Malcolm John Naden (born 5 November 1973) is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

former

fugitive A fugitive or runaway is a person who is fleeing from custody, whether it be from jail, a government arrest, government or non-government questioning, vigilante violence, or outraged private individuals. A fugitive from justice, also known ...

from the law. At the time of his capture and arrest in March 2012, Naden was reported as being one of Australia's most wanted men and his arrest attracted international media coverage. Naden was in hiding from June 2005 until March 2012, wanted over murder and indecent assault offences. He was the most wanted man in the

Australian state The states and territories are the national subdivisions and second level of government of Australia. The states are partially sovereignty, sovereign, administrative divisions that are autonomous administrative division, self-governing polity, ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. Naden was charged with the January and June 2005 murders of two young women, aggravated indecent assault on a 15-year-old girl in 2004, and shooting with intent to murder a police officer in 2011, while he was on the run. Naden pleaded guilty to all 32 counts against him, and was sentenced to life imprisonment plus 40 years without

parole Parole, also known as provisional release, supervised release, or being on paper, is a form of early release of a prisoner, prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated ...

in June 2013.

Crimes

In June 2005, Kristy Scholes was found strangled to death in the

West Dubbo West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

home of her boyfriend's grandparents. A few days later, her boyfriend's cousin, Malcolm Naden, disappeared from that same home. Prior to Scholes' murder, Naden had been named as a suspect in the disappearance of another cousin, Lateesha Nolan, who had been reported missing in January 2005. In December 2005, police closed

Western Plains Zoo Taronga Western Plains Zoo, formerly known as (and still commonly referred to as) Western Plains Zoo and commonly known as Dubbo Zoo, is a large zoo in Dubbo, New South Wales, Australia. It opened to the public on 28 February 1977, to provide mo ...

, Dubbo after Naden was sighted there. There was an additional confirmed sighting of Naden over the next month near

Lightning Ridge Lightning Ridge is a small outback town in north-western New South Wales, Australia. Part of Walgett Shire, Lightning Ridge is situated near the southern border of Queensland, about east of the Castlereagh Highway. The Lightning Ridge area is ...

. In March 2006, Naden avoided capture at an Aboriginal mission, near

Condobolin Condobolin is a town in the west of the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia, on the Lachlan River. At the , Condobolin had a population of 3,185. History Prior to European settlement, the area was inhabited by the Wiradjuri pe ...

. In January 2007 police offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest. By January 2009, Naden was thought to be located near Kempsey, and by August 2010 he was believed to be living in dense bushland near

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

and

Scone A scone ( or ) is a traditional British and Irish baked good, popular in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is usually made of either wheat flour or oatmeal, with baking powder as a leavening agent, and baked on sheet pans. A scone is often ...

. By early 2011, the police doubled the reward to $100,000, and raised it further to $250,000 in December. On 7 December 2011, a police officer from the

Tactical Operations Unit The State Protection Group (SPG) is part of the Counter Terrorism & Special Tactics Command of the New South Wales Police Force and was established in 1991 to deal with extraordinary policing responses. The SPG directly supports police in high- ...

was shot by the fugitive during an unsuccessful operation to capture Naden in bushland near Nowendoc. Naden was subsequently charged with the attempted murder of the officer.

Capture

Naden was captured on 22 March 2012 in a run-down cabin approximately 30km west of Gloucester by heavily armed officers from the

in a night operation, and charged with the murder of Scholes. He faced court later that day and was refused bail. On 14 April 2012, Naden was escorted from

Goulburn Correctional Centre The Goulburn Correctional Centre, (also known as the Circle), is an Australian Supermax prison, supermaximum security prison for males. It is located in Goulburn, New South Wales, three kilometres north-east of the central business district. The f ...

to Dubbo, where he assisted police by identifying a site at Butlers Falls, south of Dubbo. It was suspected that the remains of his cousin, Lateesha Nolan, are buried at that site, but no remains had been found at that time. Naden was later charged with the murder of Nolan and 14 counts each of burglary and theft committed while on the run. In early December 2016 Police disclosed that remains were found at a location near the site investigated years earlier, which DNA testing confirmed belong to Ms Nolan.

Sentence

In 2013, Naden pleaded guilty to 18 offences including the murders of Scholes and Nolan. He received a minimum prison sentence of 21 years for Nolan's murder, but was given a life sentence for the murder of Scholes. Other charges included the attempted murder of the police officer in 2011, breaking and entering offences and the indecent assault of a 12-year-old girl. Justice Derek Price said Naden had shown no remorse and there was a high risk he would reoffend because he has threatened to kill again, stating that "Life outside of prison is not an option for you". Naden said "thank you, your honour" after the sentence was handed down. On 24 November 2013, while serving out his sentence, Naden was bashed by second cousin Dean Nolan, a relative of Lateesha Nolan, who was serving out a 24-year sentence at the time. Nolan, armed with a handle off a sandwich toaster, attacked Naden cracking several blows to Naden's head before being apprehended by prison staff. Nolan was later sentenced to an additional 12 months to his 24-year sentence for the attack on Naden, which he claimed was retribution for the heartache Naden had caused to his family.

Capture dramatised

A dramatised version of the capture of Naden was aired on television on the

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

on 11 September 2013. This special television event, an episode of '' The Force: Behind the Line'', presents the full story of "Strike Force Durkin", providing an insight into the fugitive that previously the viewers were not aware of. It re-aired on 13 September 2013 and again on 21 June 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Naden, Malcolm 1973 births 21st-century Australian criminals Indigenous Australians in New South Wales Australian people convicted of indecent assault Australian people convicted of murder Fugitives wanted by Australia Living people Place of birth missing (living people)