54th Murderer:
Malcolm George Baker
-
Victims: Lisa Gannan 18, Kerryanne Gannan 23 and her unborn child, Thomas Gannon
43, David Baker 27, Ross Smith
Malcolm Baker (born 13 Aug 1947)
is an Australian
spree
killer from Terrigal, NSW, serving six sentences of
life imprisonment for the shooting massacre of seven people, including an
unborn child, in
Terrigal,
Bateau Bay and
Wyong on the evening of 27 October 1992.
Kerryanne and
Lisa Gannan
Kerryanne was 8
mths pregnant
Their father Thomas Gannon also killed
The shootings started at 9:12
p.m. at the Terrigal apartment of his ex-girlfriend Kerry Gannon and her younger
sister Lisa Gannon. Baker used his shotgun to smash the front window.
22-year-old Christopher Gall, a friend of the sisters, was the first person
shot, suffering a gunshot wound to the face. Baker then entered the house and
shot Gannon dead. Moving through the house he shot dead Lisa, who was 8 months
pregnant; later efforts to save her unborn baby failed. Their father, Thomas
Gannon, 43, who had been visiting for a few days, was found dead in the street.
Baker then drove to the resort of
Bateau Bay, where he arrived about ten minutes later, at the home of his
27-year-old son David. Baker shot his son through the back of his head.
His body was discovered in the back yard of the home he shared with his wife and
baby.
Baker then went to the home of
Ross Smith, 35, and Leslie Read, 25, in Wyong. Arriving there shortly before 10
p.m., he shot and critically injured Read, then finding Smith in the bathtub
shot and killed him instantly. Read died two hours later in hospital. Smith and
Baker had had a confrontation about two years prior, over a business deal gone
sour.
At 11.00 p.m., Baker walked into
Toukley police station, surrendered, and handed over a Sawed-off Remington
12-gauge double-barrelled shotgun. He
was charged with six counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.
Baker,
now 73, will never be released from jail. He has been behind bars for
27½ years. Based on the average annual cost of
Maximum Security Incarceration
in 2020, should Baker
live another 2 years to
75, his jail incarceration of 29½ years will have cost the Vic. taxpayer
$6.650 million circa ($175,000 p.a. X 29½ years).
Inmate - Malcolm George Baker
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
|
Malcolm George Baker
|
| Born |
(1947-08-13)
13 August 1947
(age 72)
|
| |
|
Conviction(s) |
Murder x 6 |
| Criminal penalty |
6 x life imprisonment without parole |
|
Details |
| Date |
27 October 1992 |
| Killed |
7 |
| Injured |
1 |
| Weapons |
Sawed-off
Remington 12-gauge double-barrelled shotgun |
| |
Malcolm George Baker (born 13 August 1947) is an
Australian
spree killer from
Terrigal, New South Wales, currently serving six sentences
of
life imprisonment[1]
for the shooting massacre of seven people, including an unborn
child, in
Terrigal,
Bateau Bay and
Wyong[2]
on the evening of 27 October 1992 (known as the
Central Coast massacre).
Shootings
The shootings started at 9:12 p.m. at the
Terrigal apartment of his ex-girlfriend Kerry Gannon and her
younger sister Lisa Gannon. Baker used his shotgun to smash the
front window. 22-year-old Christopher Gall, a friend of the
sisters, was the first person shot, suffering a gunshot wound to
the face. Baker then entered the house and shot Gannon dead.
Moving through the house he shot dead Lisa, who was 8 months
pregnant; later efforts to save her unborn baby failed. Their
father, Thomas Gannon, 43, who had been visiting for a few days,
was found dead in the street.
Baker then drove to the resort of
Bateau Bay, where he arrived about ten minutes later, at the
home of his 27-year-old son David. Baker shot his son through
the back of his head.
[3] His body was discovered in the back yard of the
home he shared with his wife and baby.
Baker then went to the home of Ross Smith, 35, and Leslie
Read, 25, in
Wyong, 15 kilometres north of Bateau Bay. Arriving there
shortly before 10 p.m., he shot and critically injured Read,
then finding Smith in the bathtub shot and killed him instantly.
Read died two hours later in hospital. Smith and Baker had had a
confrontation about two years prior, over a business deal gone
sour.
At 11.00 p.m., Baker walked into
Toukley police station, surrendered, and handed over a
Sawed-off
Remington
12-gauge
double-barrelled shotgun.[4]
He was charged with six counts of murder and one count of
attempted murder.
“It
has taken of my family, it took my baby -
November
4, 2017
But for the Ann Gannan, now 64, it was nothing compared to what she had endured
before becoming homeless, in the NSW Central Coast.
It
was the place where she hid from the world and turned to drugs to numb the pain
that consumed her after the murders of his two daughters, his father and his
grandson to be born.
Kerryann, 23, and Lisa, 18 years old, have been killed by Malcolm Baker, who
went on a shooting rampage on the night of October 27, 1992. He murdered six
people, including his own son ” and at least one child to be born in Terrigal,
Bateau Bay and Wyong in a bloody war that shook the sea region, about 80
kilometres north of Sydney.
He
took my family, he has taken my babies that I brought into the world, ” Ann
said. He took me and left me with just a shell of what I used to be.¯
Ann has spoken exclusively on the horrors of the massacre for the first time to
commemorate the 25th anniversary of the tragedy of last week. She also offered a
rare insight into the impact of killing can have on the victims family members
and revealed how the trauma sent spiraling out of control.
She said that in her pain of losing her daughters and Lisa’s unborn son ” who
was due to be born just four weeks later ” was exacerbated by a large part of
what happened after the fact.
Lisa Gannan and Kerryann Gannan
The sisters have been murdered by Baker, who went on a shooting rampage on the
new south wales Central Coast in October 1992.
Ann said that she has never had to look for the killer in the eyes during his
1993 trial.
He
asked as a screen to protect it from the view of us in the court, and it was
granted,¯
she said.
At
the time, I didn’t know much about the murder cases and I’m thinking: “You have
done something horrible, but still you have requested (for a screen to be put up
because you do not want to see what damage you have left behind you?
This is when I started to be disgusted because we have been left in the dark.¯
But Ann don’t let that stop her to give her a piece of his mind. She took the
time to hit back when the Baker was sentenced to life without the possibility of
parole and was escorted out of the court. It was perhaps the last chance she had
ever had to draft him hurt the man she thought deserved to wear the most.
I
screamed on the side of the truck when it was out and I said: You piece of …
what do I call it? Oxygen thief. And I called a number of other things not very
feminine,¯
she said.
Many years have since passed. But the time has not been kind to Ann. It is
allowed to more unanswered questions to arise, more guilt to build and most of
the sadness to overwhelm him.
If
she could speak to Baker now, it would not be to offer him forgiveness.
(I
would say:) you broke me, you literally stripped me … down for anything …
because he has, ” Ann said. I want to say that he has spent more than 25 years,
and yet I still have visions. Even sitting here now, I can tell you that just
from this evening, who was there what was there.
It
is an ongoing thing with me all the time.
I
blame myself (because) I wish I had done more. But what can you do? You can’t
fight a gun. I am convinced of this now because the girls had no chance, nor
does my husband.¯
AFTER THE KILLINGS
Ann has not hit the bottom immediately. Instead she threw herself into the work
with victims of homicide support groups and has been asked to provide countless
lectures to police officers at the training academy.
I
helped Anita Cobby, daddy,¯
she said of the young murder victim’s
father, who had sought help from a homicide support group, she has been
affiliated.
Ann has also continued to work on the conditional release and the protection of
the community boards for several years.
I
felt good, then,¯
she said.
But there are so many parts of grief and the mine not to go in the order in
which they used to say.¯
As
the feelings of grief and loss, Ann soon began to take drugs and ended up in the
street, where she remained for three years.
I
lost everything. I lost the lot. I wanted to die,¯
she said. I
wanted to be with my girls and I thought (drugs) have been the fastest way to
get to them.
This is all that I wanted to be with my girls and I tried. God did not want me,
I guess.¯
It
was the love for her two sons and grandchildren, which has helped them to get
out of the depth of a black hole.
My
son has given me an ultimatum and said that if I didn’t have the right, I would
lose my grandchildren and I didn’t want to lose my grandchildren, ” Ann said.
I
cleaned up my act a bit … I’m back on my feet again and have a place to live.¯
Ann said she has settled¯
in a modest house on the new south wales Central Coast and has been clean for 12
years.
Sometimes, I’ll go to therapy and, sometimes, they will tell you that there is
nothing they can do for you and me,¯
she said.
But she is still haunted by the past.
It
does not do me any good because he is sitting in prison, said Ann Baker, who was
sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
He
still can see his children or grandchildren, or everything he has achieved.
I’m so ashamed of myself thinking about how much I let him get to me.¯
Thomas Gannan, the father of Kerryann and Lisa, was among six people killed by
Malcolm Baker on the NSW Central Coast in Oct. 1992.
Lisa Gannan, 18, was eight months pregnant when she was murdered.
“I
AM CONSTANTLY REMINDED OF WHAT HAS BEEN LOST”
Ann had eight grandchildren, six boys and two girls” but often wonders how she
might have had if her girls were still alive. Which would, or might, have been
constantly gnawing away at her.
They were both workaholics, they have got beautiful houses, get married,¯
she said.
They (each) have a life.¯
His heart breaks for her two sons who lost their father and sisters at such a
young age.
I
see fathers and babies, and I am constantly reminded of that (my two sons) has
lost and that they are missing out on their dad, ” Ann said.
(Baker) had no right to take them.¯
It
switches back and forth between referring to its girls in the past and present
tense, as if the tragedy had recently taken place. According to Ann, an element
of surrealism is always there when a loved one ” or both ” is murdered, no
matter how much time passes.
Kerryann is a private person, so she would have chosen a man who suited her, ”
Ann said.
And Lisa was going to have friends all over the place. She is a pirate. You are
not safe with her (joke). But it was so funny the things she was going to do.
Everyone loved it.
They are both good girls.¯
megan.palin@news.com.au
| 
