Malcolm John Naden (born 5 November 1973) is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

former

fugitive A fugitive (or runaway) is a person who is fleeing from custody, whether it be from jail, a government arrest, government or non-government questioning, vigilante violence, or outraged private individuals. A fugitive from justice, also known ...

from the law. At the time of his capture and arrest in March 2012, Naden was reported as being one of Australia's most wanted men and his arrest attracted international media coverage. Naden was in hiding from June 2005 until March 2012, wanted over murder and indecent assault offences. He was the most wanted man in the

Australian state The states and territories are federated administrative divisions in Australia, ruled by regional governments that constitute the second level of governance between the federal government and local governments. States are self-governing ...

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 ...

. Naden was charged with the January and June 2005 murders of two young women, aggravated indecent assault on a 15-year-old girl in 2004, and shooting with intent to murder a police officer in 2011, while he was on the run. Naden pleaded guilty to all 32 counts against him, and was sentenced to life imprisonment plus 40 years without

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

in June 2013.

Crimes

In June 2005, Kristy Scholes was found strangled to death in the West Dubbo home of her boyfriend's grandparents. A few days later, her boyfriend's cousin, Malcolm Naden, disappeared from that same home. Prior to Scholes' murder, Naden had been named as a suspect in the disappearance of another cousin, Lateesha Nolan, who had been reported missing in January 2005. In December 2005, police closed

Western Plains Zoo Taronga Western Plains Zoo, formerly known as (and still commonly referred to as) Western Plains Zoo and commonly known as Dubbo Zoo, is a large zoo near Dubbo, New South Wales, Australia. It opened to the public on 28 February 1977, to provide ...

, Dubbo after Naden was sighted there. There was an additional confirmed sighting of Naden over the next month near

Lightning Ridge Lightning Ridge is a small outback town in north-western New South Wales, Australia. Part of Walgett Shire, Lightning Ridge is situated near the southern border of Queensland, about east of the Castlereagh Highway. The Lightning Ridge area is ...

. In March 2006, Naden avoided capture at an Aboriginal mission, near

Condobolin Condobolin is a town in the west of the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia, on the Lachlan River. At the , Condobolin had a population of 3,486. History Prior to European settlement, the area was inhabited by the Wiradjuri pe ...

. In January 2007, police placed an A$50,000

bounty Bounty or bounties commonly refers to: * Bounty (reward), an amount of money or other reward offered by an organization for a specific task done with a person or thing Bounty or bounties may also refer to: Geography * Bounty, Saskatchewan, a g ...

on his capture. By January 2009, Naden was thought to be located near Kempsey, and by August 2010 he was believed to be living in dense bushland near

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

and

Scone A scone is a baked good, usually made of either wheat or oatmeal with baking powder as a leavening agent, and baked on sheet pans. A scone is often slightly sweetened and occasionally glazed with egg wash. The scone is a basic component of th ...

. By early 2011, the police doubled Naden's bounty to A$100,000, and increased it further again to A$250,000 in December. On 7 December 2011, a police officer from the

Tactical Operations Unit The State Protection Group (SPG) is part of the Counter Terrorism & Special Tactics Command of the New South Wales Police Force and was established in 1991 to deal with extraordinary policing responses. The SPG directly supports police in high- ...

was shot by the fugitive during an unsuccessful operation to capture Naden in bushland near

Nowendoc Nowendoc is a parish and village on the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. It is 360 km north of the state capital, Sydney, 66 km south of Walcha in the Walcha Shire local government area. A sealed road, Thunderbolts Wa ...

. Naden was subsequently charged with the attempted murder of the officer.

Capture

Naden was captured on 22 March 2012 in a run-down cabin approximately west of Gloucester by heavily armed officers from the

in a night operation, and charged with the murder of Scholes. He faced court later that day and was refused bail. On 14 April 2012, Naden was escorted from

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 ...

to Dubbo, where he assisted police by identifying a site at Butlers Falls, south of Dubbo. It was suspected that the remains of his cousin, Lateesha Nolan, are buried at that site, but no remains had been found at that time. Naden was later charged with the murder of Nolan and 14 counts each of burglary and theft committed while on the run. In early December 2016 Police disclosed that remains were found at a location near the site investigated years earlier, which DNA testing confirmed belong to Ms Nolan.

Sentence

In 2013, Naden pleaded guilty to 18 offences including the murders of Scholes and Nolan. He received a minimum prison sentence of 21 years for Nolan's murder, but was given a life sentence for the murder of Scholes. Other charges included the attempted murder of the police officer in 2011, breaking and entering offences and the indecent assault of a 12-year-old girl. Justice Derek Price said Naden had shown no remorse and there was a high risk he would reoffend because he has threatened to kill again, stating that "Life outside of prison is not an option for you". Naden said "thank you, your honour" after the sentence was handed down. On 24 November 2013, while serving out his sentence, Naden was bashed by second cousin Dean Nolan, a relative of Lateesha Nolan, who was serving out a 24-year sentence at the time. Nolan, armed with a handle off a sandwich toaster, attacked Naden cracking several blows to Naden's head before being apprehended by prison staff. Nolan was later sentenced to an additional 12 months to his 24-year sentence for the attack on Naden, which he claimed was retribution for the heartache Naden had caused to his family.

Capture dramatised

A dramatised version of the capture of Naden was aired on television on the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

on 11 September 2013. This special television event, an episode of '' The Force: Behind the Line'', presents the full story of "Strike Force Durkin", providing an insight into the fugitive that previously the viewers were not aware of. It re-aired on 13 September 2013 and again on 21 June 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Naden, Malcolm 1973 births 21st-century Australian criminals Indigenous Australians in New South Wales Australian people convicted of indecent assault Australian people convicted of murder Fugitives Fugitives wanted by Australia Living people Place of birth missing (living people)