Colin Stanley Winchester (18 October 1933 – 10 January 1989) was an assistant commissioner in the Australian Federal Police (AFP). Winchester commanded

ACT Police ACT Policing is the portfolio of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) responsible for providing policing services to the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). The Australian Capital Territory Police was an independent police force responsible for ...

, the community policing component of the AFP responsible for the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. I ...

. In 1989 he was assassinated by an unknown perpetrator.

Background

Winchester, the son of a baker, worked as a miner near before joining the Australian Capital Territory Police Force in 1962, aged 29 years. The ACT Police and Commonwealth Police were merged in 1979 to form the Australian Federal Police (AFP).

Death

On 10 January 1989, at about 9:15 pm, Winchester was shot twice in the head with a

Ruger 10/22 The Ruger 10/22 is a series of semi-automatic rifles produced by American firearm manufacturer Sturm, Ruger & Co., chambered for the .22 Long Rifle rimfire cartridge. It uses a patented 10-round rotary magazine, though higher capacity box ma ...

.22-calibre

semi-automatic rifle A semi-automatic rifle is an autoloading rifle that fires a single cartridge with each pull of the trigger, and uses part of the fired cartridge's energy to eject the case and load another cartridge into the chamber. For comparison, a bolt-a ...

fitted with a

Suppressor A silencer, also known as a sound suppressor, suppressor, or sound moderator, is a muzzle device that reduces the acoustic intensity of the muzzle report (sound of a gunshot) and muzzle rise when a gun (firearm or air gun) is discharged, b ...

and killed as he parked his car in the driveway of his neighbour’s premises in Deakin, Canberra. Winchester is Australia's most senior police officer to have been murdered. At the time of Winchester's murder, it was alleged that Winchester was corrupt; at any earlier period when it was said that he had handled bribes relating to a Canberra illegal casino. However, an audit of Winchester's financial affairs after his murder revealed nothing untoward. There were also allegations of 'Ndrangheta or

Mafia "Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...

involvement in his murder. The story of Winchester's murder was dramatised in '' Police Crop: The Winchester Conspiracy''.

Murder suspects

David Eastman

Prior to Winchester's murder, David Harold Eastman, a 44-year-old former Treasury Department

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are ...

, had made threats against Winchester's life. In 1995 Eastman was tried and convicted of the murder of Winchester and was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. During the 85-day trial, Eastman repeatedly sacked his legal team and eventually chose to represent himself. Eastman also abused the judge during his trial, and during later legal proceedings and appeals. Subsequent to his conviction, Eastman continuously appealed against his conviction, attempting to win a retrial on the basis that he was mentally unfit during his original trial. On 27 May 2009, Eastman was transferred from the

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

in New South Wales to the ACT's

Alexander Maconochie Centre The Alexander Maconochie Centre is an Australian prison in the Australian Capital Territory, which detains maximum security, minimum security and remand inmates, both male and female. It is located in Hume, Australian Capital Territory. The f ...

to see out his sentence. A new inquiry relating to his conviction was announced in August 2012. In 2014, the inquiry, headed by Justice

Brian Ross Martin Brian Ross Martin (born 2 September 1947) is an Australian jurist. He was a judge of the Supreme Court of South Australia before being appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory in 2004. He served in the Northern ...

, found there had been "a substantial miscarriage of justice", Eastman "did not receive a fair trial", the forensic evidence on which the conviction was based was "deeply flawed" and recommended the conviction be

quashed Quashed (foaled 1932) was a British-bred and British-trained racehorse, winner of The Oaks in 1935. For many years, the Verdict family was not accepted into the British Stud Book because Quashed's dam was effectively a half-bred and it was ...

. However Martin said he was "fairly certain" Eastman was guilty but "a nagging doubt remains". In 2016 it was reported that the ACT Government sought a retrial of Eastman over the murder of Winchester; and that the legal precedings had cost the ACT Government approximately 30 million. Meanwhile, Eastman lodged a

civil claim A cause of action or right of action, in law, is a set of facts sufficient to justify suing to obtain money or property, or to justify the enforcement of a legal right against another party. The term also refers to the legal theory upon which a p ...

against the ACT Government seeking compensation for wrongful imprisonment; and on 14 October 2019 Eastman was awarded 7.02 million in compensation. On 22 November 2018, Eastman was found not guilty of Winchester's murder after a lengthy re-trial.

Other suspects

In media reports following the quashing of Eastman's wrongful conviction and the subsequent retrial, it was reported that Winchester's death may be linked to connections associated with the 'Ndrangheta.

Legacy

Following his murder the Winchester Police Centre, located in Benjamin Way,

Belconnen The District of Belconnen () is one of the original eighteen districts of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), used in land administration. The district is subdivided into 27 divisions (suburbs), sections and blocks. The district of Belconn ...

, was established in 1994 as the headquarters for ACT Police. The Winchester Police Centre houses ACT Police Executive, administrative and support sections and elements of the Territory Investigations Group (TIG).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Winchester, Colin 1933 births 1989 deaths Male murder victims Australian Federal Police Recipients of the Australian Police Medal People murdered in the Australian Capital Territory Deaths by firearm in the Australian Capital Territory Chief Police Officers of ACT Policing 1989 in Australia Coroner's investigations in Australia