A Wanted Man

So - the most wanted man in the nation has finally been captured. Malcolm Naden, suspected in the disappearance of one woman, wanted for the murder of another, been witnessed shooting a police officer, and perpetrator of numerous break-and-enters during his 7 year son the run, is finally in police custody. I am both proud of our police and SAS officers for not having given up the chase, and ashamed to admit that this alleged monster is from my hometown.


For the past 7 years, our local newspaper has regular stories in regards to Naden - his string of alleged offences, articles on his history, pleas by family members of the missing/deceased or simple reports on police progress. Though everyone in this country is considered innocent til proven guilty, i find hard to believe that someone who had NOT committed any offence would run and hide. And would go to great lengths to stay hidden for 7 years. It is even harder for me to believe that, despite all the anecdotal evidence to the contrary, there are still members of our local community who believe him to be innocent. Who protest it, and some who bandy about conspiracy theories as to who may be behind his apparent " set up ".

My fingers are crossed now that he is brought before the courts as quickly as possible, without ample jail time to sit and wait for the conspiracy theories to grow bigger and crazier, and without the chance to sell his side of the story ( though i'm sure there are plenty amongst us who would love to know exactly how he managed to evade capture for all that time ). I'm also hoping that, whatever the outcome of his trial, that the families of his alleged victims are brought some kind of closure, some kind of peace, and that they may finally be left to mourn and to miss their daughters without the glare of the media spotlight upon them....