Port Arthur gunman Martin Bryant's motive revealed in unearthed psychiatrist report
Australian mass murderer Martin Bryant's motivation for the horrific Port Arthur attack has been revealed in unearthed psychiatrist reports.
Bryant was just 28 years old when he brutally murdered 35 people and injured 23 others during a two-day rampage around the Tasmanian tourist town in April 1996.
He started his killing spree at the Seascape Cottage, owned by his first two victims David and Noelene 'Sally' Martin.
The violent rampage ended there too when the psychopath set the house alight in a bid to escape waiting police who were camped outside.
Now 58, Bryant is serving 35 consecutive life sentences in Risdon Prison Complex. He will never be released.
News Corp Australia investigation has obtained four reports from interviews Bryant had with mental health experts after the shootings.
One of those reports includes the details of an almost four-hour interview with forensic psychiatrist Paul Mullen about six days after the massacre, in which Bryant said his murder plot started with his hatred for Seascape Cottage owners David Martin, 72, and Noelene Martin, 69.
The initial plan to kill the 'very mean' couple started about 12 months earlier and escalated to mass murder because he was furious people generally didn't like him, News Corp Australia revealed.
The feeling of hatred toward the Martins stemmed from Bryant's father Maurice Bryant's unsuccessful attempts to buy Seascape Cottage, also called Seascape Guesthouse. Maurice died by suicide in 1993. Bryant blamed the Martins for the downfall of his family.
After Bryant killed the Martins at Seascape Cottage, he ate at the Broad Arrow Cafe and then pulled a semiautomatic rifle out and began shooting. He killed 20 people in two minutes.
He shot more people on the way out and escaped in his car.
He then stole a BMW, killing its occupants. Bryant stopped at a petrol station, where he killed a woman and took a man hostage.
He returned to Seascape Cottage with the hostage. The following morning Bryant was caught after the guesthouse went up in flames.
Bryant used a range of semiautomatic weapons and the Port Arthur massacre led to significant changes in Australia's gun laws.
There was a near ban on all fully automatic or semiautomatic firearms, and a gun buyback scheme was initiated.
More than 640,000 firearms were handed in.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Bundaberg twilight vigil draws hundreds remembering 17-year-old Pheobe Bishop
As the sun set tonight, hundreds of twinkling candle lights flickered like stars in a community park at Bundaberg in regional Queensland. Teens in school uniform, families with young children, workers on their way home — hundreds of people sat in quiet reflection to mourn the loss of 17-year-old Pheobe Bishop. The twilight vigil comes more than three weeks after the teen captured the nation's attention when she disappeared on May 15 from Bundaberg, 350 kilometres north of Brisbane. The evening was not about her tragic end — allegedly murdered by her housemates — but about gratitude for the community's support and remembering the daughter and sister her family knew. Sister Kaylea Bishop held back tears as she described Pheobe and her wish to see her again. "Love every minute, just cherish it. "Love the good and the bad, worship it all, capture the memories." Kaylea said Pheobe's name will always be spoken in their family. "She will never die within us, she will always live on," she said. Community leaders introduced loved ones who shared stories about Pheobe, read poems and played some of her favourite songs. Messages written on brightly-coloured paper filled a jar to honour Pheobe's memory before the gathering heard from Pheobe's mother, Kylie Johnson. Ms Johnson said her daughter was "perfectly uniquely herself". "Phee was more than glorious. She was compassionate, she was caring, she was resilient, she was relentless," she said. "We will put her to rest, we will say goodbye to her in a way that celebrates her life." Ms Johnson also spoke about how harrowing the past three weeks had been. Monday's vigil was the second held for Pheobe following one on Sunday evening in her home town of Gin Gin, 50 kilometres west of Bundaberg. Pheobe first went missing more than three weeks ago on May 15. On Friday, police discovered human remains in thick bushland more than an hour south-west of Bundaberg at Good Night Scrub National Park. Police have yet to make a formal identification. Pheobe's housemates, 34-year-old James Woods and 33-year-old Tanika Bromley, have been charged with her murder. The matter will be mentioned in court in August. Police have alleged Pheobe was last seen alive with Mr Wood and Ms Bromley on their way towards Bundaberg Airport. Memorials have been established near the Bundaberg Airport and outside the house Ms Bishop shared with the accused in Gin Gin.
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Queensland man found with 100,000 child exploitation images, videos
An 81-year-old man has been sentenced to five years in jail after possessing child exploitation material, including clippings from magazines dating back to the 1970s. Adam Bayard pleaded guilty in Toowoomba District Court on Monday to four counts of possession of child exploitation material and one count of using a carriage service to access child abuse material. The retired Telstra technician was arrested in 2023 after his home at Kingsthorpe, west of Toowoomba, was raided by police as part of an international investigation involving the FBI. It resulted in 18 other men charged and 13 children removed from harm. Crown prosecutor Abby Kong told the court that while police were searching his house, Bayard admitted to liking watching young girls do activities such as dancing, ice-skating and gymnastics. "Which was consistent with a spreadsheet that was on his fridge with eisteddfod times and school art shows and the like," Ms Kong said. She said Bayard had built a "sophisticated" encrypted network of 23 devices containing nearly two terabytes of potential child exploitation material. The prosecution said there was so much material stored on the network that police downloaded 6.9 million files but could only examine a small portion of that. Of that portion, police found more than 100,000 images and videos of child exploitation material. Bayard was also found to possess child exploitation material in the form physical photo albums containing 854 print-outs, magazine clippings dating back to the 1970s, novels and department store flyers containing children. Ms Kong told the court that Bayard had also named laptops and computers in his home after "girls who appealed to him" such as Penny and Melody. She said when police searched his house, Bayard made broad admissions to possessing the material but asserted he had no reason to feel guilty and that sexual attraction to children was natural. "He really sought to shift the blame on to society and to the state of the law around the age of consent as opposed to his own conduct," she told the court. Judge Dennis Lynch took Bayard's lack of remorse into account during sentencing. "You frankly admitted your sexual interest in children," Judge Lynch said. "You denied that you felt guilty about that. "Accessing and possessing child exploitation materials has the effect of encouraging the abuse of children wherever that may occur in the world or the production of that material. "So, you have, over a very long period of time, by your conduct effectively encouraged the production, therefore the abuse of children." Judge Lynch said he could only punish Bayard for offences dating back to the start of the indictment in 2005 but acknowledged his offending had occurred for decades. "You commenced accessing [child exploitation material] before the birth of the internet," he said. Barrister David Jones KC, who appeared in Bayard's defence, said the court should consider the 81-year-old's lack of other criminal history, advanced age and social isolation during sentencing. Judge Lynch said there were some mitigating factors. "You are effectively living an isolated life as a hermit," he said. "That you have not committed any other offence during the course of your long life, suggests to me that there is in all likelihood a low risk of you, in fact, transferring your sexual interest in children onto an actual child." Bayard was sentenced to five years in jail, to be suspended after 12 months. Once released he will be a reportable offender, meaning he will have to disclose to police his whereabouts and the nature of the use of his devices.
News.com.au
3 hours ago
- News.com.au
Perth teenager Jay Lewis Paul Harrington charged with murder over alleged stabbing
A teenager has been charged with murder over the alleged fatal stabbing of another teen at a home in Perth's east. Emergency services received reports a man had been seriously injured and found Phillip Narkle, 18, with stab wounds at a house on Gladstone Rd in Rivervale about 5.10pm on Saturday. He was rushed to Royal Perth Hospital by St Johns Ambulance, but later died. Swan View teen Jay Lewis Paul Harrington, 19, was charged with murder following an investigation by Homicide Squad detectives. Mr Harrington appeared in the Perth Magistrates Court on Monday to face the charge. He also faces other charges for unrelated offences including burglary, stealing, and assault. He was remanded in custody to face the Stirling Gardens Magistrates court on June 25.
