The murder of Chris Bolger was a matter of honour and a crime of passion.
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Bolger was shot in the head and thrown down a well after he called his mate’s missus a “slut”.
His story was uncovered as part of The Daily Advertiser’s Memory Lane series, revealing the long-forgotten residents behind Wagga’s streets and suburbs.
Residents may have driven down Bolger Avenue, but they may not have known it was named after one of the city’s most wealthy pastoralist families and the victim of a notorious murder.
James Bolger – Big Jim – arrived in the growing village of Wagga, with his family in 1881.
When his youngest son, Chris returned from Sydney in about 1930, he was sent to manage the family-owned Mount Austin Homestead – present day 22 Waranga Avenue.
Chris Bolger was described as a popular, athletic young man, who quickly became entrenched in the town. In addition to his sporting efforts, he was also a member of Wagga’s historical surf lifesaving club.
Five years later, a 25-year-old Chris Bolger met the farmhand, who would kill him weeks later.
He and 17-year-old Roy Souter had been friends, working on the dairy farm and sleeping in their separate beds, placed close together on the homestead’s verandah.
That all changed when Souter met Daphne Nolan.
Bolger had been in Sydney for Christmas and was expected back on Friday, December 28. But when the 25-year-old did not keep an appointment that weekend, his friends became concerned. These fears were heightened when they saw Souter and Daphne driving around town in Bolger’s beloved Chevrolet Roadster.
Souter claimed he was Bolger’s brother and therefore allowed to drive the Chevy, but Bolger’s friends knew no one was permitted to touch the car.
A suspicious Mac Parker finally rode to the Homestead on Monday, December 30 in search of answers.
When he found bloodstains on the verandah, he called the police.
More dried blood led to Chris Bolger’s remains.
The young man had been shot in the head twice, covered with a chaff bag and dropped in the water tank beneath the breezeway; his hands bound and steel tied to his feet.
When Souter admitted to murdering Bolger he said 25-year-old had called Daphne “a low-heeled slut”.
According to The DA Souter said:
"I lost my reason entirely. I looked for a piece of wood to hit him with. I intended to give him a thrashing. The gun was the first thing I saw. I picked it up, pointed it at him, and fired, and he fell back on the bed”.
In addition to the grisly crime, Souter had then driven around in Bolger’s car and invited friends to have lunch at the Homestead, mere metres from where he had dumped the body.
Despite acting to defend his lady’s honour, the jury felt an act of chivalry did not justify shooting someone in the head – twice.
The 17-year-old was found guilt of murder the following year and sentenced to death. Due to being so young, he was given a lesser sentence of life imprisonment. He was released and died at the age of 34 in in 1952.
Read more about the residents who literally left their mark on Wagga in the Memory Lane series: