Edward James Murray (6 December 1959 – 12 June 1981) was an Australian

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

player who was controversially found dead in his police cell in the

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

town of

Wee Waa Wee Waa () is a town located on the north-western slopes of the New England region in New South Wales, Australia. The town is within the Narrabri Shire local government area and is on the Namoi River. Wee Waa is north-west of Narrabri and nort ...

within an hour of having been detained for being drunk and disorderly under the 1979 Intoxicated Persons Act (a law repealed in 2005). Murray had planned to travel to Sydney, to join the

Redfern All Blacks The Redfern All Blacks, also known as RABs or Redfern, are an Indigenous Australian semi-professional rugby league club based in Redfern, New South Wales, They are a part of the South Sydney District Junior Rugby Football League. History Redfe ...

Rugby League team's tour of New Zealand when he was detained. Police claimed that they found Murray hanging in his cell at the Wee Waa Police Station around 3:30pm, and argued that he committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

, although this occurred prior to the majority of Aboriginal deaths in custody which were later examined in the 1987 Royal Commission. He was 21 years old at the time. Eddie Murray's parents, Leila Jane (née Button) and Arthur Edward Murray remained unconvinced that their son's death was a suicide, and fought for a more extensive investigation into Murray's death. Murray's death has helped to draw attention to the issue of

Aboriginal deaths in custody Aboriginal deaths in custody is a political and social issue in Australia. It rose in prominence in the early 1980s, with Aboriginal activists campaigning following the death of 16-year-old John Peter Pat in 1983. Subsequent deaths in custody ...

. Murray's case has drawn the attention of several investigations, including the Muirhead Royal Commission, the NSW Anti-Discrimination Board Report on Street Offences, and his case was one of the first to be investigated by the

Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC) (1987–1991), also known as the Muirhead Commission, was a Royal Commission appointed by the Australian Government in October 1987 to Federal Court judge James Henry Muirhead, ...

in 1988. In 1997, Murray's body was exhumed and re- autopsied, revealing a previously undetected smashed sternum, and a forensic pathologist determined that the injury had most likely occurred immediately prior to his death. Despite this, the details of his death remain a mystery, and still no one has been officially implicated in his death. This has been to the dissatisfaction of Murray's family, who have called for a more extensive inquiry.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Eddie 1959 births 1981 deaths Place of birth missing Indigenous Australian rugby league players Deaths in police custody in Australia

See also

References