Rampaging guman kills his ex-girlfriend, 5 others

The San Antonioo Light

October 28, 1992

SYDNEY, Australia -- A man went on a shooting spree through three coastal towns Tuesday night, killing his former girlfriend, her pregnant sister and four others before surrendering to authorities, police said.

Another man was seriously injured in the hour-long assault. The gunman, whose name was not released, was charged with murder.

Guman slays his ex-girlfriend, 5 others

Australian police say suspect is believed to have taken out classified ad in paper announcing his love for first victim

Thursday, October 29, 1992

The classified ad in Wednesday's Central Coast Express newspaper was addressed to 23-year-old Kerry Gannan at the nursing home where she worked:

`But I still love you. Mac.'

Ms. Gannan never got a chance to read it. She was killed, along with her father, pregnant 18-year-old sister and three other people in a shooting rampage Tuesday, night in three coastal communities north of Sydney.

Police believe the ad was placed by Malcolm Baker, a 45-year-old auto mechanic who was charged with six counts of murder and one count of attempted murder in one of Australia's worst mass slayings. Baker dated Ms. Gannan for several years before she broke off the relationship about six weeks ago.

Angry friends and relatives of the victims began gathering outside Gosford Local Court hours before Baker's arrival Wednesday.

A man and a woman were ejected from the courtroom after threatening to kill Baker. `Don't think about reading any long books!' the man shouted.

The goateed, slightly built Baker did not enter a plea, and Magistrate Bruce Butler ruled out the possibility of bail. The next court hearing was scheduled for Dec. 18.

In addition to Ms. Gannan, those killed were her father, Thomas, 43, and sister, Lisa; Baker's 27-year-old son, David; and Ross Smith, 35; and Leslie Read, 25.

The shooting rampage began in Terrigal, 37 miles north of Sydney. Neighbors reported hearing shouts, then five or six blasts from a pump-action shotgun at 9:12 p.m. at the apartment Kerry Gannan shared with her sister.

The gunman drove away, leaving the sisters' father dead in the street. He had come to visit for a few days while taking time off between jobs.

Christopher Gall, a 22-year-old friend of the sisters, sat screaming in the street with a gunshot wound to his face that left him hospitalized in serious condition.

Police found Kerry Gannan dead in a chair. The body of Lisa, due to give birth in December, was in a bedroom. Efforts to save the baby failed. Her fiance, a Sydney policeman, learned of the massacre while at work.

Killed about 10 minutes later in nearby Bateau Bay was David Baker. His body was found in the back yard of the house he rented with his wife and baby. The shooting spree ended shortly before 10 p.m. in North Wyong, nine miles to the northwest. Smith was killed at the home he shared with Ms. Read, who died two hours later.

At 11 p.m., Baker walked into a police station and surrendered, handing over a shotgun.