FILE 392 / 27 May 2023 / 69 MIN / express

The Face Of Evil

Nowra, New South WalesListen

The town

N ↑Public placeTown centre (approximate places)
Static locations; no street basemap. Places and details. OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap.

James says they are going to Nowra, in the South Coast region of New South Wales, about a hundred miles from Sydney about 0:04:13

History, in brief

Town note

Nowra was originally known to Europeans as Nowranna Woorunna (given as 'no ru na woo-ru'); the indigenous Australians pronounced it 'nawa nawa', said to be the Aboriginal word for the black cockatoo.

about 0:05:56

1824

In 1824 an ex-convict named Mary Reibey applied for a land grant in the area on the southern side of the Shoalhaven River.

about 0:06:28
All 3 history facts

Town note

Nowra was originally known to Europeans as Nowranna Woorunna (given as 'no ru na woo-ru'); the indigenous Australians pronounced it 'nawa nawa', said to be the Aboriginal word for the black cockatoo.

about 0:05:56

1824

In 1824 an ex-convict named Mary Reibey applied for a land grant in the area on the southern side of the Shoalhaven River.

about 0:06:28

The figures, as told

Money

Median household incomeabout 50,000 Australian dollars
All figures and comparisons, as told in 2023

Population

"22,584"

No direction stated.

As told in 2023 about 0:05:09

Median household income

"about 50,000 Australian dollars"

No direction stated.

As told in 2023 about 0:05:12

Median property price

"690,000 dollars"

Comparison: "against an annual income of about 50,000". No direction stated.

As told in 2023 about 0:05:26

The reviews

3.5 / 5 · average of 2

5 stars

“A good working area: great cafes, food and coffee, nice businesses, pleasant locals, easy to get around, road and bridge upgrades coming, lots of good schools and still affordable real estate; a professional thinking of moving should do it.”
about 0:07:22

2 stars

“'Shabby CBD' stuck in a 1950s time warp: wants the main street pedestrianised, complains of high gutters, no wheelchair access and outdated retailers, and wants Stockland bulldozed, the hospital and ambulance moved to South Nowra and the CBD extended toward the river.”
about 0:08:00

“A reviewer calls the whole of Nowra a complete dump, east, south, north and west, says they moved there 19 years ago because Sydney house prices were too expensive and have regretted it every day.”
about 0:09:08

“The same reviewer adds a second review saying the place is boring, too laid back, outdated and backwards.”
about 0:09:32

In New South Wales

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The story

The episode is set in Nowra, a town of 22,584 people in the South Coast region of New South Wales, about a hundred miles from Sydney. The murders happened in 2006, in the town and nearby forest.

Gregory Hosa, 56, and his wife Catherine McKay, 44, owned Champagne Shires, a 28-hectare horse farm where they boarded and trained horses and showed Shire horses at the Royal Easter Show. They had a ten-year-old son and were regarded as pillars of the community. She had been married since 1999 to Paul, a Defence Force parachute technician. In August 2005 he was posted to Wodonga and took their two daughters; they remained legally married and on good terms. She became fixated on owning Champagne Shires.

They laughed, and some of them rang Paul, who did not believe it. When she owed about 300 dollars in boarding fees, the Hosas told her not to worry, which angered her.

Back in Nowra she phoned Greg from her old house and asked him to come over. As he came in he was struck on the head with a heavy piece of wood, later described as a bird perch, then gagged with socks and tape and hog-tied. Catherine arrived and was tied up the same way. The men bought cleaning supplies and the three scrubbed the house.

Cyclists had found the burning drums by the time police went out with him. Each drum held smouldering remains. He did not tell police this for about a year and a half.

Victim impact statements came from Catherine's sisters Marian and Jan. The judge said there was no basis for reducing her culpability on the grounds of duress and that her allegations did not contain a shred of truth.

Her mother also wrote in support.

The case

Murders of Gregory Hosa and Catherine McKay

Victims

Gregory Hosa (56). Owner with his wife of the Champagne Shires horse stables and farm, Nowra; father of a ten-year-old son
Catherine McKay (44). Gregory Hosa's wife and co-owner of Champagne Shires stables

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 27 May 2023.

Accused

Accused

Accused

Accused

Outcome

Other people

Marian. Catherine McKay's sister, gave a victim impact statement
Jan. another of Catherine McKay's sisters, gave a victim impact statement

The timeline

  1. 1999 and Paul marryabout 0:15:05
  2. August 2005 Paul is posted to Wodonga, taking their two daughters; he and separate but stay on good terms and legally married (Wodonga)about 0:15:14
  3. early 2006 rents out her Nowra house to and his girlfriend and moves to a smaller place; she covets the Champagne Shires property (Champagne Shires stables)about 0:17:18
  4. early 2006 asks men she knows to kidnap and kill the Hosas for the property; they laugh it off and some warn Paulabout 0:19:17
  5. early 2006 owes about 300 dollars in boarding fees; the Hosas tell her not to worry, which angers her (Champagne Shires stables)about 0:22:34
  6. early 2006 tells that the Hosas sexually abused her daughter and filmed it, and tells they drugged and raped her on cameraabout 0:25:37
  7. January 28, 2006 visits Paul that morning to ask about getting back together; he is leaning towards no (Wodonga)about 0:31:49
  8. January 28, 2006 phones Greg Hosa from her old house, asking him to come over; he is hit on the head with a large piece of wood (a bird perch), gagged and hog-tied (Calymea Street house)about 0:33:15
  9. 29 minutes after the call to Greg phones Catherine claiming an affair with Greg; Catherine arrives and is seized, gagged and hog-tied (Calymea Street house)about 0:36:01
  10. January 28, 2006 Catherine is put in a 44-gallon drum and wraps tape around her head until she suffocates; strangles Greg with electric fence wire and he is put in the other drum (Calymea Street house)about 0:37:26
  11. January 28, 2006 The three scrub the house, load the drums into the Hosas' car and drive to the forest, where they pour on petrol and set the drums and car alight (Tomerong State Forest)about 0:40:18
  12. that evening goes to his sister's house and tells her and her husband part of what happenedabout 0:41:13
  13. about 2.30 a.m. the next morning walks into Nowra police station and reports two people tied up at Calymea Street; he and had returned to the forest to add more petrol (Nowra police station)about 0:42:00
  14. the next morning Cyclists find two drums with flames and smoke coming from them; firefighters find a body's remains in each (Tomerong State Forest)about 0:43:50

Places and phrases

N ↑Public placeTown centre (approximate places)
Static locations; no street basemap. Places and details. OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap.