Andy Holland said it was unclear whether officers had searched the bushland where the body was found.
“Obviously it’s a relief to those involved in the investigation and probably an even greater relief to the people of Lake Cargelligo and the Quinn family,” Holland said.
Detectives will continue to investigate whether allies helped the fugitive Ingram. The forensic investigation is expected to help determine how long after the shooting he died.
Interactions between police and Ingram in the months before the shooting were the subject of an investigation ongoing critical incident investigation It is overseen by the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission, the state’s police watchdog. The investigation is examining Ingram and Sophie Quinn’s ongoing relationship before the murders, Ingram’s access to firearms and how the 37-year-old, who has never held a gun license in NSW, gained access to the gun used in the shootings.
local police Ingram was granted bail last November on domestic violence charges After he allegedly attacked Sophie Quinn around the time the couple split.
“Why was he released on bail?” Dwayne Kirby, who witnessed the deaths of Sophie Quinn and Harris, said:
“We’re glad he was found, but he still needs to be alive so the family can get justice. I hope they can get that done somehow.”
Nerida Quinn’s daughter, Mikaila Elms, told this imprint that Ingram’s death means her family “will never get justice.”
“It just makes us curious,” he said.
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