Loss of Innocence: A Nation's Deadly History

Following on from the other true crimes books, I wrote a book on the crimes that have affected my own life. From the story of Fisher's Ghost to my own family's link to the Wanda Beach murders.

Release date: May 2009

Sample Chapter:

Wade Frankum

At 1pm on Saturday August 17, 1991 33 year-old Wade John Frankum stood alone on the platform of North Strathfield Station. He was wearing jeans, a grey beanie covering his crew cut, and a denim jacket. In his hand was an army surplus duffle bag. Unbeknownst to the other commuters on the train platform, Frankum was on a mission. Casually, Frankum walked over to the ticket booth and bought a ticket to Strathfield. He nodded in recognizance to the man inside the ticket office. The two men knew each other, Frankum often chatted to the rail worker. But today he just turned to the man and gave him a warning. "You'd better go home", said Frankum to the man sternly. Frankum then walked away again. He stood alone again as though he was waiting for someone. He watched train and after train go by before finally catching the 1.48pm train to Strathfield. 

 At Strathfield Station, the man alighted and headed towards Strathfield Plaza. The Plaza was a typical Sydney shopping mall. It had all the necessary stores and a few cafes. Frankum wandered towards a cafe called the "Coffee Pot". He sat down at one of the booths and ordered the first of many coffees. The caffeine added to the man's already highly disturbed demeanour. Yet Frankum hid his feelings well. In the next booth to Frankum were fifteen-year-old Bo Armstrong and her friend. The two girls thought the man was "spaced out". He appeared to stare blankly at them talking. He made no sound nor made any indication of the havoc he would soon wreak. The two girls turned back to their own conversation and made comments to each other about the strange blank man, little did they know that in a few minutes, one of the girls would be dead, the other horrifically injured.

 The Coffee Pot had quite a few customers, it was a busy Saturday - as most Saturdays are in shopping centres. After shopping during the morning, many shoppers liked to stop and have a coffee or a light snack before continuing home or to other shops they had planned to visit. Yet the decision to sit in the Coffee Pot would prove fatal for many customers. However others in the mall were also unlucky. In the booth behind the girls sat Carole Dickinson, her daughter Belinda and Carole's niece Rachelle Milburn. The two girls were a similar age and enjoyed the shopping trip with Carole. Rachelle had come for a visit from Newcastle. It was to be a short break before the beginning her HSC final exams and the three of them decided a coffee was a great way to sit and chat before returning to their shopping. Behind Frankum was another booth, it had several generations of one family. Sixty-one-year-old Joyce Nixon was grandmother to fourteen-year-old Kevin and Nathan who was only eight. The boys’ mother Patricia Rowe was also with them. The family had just arrived at the Plaza after a trip to see Joyce's husband at the near by hospital. Joyce enjoyed the company of her daughter and grandsons and watched the two boys change from laughter to squabbling and back, the typical way boys acted. 

 The time was now 3.30pm and Frankum asked for the bill for the numerous coffees he had sat and drunk over the past hour and a half. Frankum reached for his change, then reached for his bag, he rocked his body to get out of the booth seat but the action was not to just stand up but to begin the assault. The blank expression of the past hour had gone. Frankum was ready. As Frankum stood, he grabbed the large knife from his bag and turned to Bo Armstrong. He grabbed the girl's shoulder and forced the sharp blade into her back. The act made Frankum laugh. He had prepared for this and began "laughing like a madman" - the irony being, he was a madman.

 Bo had no time to react. She was scared and bleeding and frozen in the spot as Frankum continued to stab the young woman. The other customers just stood there, it was such an unexpected attack that many people could not believe what they were seeing. This was something that does not happen in Strathfield. It took the other customers several moments before they themselves could move. Bo began screaming, the blood was flooding her lungs as she screamed. The seconds ticked by like hours.  As Bo died, Frankum stopped stabbing her, leaving the knife embedded in the teenager’s back. Frankum turned back to his bag and continued his assault. He grabbed the semi-automatic rifle and loaded it. Frankum decided the next to die was the family in front of him. Joyce and Patricia had grabbed the boys as the attack began and was cowering under their table when Frankum turned on them. Patricia screamed "Get down" and jumped on top of little eight-year-old Kevin. Patricia tried to shield the boy as Joyce threw the table between the boys and the gunman. Both of the women died shielding the boys from Frankum's volley of bullets. 

 With the deafening sound of gunfire, the Coffee Pot's owner, George Mavis came out to the counter from the kitchen. Frankum swiftly turned to George and killed him with a volley of gunfire. Following George from the kitchen was George's brother James. As George fell, James also dropped to the floor. He tried to stem the bleeding from his brother's wounds, but it was too late.

 So far only one minute had passed, but it seemed to have lasted hours. People were so shocked they did not move nor run for cover, many people were frozen on the spot looking at the injured and dead. Beyond the stabbed body of Bo was Rachelle with her aunt and cousin. She was Frankum's next target. Rachelle had little time to move before Frankum had shot her in the head, she collapsed in a crumpled heap as the killer then turned the gun to Carole. Carole was shot in the stomach and later died from the wounds. Belinda ran from the cafe screaming about the man pursuing her. Frankum was only a step or two behind her. The gunman raised the gun and shot the terrified young woman as she ran. She fell from the shots but would survive.

 Frankum was now loose in the main area of the Plaza and had many more targets to choose from. People were now running for their lives and the mayhem confused the killer for a moment. He pointed the gun at the ceiling and fired another round of shots. Many people instinctively dropped to the floor, thinking they would be the next victim of the crazed psychopath with the rifle. Fifty-three-year-old accountant Robertson Kan Hock Joon was lost in a set of photos he had just gotten developed when he was confronted by the killer. Robertson looked up from the photos just in time to see the rifle levelled at his face. He was killed instantly by the close gunfire. His photos scattered around him. Frankum knew that by now someone would have called the police and decided to try and escape the Plaza before it was surrounded. The killer headed towards the exit ramp from the mall towards the carpark. The killer continued to shoot at people as he took each step.

Forty-one-year-old Greg Read had been in this position before. He had survived ambushes in Vietnam and was watching the attack with interest. He quickly saw that Frankum was only killing people who ran away. He did not kill anyone who had dropped to the ground. The quick-thinking man ran in front of the killer and out into the carpark telling people to get down and they will live. He tried to warn as many people as he could. A woman screamed back at Greg. "It's too late... he's already behind you". Greg swung around to find Frankum aiming the gun at him. Greg had just saved countless people and had to keep his quick thinking going. As Frankum fired the gun, the man jumped behind two cars. Bullets ricocheted around him, but he was only hit in the foot. He was alive. Frankum was now close to freedom, he was on the top floor of the carpark and searched for a car to aide his escape. He was still firing his gun when a car came around towards him. Unbeknownst to Catherine Noyce, the man staring at her had just killed several people. He now wanted her to drive him out of the carpark. Frankum got into the car and showed the confused woman his rifle. He barked the orders that she was to drive him to Enfield, a nearby suburb of Sydney.. Catherine almost forgot how to drive during those terrifying seconds with Frankum in the car. She looked at him and saw his demeanour change. Outside police sirens were beginning to echo and Frankum knew the rampage was over.

He said, "I'm sorry" to Catherine and got out of the car. Catherine drove away quickly, only glancing into the rear vision mirror to see Frankum raise the gun to his own head and pull the trigger. The time now was only 3.40pm. The attack had taken only ten minutes. The death toll was six dead plus Frankum's suicide. But the toll rose to seven when Carole died later that evening in hospital. Only a total of fifty shots had been fired and six people with gun shot wounds would live to retell the horror of August 17, 1991.People remained where they fell or had hidden until police came inside to face the carnage. One of the first police officers on the scene had quickly made his way to the carpark where he had heard the final shot. He found the gunman dead from a self-inflicted gun shot wound and knew the attack was over.

Very little is known about the man who caused so much death. At Frankum's apartment police found dozens of violent books and magazines. The killer's taste was for blood and gore, his video collection painted a similar picture. He was also a compulsive letter writer and left himself notes everywhere - a preview of the killer’s disorganised mind. Frankum had grown up as a lonely and depressed young child. His parents were extremely strict and showed little love to the growing boy and his little sister. Frankum had always been overweight and it was a cause of much hardship at school. By the time he reached high school at Newington College at Stanmore the nickname "piggy" was always used instead of his name. The shyness meant that Frankum endured the taunts, he would never stand up for himself, preferring to avoid the bullies. He would go and hide in the library and read books or just not go to school at all. By the age of sixteen he was expelled from school due to his poor attendance record. He was enrolled at Homebush Boys High School for the remainder of his schooling but left soon after. With leaving school he also left home.

Frankum got a job at a clothing store. He enjoyed the responsibility of his work and it really suited him. Life was finally a happier place for the young man, until he was fired for theft. It was a final insult in the man’s pathetic life and a catalyst for the rampage. His final days before the massacre, Frankum spent his time holed up in his home. Reading violent magazines and books, sending him into the final uncontrollable spiral until he exploded.  When attempting to provide answers as to why the man decided to destroy the lives of those at Strathfield Plaza that day, Coroner Waller claimed: "Guns and porn make a lethal mix". Something that was echoed by serial killer Ted Bundy years earlier and a theory that continues to rear it’s ugly head each time a killer is found in the possession of violent material.