After 91 years, there are still more questions than answers over the death of Aboriginal man Dhäkiyarr

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains names and or images of deceased people.

Unsolved mysteries of missing and murdered people are etched in the Australian psyche: Azaria Chamberlin, the Beaumont children and Harold Holt capture and divide public option.

However, the disappearance of First Nations victims often do not garner the same public attention.

One case that has pierced what Darumbal and South Sea Islander scholar Amy McQuire calls the “invisibility of Aboriginality” among missing persons is the controversial disappearance of Yolŋu cultural leader Dhäkiyarr Wirrpanda (born 1900) in 1934.

Dhäkiyarr’s case has been documented in films, podcasts, exhibitions, art work, installations, reenactments, public ceremonies and books.

Dhäkiyarr went missing after winning a ground-breaking High Court case on the right to a fair trial.

His family regard the disappearance as a grave injustice, and have been seeking the truth ever since.

Coronial findings were handed down earlier this month – 91 years after Dhäkiyarr was last seen.

The High Court case: Dhäkiyarr v The King

In 1933, Dhäkiyarr killed Northern Territory police constable McColl on Woodah Island (Guwaŋarripa) in Blue Mud Bay, East Arnhem Land.

McColl had chained up four women, including Dhäkiyarr’s wife Djaparri Bulinjun Wirrpanda, as part of his investigation into the killing of a Japanese fisherman in another part of Arnhem Land.

A witness stated McColl had sexually assaulted Dhäkiyarr’s wife.

Three shots were fired by McColl at Dhäkiyarr but missed their mark. Dhäkiyarr then speared McColl to death.

Law professor Nicole Watson, who belongs to the Munanjali and Birri Gubba people, believes the experience of Djaparri illustrates the highly threatening nature of McColl’s conduct, which should have made her a key witness at trial. But Djaparri was not called.

The fallout

The killing of McColl created a tense political situation.

NT Administrator Robert Weddell conveyed plans to the federal government to use “strong demonstrative force” where “casualties amongst these Aboriginals [are considered] inevitable”.

This planned punitive expedition stalled after progressive groups across Australia mobilised to defend Yolŋu people against a potential massacre.

Prime Minister Joseph Lyons intervened and instead, a peace party led by missionaries was sent to negotiate with Yolngu people.

But Dhäkiyarr was still arrested and then found guilty of murder at trial. Supreme Court Judge Wells sentenced Dhäkiyarr to death by hanging.

The appeal

In 1934, Dhäkiyarr successfully appealed in the High Court.

The decision of Tuckiar v The King is well-known among lawyers for upholding the right to a fair trial, including the right to judicial impartiality and independence, the presumption of innocence, the right to silence of a defendant at trial, and a lawyer’s duty to their client and the court.

In overturning Dhäkiyarr’s murder conviction, the High Court found the trial had “seriously miscarried” due to prejudice.

Dhäkiyarr’s release from prison was ordered immediately.

High Court Judge Starke specified the release would involve “steps” taken by the Commonwealth “to arrange for [Dhäkiyarr] to be sent to his own country”.

Federal Minister for the Interior Thomas Paterson promised police would escort Dhäkiyarr home.

Both responses demonstrated concern for Dhäkiyarr’s safety.

However, following his release in Darwin, Dhäkiyarr was never seen again.

Authorities maintained he escaped from Kahlin Aboriginal Compound, an Aboriginal segregation site where he had stayed overnight, claiming he had “gone bush”.

It has long been suspected, especially among the Aboriginal community, that police foul play to avenge McColl was responsible.

Almost a century later: justice delayed

Following a reconciliatory ceremony held in Arnhem Land to commemorate the 90th anniversary of McColl’s spearing, NT Superintendent Jody Nobbs announced police would reopen the investigation into McColl’s death and investigate Dhäkiyarr’s death – an inquiry supported by the NT Police Union and McColl’s family.

Dhäkiyarr’s family, along with lawyers, emphasised the need for a coronial inquiry into Dhäkiyarr’s death, given his whereabouts remained unknown.

The suspicious circumstances of this cold case and the fact Dhäkiyarr was in custody, according to lawyers, would render an inquest mandatory today.

This was the first time the NT Police had committed to investigate Dhäkiyarr’s disappearance and suspected death.

Coronial findings

In the police investigation and coronial examination, Dhäkiyarr’s family was not invited to make submissions, which is increasingly customary in coronial processes involving police.

The coroner’s findings are absent of Aboriginal perspectives altogether.

The coroner received the report of the NT Police Cold Case Taskforce in January 2025. The coronial findings were handed down two months later.

The coroner upheld the essence of the police report, finding the cause of death was unable to be determined.

Ultimately, the coroner declined to hold an inquest because it would not elicit additional information.

Emphasis was placed on the lack of information on the “exact circumstances of death” or “remains” of Dhäkiyarr’s body.

Curiously, a further reason was that the deceased, before death, was not immediately “held in care or custody”, but Dhäkiyarr was in the custody of Superintendent Leonard Robert Samut at the Kahlin Aboriginal Compound immediately before his disappearance, and the previous day in custody at Fannie Bay Gaol.

It is also problematic that the coroner placed significance on the lack of remains or precise circumstances, given this has not precluded findings of murder in other cases where there is a clear motive.

It was open to the coroner to find the police force was at least responsible for failing to uphold its duty to return Dhäkiyarr safely to his Dhudi Djapu clan and community. The coroner did not make any findings critical of police conduct.

Is this the final chapter?

The Dhäkiyarr coronial findings demonstrate how police accounts of First Nations deaths shape the legal and historical record.

The findings also cement patterns of police investigating police with insufficient engagement with First Nations families, which can deepen trauma for these families.

The findings likely augment perceptions that missing and murdered First Nations people are not protected by the legal system, that their family and community voices are not heard, and that we are no closer to the truth in Dhäkiyarr’s disappearance.