Skull Murder Trial Begins

Illawarra Mercury

Tuesday July 6, 1999

By JENNY DENNIS

Nowra's notorious skull murder case began in the NSW Supreme Court yesterday, with the court hearing a disagreement over heroin was probably behind the bashing death of Mark Robson.

Robson's badly decomposed skull was found in Hillcrest Ave, South Nowra, in June 1990 - three weeks after he disappeared from the home he shared nearby with his mother.

A group of mothers made the grisly find after noticing a dog playing with the skull on the footpath.

Forensic testing revealed a jagged 5cm hole in the top of the skull but foul play was ruled out initially.

The skull was identified as 27-year-old Robson's through dental records but despite extensive searching, no further remains were ever found. Seven years later police charged Trevor Anthony Thomas, 31, with the murder.

Yesterday Crown Prosecutor Patrick Barrett told the court Robson was probably killed because he had become greedy during a drug deal with Thomas.

Mr Barrett said forensic evidence would show the murder weapon to be a bricklayer's hammer found in a drain in Hillcrest Ave.

The dead man's mother, Shirley Robson, told the court her son had a problem with alcohol, smoked marijuana and took Rohypnol by prescription. But she said she had not known him to take heroin.

She said he would go on drinking binges after collecting his dole but was not an aggressive drunk.

Mrs Robson, who now lives at Callala Bay, told the court her son had been bashed three times in the weeks leading up to his disappearance.

The case, before Justice Harold Sperling, continues today.

© 1999 Illawarra Mercury

Back to News Index | Back to Home