David Louis Opas (30 June 1936 – 23 June 1980) was a judge of the

Family Court of Australia The Family Court of Australia was a superior Australian federal court of record which deals with family law matters, such as divorce applications, parenting disputes, and the division of property when a couple separate. Together with the Fede ...

. He was shot and killed during a period when a series of related gun and bomb attacks, killing three more people, were carried out against judges and other people connected to the Family Court.

Private life

Opas was born on 30 June 1936 at

Waverley, Sydney Waverley is a suburb in the Eastern suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Waverley is located 7 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Waverley Council. Waverley Co ...

. His father Maurice was a commercial traveller, and his mother was Bessie (née Hart). Maurice was working as a canteen manager on , and died when the ship was sunk in 1941. Opas was educated at

Sydney Grammar School (Praise be to God) , established = , type = Independent, day school , gender = Boys , religious_affiliation = None , slogan = , headmaster = R. B. Malpass , founder = Laurence Hynes Halloran , chairman = ...

from 1947 to 1953 as a Legacy ward. Opas married Kristin Mary Bisset (née Deck), a 29-year-old divorced assistant-pharmacist, on 17 December 1970 in Sydney. They had two children, a son and daughter.

Legal career

Opas worked as an articled clerk with solicitors Pike & Pike while he studied part-time at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

and passed the Barristers' Admission Board examinations. He was admitted to the New South Wales Bar on 26 July 1963. Opas was appointed as a judge to the Family Court of Australia on 27 October 1977.

Death

Opas was shot outside his home in

Woollahra Woollahra is a suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Woollahra is located 5 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Woollahra. W ...

on the night of 23 June 1980, and died later that night in St Vincent's Hospital, Darlinghurst. Opas was buried with Jewish rites in Rookwood Cemetery, Sydney. On 29 July 2015 68-year-old Leonard John Warwick was arrested by detectives at Campbelltown, New South Wales over the shooting murder of Opas, bomb death of Pearl Watson, wife of Judge Ray Watson, two other murders, one by gunshot, and bomb attacks from 1980 to 1985, all related to the Family Court of Australia. On 23 July 2020, Warwick was found guilty of the murder of Opas, and two of three other murders. He was also found guilty of numerous other offences, but not guilty of one shooting.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Opas, David 1936 births 1980 deaths Judges of the Family Court of Australia Australian murder victims Victims of serial killers