Mother welcomes murder charge two decades after Arthur Haines, 13, died in Sydney house fire | New S

blog
New South Wales This article is more than 1 year old

Mother welcomes murder charge two decades after Arthur Haines, 13, died in Sydney house fire

This article is more than 1 year old

Gregory Walker charged with alleged murder and arson after Haines died from burns following petrol bombing of Sydney house in 1998

The mother of 13-year-old Arthur Haines, who police alleged was murdered in 1998, says she is ecstatic police have arrested a suspect more than two decades after his death.

“I couldn’t believe … finally today is the day,” Julie Szabo said outside Surry Hills police station in Sydney on Friday.

New South Wales police alleged Gregory John Walker escalated a neighbourhood dispute by recklessly throwing a petrol bomb into the Waterloo home where Arthur and other children were sleeping on 9 April 1998.

Walker, 55, has been charged with murder and arson after being extradited to NSW after his arrest in Brisbane on Thursday. The arrest came after homicide detectives reopened the case in 2020.

There were public appeals for information and a $1m reward was offered.

The arrest was not the result of a single tipoff, but Det Supt Danny Doherty said the reward helped bring new information to the attention of investigators.

“It’s given an incentive for people to open up and not keep a secret because, again, they’ve known about this for some time, and we’re just pleased that they have come forward,” he said on Friday.

Sign up to receive the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

It was rewarding for the investigator who was able to call Szabo on Wednesday to tell her a suspect had been identified, Doherty said. “We don’t always get to provide good news.”

Arthur suffered severe burns in the fire after being trapped on the top floor of the home and died weeks later in hospital.

“It’s only the beginning, but I just take each day as it comes,” Szabo said on Friday.

Walker did not appear when his case was briefly mentioned at Downing Centre local court. Magistrate Robert Williams adjourned the matter for directions on 13 October.

Walker’s lawyer, Greg Goold, did not apply for bail and it was formally refused.

Outside court, Goold said he had no comment given he had just received the charges and the fact sheets. “We’ll deal with those as quickly as we can and hopefully have an answer for his plea in due course,” he told reporters.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEoKyaqpSerq96wqikaJmlqMGzrcuimGamlazAcH6Pa2lomaWcfHKFjqamraCVp3q4scucpqado2Kwqa3RoJxmrKekeqWxwpqbnqtdlrO1sdFmmKusmKq%2FbrTAoqWeq11mgG6wyJ6bZqGeYrWwwdKeZJ%2Bhopo%3D