From the day Paddy went, it changed everything here, the whole vibe.
So that’s the reason I’m selling it.
I’ve got no choice.
All I want is to get this fucking monkey off my back.
“Owen do you know what happened to Paddy”
“No comment”
It is an unsolved homicide and we will continue as long as it takes, whatever it takes to
find out what happened to Paddy and Kellie.
“It is my pleasure to conduct the auction sale today.”
"The Pink Panther pub is being sold walk-in walk-out.
What you see is what you get ladies and gentlemen."
The crocodile is a really unique feature, it is one of the most beautifully kept crocodiles.
Now how unusual is it for you to sell a piece of real estate with a crocodile thrown in?
Well this will be the first.
He’s a monster.
He’s a huge crocodile.
I’ve developed a cancer, prostate cancer.
It looks like it’s going to be terminal and it's too much work here for me now, I
can’t do it.
From the day Paddy went it changed everything here, the whole vibe.
Then the wildlife park going that was the next step then Barry selling up will be the
final one.
All this time I’m going through this, I’ve got breast cancer.
I didn’t even know it.
Now it’s spread down to the back of my heart.
Hopefully the tablets I’m on can cure it,
maybe, maybe not.
The owner of a local pie shop in the Northern Territory town of Larrimah has denied she
had anything to do with the disappearance of Paddy Moriarty.
An inquest into the
suspected death of the 70-year-old man has examined an apparent ongoing feud between
the pair.
“Fran do you know what happened to Paddy?
This is an inquest into the suspected death, because at this stage there's no affirmation
of this death, we don't have a body.
It is likely that someone in Larrimah has evidence that might be helpful in establishing
what happened to Paddy.
Given the advanced age of many of the residents and you will all see that shortly, it was
considered by your honour to hold an inquest at an early date.
My name’s Kylie Stevenson and I’m a journalist and the co-producer of the Lost in Larrimah
podcast
Why are the media here Mr Kelvin.
I think they are going to write their books on it, a bit like Wolf Creek, in due course.
The population of Larrimah hovers around ten and almost everyone was called to give evidence
at the inquest, so it created this really extraordinary situation where all these
people had to travel 200 kilometres to Katherine to give evidence in the case and it was the
closest they had ever been to each other in a really long time.
Bobbie Roth gave evidence at the inquest that when she worked for Fran in her kitchen she
often said she wanted to kill Paddy, she was visibly upset when she gave this
evidence it was something that obviously played on her mind since Paddy had gone missing,
when her husband Carl Roth gave evidence he said he had heard Fran say those things
but to him it was nothing serious, there was no intent behind it and there was no danger
of anything happening.
I could not believe the lies that were told.
When I heard about what was said, that I threatened Paddy, that I threatened to kill Bill and
Paddy, matter of speech, everybody
says it, you know.
You say “do that again and I’ll kill you”.
Matter of speech.
I couldn’t hurt a flea, you know.
Maurice Darby was Fran Hodgett’s former gardener and kitchen hand at the teahouse
and he says he left Larrimah because she had been ripping customers off, buying pies from
the
supermarket, putting new fillings in and charging $13.50 for a 75 cent pie.
I have never ever ever sold a pie for $13 or $14 because I wouldn’t be able to sell
it that much anyway because people wouldn’t buy them.
Even if they built a pie factory next
to me it wouldn’t worry me because I’ve got my scones, I’ve got me cakes, I’ve
got me bread rolls, I don’t have to do pies.
It was suggested by a few of the residents at the inquest that Richard Simpson was jealous
of Paddy and his run of the bar, that he was the unofficial 2IC.
Richard said that
was completely untrue.
He said that Paddy was a mate of his and he really enjoyed having him at the pub
Last time the ABC came here Richard Simpson was working here and he isn’t anymore, what
happened there?
It was just a thing that he was starting to drink too much and some days he would be fairly
drunk by about lunchtime and I had to put a stop to it.
Do you feel that he should be investigated more closely.
I personally don’t think he had anything to do with it
Were any calls made from the Larrimah phone box on the night Paddy disappeared?
As we heard in the public inquest, at 6.30 and 6.31 two calls were attempted from the
phone box situated on the Stuart Highway at Larrimah.
Those calls did not connect.
Investigators believe the call was made by the neighbour of Paddy, we also don’t believe
the calls relate to the disappearance of Paddy.
The inquest heard that Owen Laurie made two phone calls from a phone booth in front of
his house on the night Paddy was last seen.
Around the time Paddy would have been
heading back from the pub.
In his evidence Owen said that he did not see Paddy on his quad bike, he didn’t even
hear the quad bike but he did make those two phone calls to an
IT company regarding problems he had with his computer.
Owen do you know what happened to Paddy?
No comment.
Four days before Paddy Moriarty went missing Ms Hodgetts claims he dragged a dead kangaroo
onto her property, the following day Mr Moriarty and Owen Laurie got into a heated
argument over their dogs but Mr Laurie strongly denied there was any aggression.
Ms Hodgetts gave the inquest a different account.
Owen said there’s going to be trouble and I said don’t do anything stupid.
I don’t want to come back and see you in jail.
Mr Laurie also told the court he was joking when he
told her “If anyone touches my plants it will be the first murder in Larrimah."
That is word of mouth speaking, I drummed it into him all the time what Paddy done to
me.
And it was a matter of, “okay, if you do it I’ll kill you” like that, but no he
wouldn’t hurt a man, he wouldn’t hurt anybody.
He wouldn’t hurt a dog.”
There were a number of dogs in Larrimah and they didn’t all get along.
Is there a possibility that some problem between the different animals that triggered a problem
between
the people of Larrimah that led to Paddy Moriarty’s disappearance?
Yes it is possible, everything is being investigated in relation to who had dogs, where the dogs
were at the time of his disappearance and how they were behaving.
We know for a fact some detectives have lost sleep over this.
It’s something that completely consumes yourself and your investigation team.
We are forever bouncing ideas off each other, running theories by each other we are dedicated
to
the investigation and trying to establish what happened.
Rotten.
Piece of shit, you know.
Rotten to the core.
Because nobody believes me.
I was treated so badly that some of the detectives were talking to me like as if I was an
idiot.
But I’m afraid they got the bull by the horns because I’m not stupid.
Fran Hodgetts has criticised the police investigation and the way she has been treated throughout
the process.
She’s criticised your role in questioning her.
Are you confident
that every step you have taken in this inquiry has been appropriate?
Yes I am.
I need to ask questions of all sorts of people.
I need to ask some tough questions at times.
Part of that was speaking to Fran and all the other occupants of
Larrimah.
Owen was questioned extensively at the inquest.
Yeah but I didn’t know anything about that.
Do you think that causes extra problems because he hasn’t stepped out to say his part?
It doesn’t look good, but I don’t know, I really don’t know, I know he never left
here.
I can’t say because I don’t have much to do with him.
I haven’t spoken to him for three
months because he’s in the room and he’s going to go.
He’s in the room just here?
Yeah.
I’m going to ask him to leave.
I think Larrimah was a place before that no one really cared about.
Since Paddy’s disappearance they have made a name for themselves which is quite sad.
They’ve had
journalists from all over the world knocking on their doors asking questions, tourists
ask about Paddy’s disappearance, everyone wants to know what happened.
Everyone had a
theory.
That’s how they have to live now fielding these questions from people who are
intrigued.
Did you have anything to do with the disappearance of Paddy Moriarty?
No way.
No I did not.
Do you think there could be an innocent explanation for this?
No.
The police already asked me that.
Because they knew I used to get to the stage where he used to piss me off and I wanted
to break his neck.
Even the police sat on the verandah
and asked if I had anything to do with knocking Paddy off and I said I’ve got no time for
mucking around, I’ll be honest sometimes I felt like it.
But it never happened.
Did you have anything to do with his disappearance?
No, not at all, why would I?
I know and Owen knows we didn’t do nothing to Paddy.
And I said you don’t know it and you gotta find it out.
And then I can sit back and say I told you so.
This should not be happening to me.
And me of all people!
I can’t believe it.
Owen do you know what happened to Paddy.
No comment.
Do police have any suspects at this stage?
As the investigation is ongoing I can’t discuss the specific status of individuals
other than to say we have persons of interest.
Who those persons are and why I cannot
discuss during an active investigation.
People loved him and we still miss him very much.
No-one’s found him yet and I don’t think they will.
It’s been going on for years where people have just disappeared off the place off the
earth and no-one’s got an explanation
for it.
Somebody knows something but I don’t know nothing.
I think Paddy would be wanting us to continue and find out what happened to him.
But for all that you love it here?
I love it.
Paddy Moriarty was last seen here leaving the Pink Panther Hotel on December 16 2017.
If you know anything about his disappearance please call Crimestoppers.