HE SURVIVED THE SH00TING — NOW HE’S FIGHTING THE MAN’S FAMILY OVER A 7,700-HECTARE PROPERTY: THE HAU-NTING TWIST THAT EMERGED AFTER DARRYL YOUNG’S CONVICTION
Triple murderer Darryl Young (left) and his son Derek
The survivor of North Queensland’s Bogie triple murder was forced to launch a legal bid to freeze the killer’s cattle station from being sold, after learning he transferred the land to his son following the massacre.
Court documents show convicted killer Darryl Valroy Young handed over the title of his sprawling Shannonvale property to his son Derek shortly after murdering his neighbours in 2022.
There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by Derek Young.
Young murdered Graham Tighe, Mervyn Schwarz and Maree Schwarz, and attempted to murder sole survivor Ross Tighe, in a shooting at the front gate of his property on August 4, 2022.
The 63-year-old pleaded not guilty to the charges, but was found guilty of all four offences by a jury last Friday after a four-week trial at Townsville Supreme Court.
The jury heard that Young killed the family over a cattle dispute, and then tried to argue he was never there when the family were shot.
In civil documents obtained by The Courier-Mail, it can be revealed Young transferred his 7700ha property at Bogie to his son in February 2023 – just six months after the alleged killings.
The court documents indicate Ross Tighe became aware of the transfer and applied to the Supreme Court of Queensland to have the transfer set aside and moved back into Young’s name as the family commenced civil proceedings.
In March last year, Justice David North instead ordered that Derek Young be restrained from selling or disposing of the property.
Property records show the land was transferred into Young’s name for about $600,000 in 2012 before it became under Dereck’s ownership in 2023.
Sole survivor Ross Tighe (Facebook image)
The documents also showed that Young stonewalled the family from behind bars by refusing to accept civil documents delivered to his prison cell about their lawsuit against him.
According to the documents, both Mr Tighe and his brother’s widow, Lucy Tighe, sought leave to commence personal injury claims against Young over post traumatic stress disorder caused by the shootings.
The claim had a three-year limitation period from August 4, 2022, and was set to expire on the same date last year.
In an email included in the documents, a prison employee told Mr Tighe’s lawyer that Young had “refused to open” the correspondence after it was hand-delivered to Townsville Correctional Centre.
Young’s refusal to accept the documents forced the Tighe family to apply to the courts to keep the claim active.
In July last year, Justice Glenn Martin made an order that the family could start their lawsuit outside the normal time limit, with a flexible window.
Justice Martin also ordered Young pay the costs of this process, which racked up to more than $11,000.
The documents state that Mr Tighe had suffered post-traumatic stress disorder following the shooting, had flashbacks, almost daily panic attacks, and had a fear that friends of Young would come and shoot him.
The court documents also stated that Mr Tighe had nightmares, and often when he tried to fall asleep he thought he heard a gun shot.
Young will be sentenced on four counts of murder and one count of attempted murder on Monday at 2pm.
