Annette Morgan (Unsolved Murder)

Annette Morgan was about to start a new chapter in her young life. The 18 year old had recently left her science course at the University of Sydney for a new role as a trainee radiologist. On Friday October 28th 1977 Annette returned to Sydney from her family home in Warners to visit the friends she had made during her time at university. Early the following morning Annette set off to visit a male friend who was a resident of St Paul's college. Annette never completed her journey and her body was found hours later in a small gulley in the university grounds. She had been beaten, strangled and raped. Identikits were put together of two separate individuals police were hoping to trace but her case has never been closed. 

Sources for the episode can be found here

Transcript

Annette Morgan

Annette Louise Morgan was born in the late 1950’s and raised in Warners Bay, a suburb of Lake Macquarie near Newcastle, New South Wales. After finishing high school the intelligent, kind and ambitious young woman achieved a place studying Science at the University of Sydney. The course started at the beginning of 1977 but over the span of her first year of study Annette came to the realisation it wasn't the right fit for her. In October 1977 she returned home to attend an interview for a trainee radiologist position at the Royal Newcastle Hospital. Annette passed the interview with flying colours and was offered the role. Thus began a new chapter in Annette's life; one which she hoped would lead to a career in nursing.

On the afternoon of Friday October 28th 1977 Annette left her family home on Jonathan Street, Warners Bay and travelled by train to Sydney to stay with university friends. Annette was well liked and had made many connections during her 9 months at university. It is understood that some of her friends may not have yet known about her change in circumstances and her new job as a trainee radiologist. Part of the reason for the visit was to tell them in person about her exciting news. 

That night Annette stayed with a female friend on Wigram Road in the inner city suburb of Glebe. Before going to sleep she telephoned a male friend who was a student of St Paul's College, an all male residential college which was part of Sydney University. St Paul's College building is located 2 km, about a mile, south of Glebe. It stands on 8 acres of land off City Road, also known as Princes Highway or the A36. Founded in 1850 St Paul’s is the oldest University College in Australia with a long history and a reputation for being chosen by some of the country's wealthiest and most influential families. Two former Australian prime ministers had attended St Paul’s and the son of former prime minister Malcolm Fraser was attending the college at the time. Its list of alumni include Rhodes scholars, QCs and prominent doctors. In 1970 there had been a motion to make St Paul’s a co-educational and allow women students but it was rejected by 90% of the students at the college. In 1977 the motion was tabled again, this time only 3 students voted in favour of a co-ed policy. St Paul’s was viewed by many as a symbol of male privlege.

Annette telephoned her friend at St Paul’s to make arrangements to meet with him early the following morning. Back then students did not have mobile phones or even individual landlines directly connected to their rooms. There would have been one telephone per dorm corridor or block, possibly positioned in a central lobby or communal space. Annette’s call was answered by a male student who as far as I can see has never been identified. He told Annette that her friend was out so Annette gave him a message to pass on about her coming to the college early next morning. The male student wrote this information on a piece of paper and pinned the note to the outside of Annette’s friend's dorm door. 

Annette awoke early to a beautiful late spring Saturday morning with the sun shining and the temperature already warm. The 18 year old dressed accordingly and slipped on a blue dress, loose fitting, bone-coloured top, and blue platform type shoes. The look was accessorised with a gold wrist watch, gold bangle and blue handbag.

At 7.15am Annette left the house and made her way down Glebe Point Road toward the university campus. The total distance was 2.5km or 1.5 miles and would have taken approximately 25 minutes on foot. To save a bit of time Annette took a shortcut through a hole in the perimeter fence, or possibly a small gate, and walked through the university grounds.

Annette made it as far as St Paul’s Oval which was situated in front of St Paul's College. Two other colleges, Wesley College and The Women’s College are also in the vicinity. The oval was used for various sporting activities and indeed a cricket match was scheduled to take place in just a couple of hours. The grass in the centre of the oval was kept short but around the edges it had been allowed to grow long, which hid a small 4 metre deep gully along the perimeter. Annette never crossed the oval to complete her journey.

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At 9.50am a man from the inner west suburb of Erskineville (a 20 minute walk from the university) was making his way on foot across the oval. Some reports say he was jogging, but regardless he was on his way to the swimming pool in neighbouring Victoria Park. In the small gully on the edge of the oval he stumbled upon the partially clothed body of a young woman laying on a heap of rubble. The location was 200m from City Road. The body was soon identified to be that of 18 year old Annette Morgan.

Police arrived and searched the vicinity for clues but shockingly the cricket match due to start on the oval at 10am was only delayed for a couple of hours and still went ahead in the afternoon.  This might give the impression that life went on as normal at the college, but the Warden of St Paul’s, Rev APB Bennie, told gathering news reporters that students and staff were devastated and shocked by the murder.

A post mortem observed the back of Annette’s head had been bashed in and there were bruises around her neck. It was determined that the cause of death was from a fractured skull (there were numerous fractures) and strangulation. No murder weapon was discovered nearby and it was quickly ruled that most probably fists and hands had caused the damage to Annette's skull rather than a blunt object. Medical examination estimated the time of death was between 8 and 9am. It was stated that Annette had been sexually assaulted.

Annette’s wallet containing about $60 Australian dollars was missing from her handbag and it was presumed her killer took it. It was a woman's wallet, mid-green in colour and made by the brand “Buxton”. It measured 11.4cms by 8.9cms and inside was Annette's student ID card. Police asked the public to look out for the wallet as it was believed the killer would discard it and it could hold some evidentiary value. As far as I am aware the wallet was never located.

Seven detectives from Regent Street police station and CIB Homicide were put on the case. This number grew to 16 within a few days, and colleagues from Balmain police station later joined the investigation. Inquiries were made in the surrounding residential areas, and students of St Paul's College were interviewed to see if anyone recalled anything suspicious. There were 180 male students residing at the college at the time. I do not know how many were questioned but a large proportion were. Not one student reported seeing or hearing anything. Investigators also spoke with academic staff. The sub warden of St Paul's College was in his office overlooking the oval at the time of the murder. He had been in there working since 6am. He said he saw and heard nothing, noting that the long grass obscured from view the small gully where Annette's body was found.  

In a hunch that the killer may try to involve themselves in the aftermath of their crime, plain clothes detectives attended Annette's funeral to observe those present. The service took place on November 2nd at St Mary's Catholic church in Warners Bay. Annette was well respected by those who knew her back home and in Sydney, and over 500 mourners were in attendance to join with the family to remember her. Annette’s family were left permanently scarred by the murder and her traumatised parents never spoke publicly about what had happened to their daughter. 

Police discovered through conversations with female students from the co-ed colleges at the university that there had been a series of incidents at the university involving, what the Sydney Morning Herald (October 31st 1977) referred to as, “trespassers”. It was known that people from the surrounding suburbs would regularly cut through the university grounds, often walking the same route that Annette had followed. One student said that there were attacks on female students every couple of months. This information led police to say they believed Annette probably did not know her killer. It was more than likely she had been attacked by someone who had followed her into the grounds or by someone lurking near the oval waiting to pounce on their unsuspecting victim.  Investigators thought the man may live locally.

Just two days after the murder, on the afternoon of October 31st a lead came to light when a witness came forward about something they had seen. The witness, described as an elderly man, was on City Road early on the morning of Saturday October 29th, around the time of the murder. The witness saw a man aged 35-40 years old with blood stains on his trouser legs walking across City Road pedestrian bridge. This location was just a matter of minutes from the crime scene and the bloodstained man was walking away from the university. 

A detailed description of this man was put out in the press. He was 5 ft 7 (173cm) with a solid build. He had a suntanned complexion with sandy hair brushed forward on his forehead. He had a prominent broken nose which was bent towards the side of his face. The man was wearing a navy blue coat and long, bone-coloured trousers, which, as well as the blood stains, had a grease mark on the right knee. An identikit of this man was released and police spoke of a good response from the public, though ultimately no breakthrough followed.

An identikit was also released of another man police were trying to trace. This man was seen on the university grounds around the time of the murder. He was younger than the man with bloodstained trousers, aged between 20-25, and had a slender build with a dark complexion. He was clean shaven and had shoulder length dark hair. It was noted that he was well spoken. This is the identikit that is seen in modern day reporting on the case. For some reason the identikit of the older man seen with blood stains on his trousers is never printed and seldom referred to in modern write ups. 

Following up reports about other incidents involving trespassers on campus,  Sydney based newspapers ran stories about other attacks and incidents of harassment at the university, though often the alleged perpetrators were said to be male students rather than outsiders.

Women student leaders from The Australian Union of Students said there was a problem all over the country. They claimed women were frequently harassed attacked, raped and violently assaulted on univerity campuses across Australia. Most women felt intimidated and did not report these issues to police or university authorities. However, according to the Union of Students, counselling services and health centres were dealing with numerous incidents of this nature. The University of Sydney health centre disputed these claims, saying they were not getting such reports, and instances like those described by the Union of Students were rare. However a rape crisis centre in the nearby suburb of Glebe said the claims of the students were accurate.

Just a few days after the murder a forum was organised by concerned University of Sydney students from the Women’s Collective of the Student Representative Council to discuss the issue of rape. At the meeting, attended by 100 students, it was suggested that male students at the university viewed rape as quote “just part of the fun”. The accusation was levied that there was a culture of intimidation that prevented survivors coming forward to report instances of rape and sexual assault. It was said this intimidation came from both men and women. An example was given of a rape survivor having a bucket of water poured over their head to stop them reporting the crime. It was also alleged at the forum by a student named Sally that another rape had occured on the grounds of another university of Sydney college St John’s earlier in the year. Students also brought up an incident that had occurred on campus at Fisher Library. Several female students were approached by a man who acted in an obscene way but library staff ignored the women, even though the man persisted in his harassment of some women for up to an hour at a time.

In response to these claims the warden of St Paul's College, Rev APB Bennie, said he had never heard such libelous nonsense. A spokesperson for one of the co-ed colleges that was part of the University of Sydney implied that there was not an issue in colleges where women and men lived and studied side by side. The added that the “rape is fun” culture stems from a philosophy that views women as an objects. The claims provoked several letters to the Sydney Morning Herald by disgruntled students refuting the idea that there was in anyway a culture of rape at the university.

The atmosphere was particularly febrile as it came in the midst of wider controversy following recent comments made by a prominent NSW judge. In the aftermath of three rape trials in the Woolongong and Nowra area a judge said that the women survivors were stupid for accepting lifts from a man without expecting to pay for the lift through sex.

On the same night the forum took place, St Paul's College held their end of the year dinner, where goodbyes were said to departing students. When academic and administrative staff left the event at 9.45pm, about 40 of the students went to the common room to hold their annual award presentation. This was a tradition that had gone on for decades, with many of the awards being voted for by the students of St Paul’s. It was mostly for silly things, for example there was the Buzzy Burke Blade for Meritorious Stirring or the Telephone Award for the student that had spent most time on the phone. One of the awards had far more sinister connotations.

The award was called the “Annual Cup for Animal Acts” and was not voted on like the other awards but presented to a student who occupied one of two rooms. Disturbingly on the cup was inscribed the latin phrase “Si illa non fornicat, verberate”. “If she won’t fornicate, beat her”. To reiterate, this award ceremony was just a few days after Annete’s murder.

Two male students, involved in what the Sydney Morning Herald November 26th 1977 described as a “group sex experience”, gave the award to a third man who had also been involved in the same incident. This incident had taken place three months earlier. The men named the woman (a University of Sydney student) who they claimed they had sex with in an attempt to publicly shame and humiliate her. On hearing this, several students got up and left the room, and one reported the incident to University authorities. The following day the young woman who had been named also complained to the university and in at least one interview (I think with university leaders rather than the police) said she was raped. A statement by the Student Representative Council also referred to the incident involving the three men and the woman as sexual abuse. 

The College Council met to discuss how to handle the matter. Twenty women gathered outside the university to demonstrate holding placards with slogans such as “rape of one woman is rape of all women”. All three male students were suspended and I believe were expelled, though this was not for the actual sexual act but the way they behaved after. I do not know if they faced any criminal charges.

At the time police investigators maintained their belief that the attack on Annette Morgan was carried out by someone outside of the university. Statistics from Rape Crisis centres show that the majority of women know their attacker, but police did not think this was true in Annette’s case.

No evidence has ever been produced to connect any student  or person connected with St Paul’s with the murder. While this is true I can’t help but think about the telephone message that Annette left with the student at St Paul’s. This was pinned on the friend's dorm door and many people could have seen it and known that Annette was coming over early the next morning. This detail concerning the telephone message I have only come across in one source (Sydney Morning Herald June 6th 1987) but it could be significant. 

In January 1978 Channel 10 started a new weekly segment called “Police file” on their Eyewitness newshour program. The very first episode featured a reenactment of the Annette Morgan case. Following the broadcast, forty calls came in from women who said they had also been attacked in the vicinity. A number of leads were said to have been developed. 

Several months later, at the end of May 1978, a man was interviewed by police about Annette’s rape and murder. The unnamed man was being held in custody on another undisclosed matter. I do not know what came of this lead and as far as I can see this man was never charged in connection with Annette’s murder.

After many years of relative inactivity, Annette's unsolved murder was given some long overdue publicity in the aftermath of a particularly brutal and infamous crime.

On February 2nd 1986 26 year old Anita Cobby was kidnapped whilst walking back from a train station in Blacktown, New South Wales. Two days later her brutalised body was found a few miles away on farmland. Anita had sustained a prolonged and vicious assault in which she had nearly been decapitated. This heinous crime shocked the country and the subsequent investigation led authorities to arrest five local men. In June 1987 all five were found guilty of Anita’s rape and murder. 

The rape and murder of Anita Cobby highlighted the ongoing problem of violence towards women. In the aftermath the New South Wales State government used the opportunity to introduce a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the rape and murder of Annette Morgan.

This decision was met with a mixed response from members of Annette’s family. Annette's cousin, who was living with Annette at the time of her murder, voiced her frustration at why a reward wasn't provided a decade earlier. She posed the question: why did some cases get rewards straight away while others didn't? On what grounds were these decisions made? In Anita Cobby's case a reward of $100,000 was offered almost immediately and Annette’s cousin believed the case would not have been solved without it. 

The police seemed skeptical that a reward offered so long after the crime would have any effect. A senior police spokesperson said the chances of a reward leading to a case being solved is almost negligible. Indeed between 1977 and 1987 only three crimes in News South Wales had been solved after the state government had offered a reward. 

Despite this Annette's cousin was still hopeful someone might remember something. Whoever had committed the murder would have had blood all over them and would have arrived back to their home in a mess. Surely a friend or family member would have noticed something? After ten years the trauma that had befallen the family continued to affect them. When talking about the attack on Annette, her cousin said she hoped that, unlike Anita Cobby, Annette was unconscious when she was raped. 

Over recent decades St Paul’s has been in the news on a few occasions concerning the misogynistic behavior of some of its students. In 2009 some students from the college were found to be part of an anti-consent, pro rape Facebook page. In 2017 women came forward anonymously to speak of the misogynistic verbal abuse and common practice of “slut shaming” they had experienced at the hands of male students at the college. A subsequent 2018 review detailed a tradition called the “Bone room” ritual. This would see male students invite first year female students into a room full of mattresses where they would be plied with drinks in order to have sex.The accusation was that this practice was not always consensual. As a result of the review the warden of the college resigned. 

Once again it is worth reiterating that despite the many issues the college has had concerning accusations of sexism there has never been any evidence to connect Annette’s murder to St Paul’s. In 2023 St Paul’s became a fully co-ed facility and women students were admitted for the first time. 

Annette Morgan’s unsolved murder haunted many of the detectives who worked on it long after they retired, including Detective Bill Duff and DS Don Worsley. Sadly chances for a resolution in the case were dealt a heavy blow when in 2017 the Daily Mail reported that most if not all the forensic evidence linked to Annette’s case had been lost. The case underwent a review by NSW that year but no new developments have been reported.

If you have any information about the 1977 murder of Annette Louise Morgan you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 1800 333 000.