00:02Okay, Assistant Commissioner Andrew Holland, Western Region Commander.
00:05I'd like to give you an update on the deceased found at Round Hill Nature Reserve yesterday.
00:10Police have conducted the crime scene and it will be closed down later this afternoon.
00:14The deceased body has been removed and a post-mortar will be carried out at Newcastle on the 15th, being
00:20this Friday.
00:21We are hoping in the few days after that we'll be able to confirm that the body of the deceased
00:25is that of Julian Ingram.
00:27The motor vehicle involved will also be conveyed to Orange and will undergo further forensic testing.
00:33The firearms involved have also been removed and secured and they will also undergo further forensic testing.
00:39Earlier today there was a pre-planned event at the Lake Cajillico Hospital involving all first responders who attended the
00:47incident back in January.
00:49It was well attended by local police, nurses and all responders who attended in the community was very supportive of
00:55the event.
00:57Aboriginal Community Liaison Officers have been engaged to come out this week and they will engage again with the Murrum
01:03Bridge Aboriginal Community.
01:05They will be there to make sure that community feels safe and secure and again we'll be working with the
01:09local community and the council to make sure that all the local people are understanding that this matter is now
01:16closed and hopefully we can get back to some normality.
01:20Can you take us through what you found inside that vehicle?
01:24I know you mentioned now multiple firearms, is that right? Is there anything else that was found?
01:29Yeah, there was a firearm located next to the deceased body which was a large calibre firearm and a shotgun
01:35located on the front passenger seat of the vehicle.
01:39What else? Is there any clothes? Is there anything that could indicate that he would have been there on wild
01:44food wrappers, things like that?
01:47As I said before, part of the investigation will disclose what was in part of the vehicle.
01:51It would appear that the deceased was dressed in the same clothing he was wearing on the day of the
01:56incident.
01:57It will assume that it was Julian Ingram and we are making positive identification for him based on the New
02:04South Wales driver's licence that was located in the car.
02:06Is there any signs that he had any help or support at all?
02:10It would appear at this stage that that does not likely be the case.
02:15Again, we are looking at how much the body has deteriorated in the length of time.
02:21It would appear that he has been dead for an extended period and it does, as we said before, the
02:27injuries appear self-inflicted with a firearm.
02:30Can you talk me through how close were police to that area? How did police search that area or nearby?
02:38As we said before, the police have conducted multiple searches, about 60,000 square kilometres, sorry 60,000 square acres
02:45in the area.
02:47The initial focus was on the Nombinia State Forest with the original reports shortly days after the event being that
02:54a male with a firearm may have been sighted on the highway towards Mount Hope.
02:59The area where the deceased has been located is more back towards Uabalong and police obviously searched extensively around Uabalong
03:06and west Uabalong, all the farmland and farming sheds of that location.
03:11So it's probably, the easiest point to say is that it's probably the area in between the two major search
03:17areas that we haven't searched.
03:19Can you talk me through, I guess, how police missed this?
03:23You know, when you had 100 officers, you had aerial crews, and it was, I guess, by chance that National
03:31Parts of Wildlife stuff came across it?
03:34The easiest way I explained it this morning was that the example that I can give people so that understanding
03:39would be like putting a helicopter over the Sydney CBD and looking for someone at Penrith.
03:44Obviously, it's a fair distance to cover. It's massive areas of land out there.
03:48Obviously, the flight paths of the Polair will be investigated as part of the coronial investigation, and we will determine
03:56our search patterns again.
03:58Obviously, we're going back of areas we've previously searched with the thought that Mr Ingram may have gone back to
04:02those locations, but it appears that he's gone directly to this location and either that day or sometime very shortly
04:09after may have committed suicide.
04:10There was one unconfirmed sighting of the Mount Hope area who were out hunting in the bay shortly after the
04:19shootings here.
04:20I guess, does this potentially give more corroboration to that story?
04:26Does that potentially legitimise that sighting a bit more? Will you be looking back over that?
04:32No, that's what I said before. The sighting is what forced the investigation and the search patterns to go further
04:38west into the Nombinia State Forest.
04:41And that's why the searches are in that area, obviously, because, again, we haven't had any confirmed sightings since the
04:45Earth Lake Jellica on the 22nd of January.
04:48The last searches, as I said before, were focused on the Nombinia area and towards Mount Hope.
04:52This is an area of land which is probably 100 kilometres by 40 kilometres in size, which is a massive
04:59area of land to look at.
05:00And again, it's just in the middle of the two major search patterns.
05:03Do we have any more questions with the victims' families?
05:08Yeah, the family liaison officers are making regular contact with the victims and the families involved.
05:13That will continue as part of the homicide investigation right through until the matter goes before a coronial investigation.
05:20What's the impact of this incident had on the town of Lake Jellico and the surrounding areas?
05:25I think you'll see from today there was a community event held at the hospital where all the first responders
05:31were supported and looked after.
05:34The nurses involved, the ambulances involved, the police involved.
05:36The community was well attending at that location as well.
05:40It just goes to show how close the community is but again it also shows how long it's going to
05:44take for this to heal.
05:45And that's months ago.
05:46Obviously now that his body is found, and I know these questions were raised at the start as well,
05:53people are saying that this could have all been avoided.
05:56And I know you've been asked this a few times today given his prior convictions with domestic violence
06:02offenders.
06:02And particularly so people have been having an ADO out against that during the year when
06:08the end of the day and the months that happened.
06:11I guess for you who spent so much time looking into this, would you support seeing change towards
06:17the way, I guess, bail applications and legislation around bail is conducted?
06:23And would you agree that maybe there is more that needs to be done in that area, particularly
06:28when they are known to be high risk domestic violence offenders?
06:32As we said before, the batter has been placed under a critical investigation based around
06:37the actions of police involved.
06:38I strongly support any sort of bail being stronger in relation to any offender being released.
06:44Obviously we have made decisions around bail across the western region.
06:49And again we look strongly at any form of bail to be granted needs to be really reviewed.
06:56I guess it's quite clear that the town is divided.
07:00Are you concerned about any unrest with the coming days?
07:03Will you maintain a presence here?
07:05I disagree that the town is divided.
07:08I think the fact is that the town has probably come to a point now where it's relief.
07:12And obviously I would say that it will take a long time for the community to come together again.
07:18Again, Ingram had his supporters in town.
07:20But again, those people obviously have to understand that he has done something wrong.
07:26What's the feeling of the police force?
07:28Obviously you had a huge operation for this.
07:31Bought of personnel came out.
07:33What's the feeling of that?
07:34Yeah, I'm very, very, very proud of the police involved.
07:37Thousands of man-hours have been used to obviously investigate this matter.
07:42Obviously the death of Ingram, assuming that it is him, will put an end to the investigation.
07:46But again, the work involved in the coronial brief, the work involved in making sure that
07:50the community feels safe and secure again, will take a long time for police to be involved.
07:55Obviously this has been ongoing for more than three months.
07:58Can you just talk me through, I guess the past couple of months, what kind of presidents have
08:03the police passed here?
08:04What kind of searches have been undertaken?
08:06Were aerial operations still being conducted?
08:10The investigation has been continuing the entire time since the 22nd of January.
08:14At different levels based on the information provided by public.
08:17Obviously when we had the $250,000 reward outstanding, there was over 60 initial reports
08:24of people providing further information, which again, each matter was investigated.
08:28And overall we've had over 300 intelligence reports coming from members of the public,
08:32advising us about information about this matter.
08:36Each one of those has been investigated thoroughly, and again, as I said before,
08:39based on the information provided, determined the level of response.
08:43And obviously we used the appropriate squads, whether it be Poll Air, whether it be OSG,
08:48whether it be the rural crime investigators, to come out and make the investigations as needed.
08:52Before 3 o'clock yesterday, did you still believe that you were going to get Julian Ingram alive?
08:58As I said before, my hope was to bring him before a court to answer his crime.
09:03This has changed the process.
09:06All I'm happy for at the moment is the fact that the community can move on,
09:10they can grieve and they can get over the impact that's had on them.
09:14For the policing side, is it bittersweet?
09:20I would say, I wouldn't say it's bittersweet.
09:22I don't want to see the death of any person involved.
09:24But again, I would have been much happier to bring Mr Ingram before a court to answer his crime.
09:32Done. Thank you all.
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