Two detectives brutally murdered a century ago in Western Australia's Goldfields have been remembered as 'incorruptible' and 'courageous' officers who did their duty to the end. WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch and WA Governor Chris Dawson led tributes at a public memorial on Tuesday for Detective Inspector John Walsh and Detective Sergeant Alexander Pitman.
On this day in 1926, the detectives were shot while trying to apprehend gold thieves near Kalgoorlie. Their charred and dismembered bodies were later found by Indigenous trackers at the bottom of a mine shaft, known as Miller's Find. Gold thieves William Coulter and Phillip Treffene were found guilty of wilful murder and hanged at Fremantle Gaol in October 1926.
Governor Dawson described the murders as 'one of the worst crimes committed against police officers in all of Australia'. He said the detectives were 'incorruptible, diligent, courageous … very experienced officers' who knew the risks but went about their duty, which cost them their lives.
Tuesday's 100th anniversary was formally commemorated at a public memorial site on the western outskirts of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, near the scene where the detectives' bodies were found. The memorial was rededicated in 2024 after being expanded to include storyboards detailing the history of the case.
Commissioner Blanch said the fallen detectives were among 89 WA police officers who have died in the line of duty. The great-great grandson of Inspector Walsh is now a sergeant at Armadale Police Station and was among about 30 descendants who attended the service. Gina Sambo, the great-great granddaughter of the Aboriginal trackers who found the officers, also spoke at the service.
The Eastern Goldfields Historical Society has for decades searched for the murder scene to commemorate the remote site. Vice-president Scott Wilson said they are very close to locating the exact site using technology with drones and surveys, and hope to create a permanent memorial there.
