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 0:05:56Spoilers are covered until your reading preferences load.
FILE 392 / 27 May 2023 / 69 MIN / express
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
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 0:05:56In 1824 an ex-convict named Mary Reibey applied for a land grant in the area on the southern side of the Shoalhaven River.
about 0:06:28The Nowra township was recognised in 1852.
about 0:06:43Nowra 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 0:05:56In 1824 an ex-convict named Mary Reibey applied for a land grant in the area on the southern side of the Shoalhaven River.
about 0:06:28The Nowra township was recognised in 1852.
about 0:06:43"22,584"
No direction stated.
As told in 2023 about 0:05:09
"about 50,000 Australian dollars"
No direction stated.
As told in 2023 about 0:05:12
"690,000 dollars"
Comparison: "against an annual income of about 50,000". No direction stated.
As told in 2023 about 0:05:26
3.5 / 5 · average of 2
“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
“'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stuck in a 1950s time warp: wants the main street pedestrianised, complains of high gutters, no wheelchair access and outdated retailers, and wants Stockland bulldozed, the hospital and ambulance moved to South Nowra and the CBD extended toward the river.”about 0:08:00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“The same reviewer adds a second review saying the place is boring, too laid back, outdated and backwards.”about 0:09:32
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.
January 28, 2006 / Nowra, New South Wales, and Tomerong State Forest
As told in the episode, on 27 May 2023.
Accused
Accused
Accused
Accused
Public places are marked on the map.
business
about 0:13:48crime scene
about 0:42:21body found
about 0:40:18police
about 0:42:02other
about 0:16:57