58th Murderer: Bandali Debs and 59th Murderer: Jason Joseph Roberts  -  Victims:  Senior Constable Rod Miller, Sergeant Gary Silk, Kristy Mary Harty and Donna Anne Hicks

Bandali Michael Debs (born 18 July 1953) is an Australian convicted serial killer currently serving four consecutive terms of life imprisonment plus 27 years for the murder of two Victoria Police officers in August 1998 and for the 1997 murder of teenager Kristy Harty.

Debs was detained at HM Prison Barwon in Victoria. On 12 December 2011 he was convicted of the April 1995 shooting murder of NSW sex worker Donna Ann Hicks.  Donna Anne Hicks was shot dead in April 1995 in western Sydney.

 
Sergeant Gary Silk and Senior Constable Rod Miller

Debs was subsequently linked to the case through DNA analysis. Debs had been entered into a DNA database of criminals. On 30 September 2008, Melbourne detectives interviewed Debs and raided his previous address in Sydney. On 12 December 2011 he was found guilty of Hicks' murder in the New South Wales Supreme Court. He was sentenced to a fourth consecutive life term for the murder.

In Feb, 2003, Debs was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment with no minimum term for the murders of two Victoria Police officers, Sergeant Gary Silk and Senior Constable Rodney Miller at Moorabbin, Victoria on 16 August 1998.

Accomplice Jason Joseph Roberts, who was 22 at the time of sentencing, was also convicted of the police murders and sentenced to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment with a minimum term of 35 years.

  
Jason Joseph Roberts was 22 at the time of sentencing

On 20 June 2005, police charged Debs with the murder of troubled teenager Kristy Mary Harty, who was murdered at Upper Beaconsfield on 17 June 1997.

 
         Kristy Mary Harty                                              Donna Anne Hicks

Harty was soliciting for sex along the Princes Highway when she met with Debs. The pair drove to a secluded bush track in Upper Beaconsfield where they had unprotected sex. Harty was later murdered. Her semi-naked body was found lying face down by bushwalkers. A single gunshot wound was discovered at the rear of her head.

DNA tests revealed semen located on the body of Harty that was linked to Debs.  In May 2007, Debs was convicted of the murder of Harty and sentenced to a third consecutive term of life imprisonment.

In sentencing Debs, Justice Kaye remarked:

Your murder of Ms Harty was entirely senseless, needless and wanton. The evidence discloses beyond any doubt that this was not a case of a sexual encounter in which, in the heat of the moment, feelings or passions may have led to a spontaneous and irrational act of violence. Rather, and quite to the contrary, this was, most clearly, a callous, craven and senseless murder in cold blood of an entirely innocent, defenceless and vulnerable young woman. The evidence leads to the inevitable conclusion that you murdered Kristy Harty for no other reason than for the sheer sake of it.

Debs, now 67, will never be released from jail.  He has been behind bars for 18 years. Based on the average annual cost of Maximum Security Incarceration in 2020, should Debs live another 8 years to 75, his jail incarceration of 26 years will have cost the Vic. taxpayer $4.55 million circa ($175,000 p.a. X 26 years).

Roberts, now 39, will likely be released from jail at the completion of his sentence of 35 years aged 57.  He has been behind bars for 18 years. Based on the average annual cost of Maximum Security Incarceration in 2020, Roberts jail incarceration of 35 years will have cost the Vic. taxpayer $6.125 million circa ($175,000 p.a. X 35 years).

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