Decade of death
No city or region wants to be associated with murder and manslaughter, but Southern NSW and North East Victoria both had violent multiple deaths during the past 10 years.
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It was April 21, 2013, when Ian Thomas killed his parents Bill and Pauline Thomas at their Great Alpine Road home in East Wangaratta. He strangled his mother in the shed, then moved the body inside where he waited for his father and fired a shotgun into his chest before beating his head with a pick-axe.
Then there were four deaths around Wangaratta in just 19 months: Russell Berry was killed in a violent brawl in White Street, Ora Holt was shot and killed by her partner after fleeing their Belle Avenue home, Whorouly's Karen Chetcuti Verbunt was killed by her neighbour and 11-year-old Zoe Buttigieg died at the hands of a visitor in her home. Then the body of Nathan Day was found buried in a Wangaratta backyard in September 2018.
"The escalation of the violent crime is a surprise to us all," Murray Valley MP Tim McCurdy said in 2017.
The sentencing of Ms Chetcuti Verbunt's killer Michael Cardamone became an important point in Victorian justice history when he became the first person sentenced to life in jail without parole, without having committed a prior murder.
MORE DECADE IN REVIEW COVERAGE:
In Lavington, Adam Azzi was found guilty of manslaughter - rather than murder - after stabbing Lloyd Kennedy in November 2016. He will be sentenced later this year.
There has also been numerous efforts this case to solve an ever longer mystery: the brutal murder of Corowa teenager Bronwynne Richardson in 1973.
After pleas from her family for justice, the reward for information that lead to a conviction was increased to $200,000 in 2010 and again to $1 million in 2019, as a television investigation aired, featuring interviews with investigators.
The terrible truth about the brutal babysitter Mandy Martyn was finally confirmed in 2014 when the Victorian coroner handed down her findings that she caused the death of Myrtleford toddler Daniel Thomas in 2003 after weeks of torture. Police have never charged her with criminal offences related to the death.
Asked by the media to comment on the coroner's findings at the time, Martyn replied "f--- off dogs".
Dangerous drugs
Back in 2013 the big worry when it came to drugs was the synthetic substance "white bull", which was being sold for $150 at Erotic Nights in Wodonga at the time - one couple told The Border Mail it had led to a $600 a day habit.
But the drug of the 2010s was methamphetamine, known simply as ice.
In Wangaratta, running an ice syndicate where debts were enforced with violence became so profitable that three people tried it in succession - despite the fact that they all ended up in jail.
Aaron Dalton was sentenced to a maximum of nine years in jail in 2014, then came a six-year jail term for 26-year old Jessica Fogarty in 2016, and Jasmine Bourne receive a maximum of eight years in 2018.
There were also big drugs rings in Southern NSW towards the end of the decade.
Thomas Alfred Purtell, 47, played a significant role in "spreading misery in the community" as part of the West Albury drug ring and was sentenced in October 2019 to six years' jail, while alleged syndicate boss Mohammed El-Zayat is still to face trial.
A $1 million-plus heroin haul found stashed in a car pulled over near Albury in July 2019 was also an "off-shoot" of a major Sydney-based drug investigation and two men are in Junee jail awaiting trial.
Crimes of fire
The Opera In The Alps event in January 2016 was overshadowed by a deliberately-lit fire which destroyed Beechworth's IGA supermarket. A 15-year-old girl from the town was charged with starting the blaze, which put the jobs of 50 employees at risk.
Rocky Pereira, the manager of cafe RM Fresh who torched the venue, caused $141,749 in damage to the electrical room at the complex, and $50,000 in damage to the cafe in 2018.
Two teenagers have also been accused of attempted murder and Albury police said they will face "strong and long-term custodial sentences" if found guilty, after firefighters rescued a 16-year-old girl with stab wounds from a North Albury home in November this year.
Cops, bad footballers, a kangaroo killer
Former police detective and now Wangaratta-based businessman Paul Dale was catapulted into the limelight after drug lord Carl Williams was bashed to death in a high security prison 2010 and allegation again came out in relation to the death of police informer Terence Hodson.
Dale remained in the spotlight in 2019 during the Lawyer X royal commission.
A 19-year-old by the name of Nigel Franks became the enemy of animal rights activists in 2012 when he hit a kangaroo with his car, kicked it to death, threw its joey away, tied it up behind his car and dragged its carcass two kilometres through the streets of Wodonga before dumping it in High Street.
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He was sentenced to six months' jail, suspended for 12 months, fined $750 and placed on a 12-month community corrections order.
Police were called to investigate when Albury Tigers player Brayden O'Hara was videoed urinating in the premiership cup at Albury hospital after the 2016 O and M grand final.
But Jarrah Maksymow was the most controversial Border footballer - he was to be arrested in relation to assault, break-and-enter and driving offences following an incident at a Springdale Heights, but fled from a footy match at half time to get away from officers.
He was last year sentenced to a five-month intensive corrections order for assaulting his ex-partner.