A Dark Past Part 1: Jerilderie murder of Danniel Kelly rehashed in daughters' plight to visit grave

Danniel Christopher Bingham was murdered near Jerilderie, about 170km west of Wagga, on October 16, 1960.

Now, 60 years on, his three daughters have begun asking questions about the man he was in the hopes of reconnecting with their family history.

Sharon Bartley, 61, and her two sisters Pauline, 63, and Marian, 66, were born and raised in Ireland by their single mother after their father - Danniel Bingham - left for Australia with the Royal Navy.

Ms Bartley said their mother did her best for the three girls, but they "never had much", and with the only memory of their father being a black and white photograph, the sisters are hoping to learn more about the man who brought them into the world.

The young sailor went AWOL and changed his name to Danniel Kelly, taking up residence at a shearers' quarters in a district called New Camp, near Jerilderie.

Nearby, a station hand named Noel Craig lived with his family in an out-station. It was there that Kelly would come to meet his killer, Frank Parker.

Parker, his wife and their six children went to stay at the out-station property with Craig, who was Mrs Parker's brother.

Over the short course of their stay, Kelly began to grow close to Parker's wife, Joan, visiting regularly during the day and night.

Evidence presented to the High Court of Australia stated Parker grew increasingly aware of the pair's newfound connection, and confronted Kelly about it.

Parker said to Kelly, "Why can't you find a single girl? Have you no principles?".

Kelly replied, "I lost my principles years ago".

Parker confided in Craig ahead of the murder, alluding to his dark intentions.

"She is leaving with Dan and if she does I will get him," Parker said.

"There are a lot of dark nights and one of these dark nights I will be waiting for him."

And he stuck to his word.

On the afternoon of October 16, 1960, Kelly and Mrs Parker left the property on a bicycle along Goolgumbla Road, heading south.

A few minutes later, Parker followed in his car, where he had a knuckle duster and a sheath knife as cargo.

He caught up to the pair and overtook them as they dismounted the bike, before accelerating into Kelly, running him over.

Mrs Parker was pushed to the ground and sustained serious injuries, while Parker took to Kelly with what was believed to be the knuckle duster and stabbed him multiple times in the throat with a knife.

Kelly died at the scene with facial wounds, incisions in his neck and both legs broken below the knees.

With blood on his hands, Parker called the police himself and was taken to Jerilderie Police Station where he was charged with the murder of Danniel Kelly.

His case would go on to reach the Supreme Court of NSW in 1961, and then on to the High Court of Australia where Parker appealed for his conviction of murder to be reduced to manslaughter, which was unsuccessful.

While his final prison sentence is now unknown, as well as where it was served, records show that Joan Parker applied for divorce from Frank Parker in 1966.

Despite the gruesome details, Sharon Bartley and her sister's have continued their plight to learn more about their father after decades of the unknown.

"My mother didn't tell us much, she said he was killed but whenever we asked she'd never go into detail," Ms Bartley said.

"She did her best though, and did a great job raising us considering we never had much."

Ms Bartley said it wasn't until her mother passed away in 2000 that she and her sisters began looking into their father's life.

"My eldest sister asked for help from the Salvation Army to find some news clippings and things, and that's when we learned more about his murder," she said.

"We found out that our dad is buried in a cemetery in Tocumwal.

"I tried to get some compensation to come out and see it early last year because I was told that was possible when a family member is buried overseas as a result of murder, but you can only claim that between the age of 18 to 20, so obviously I missed out."

Visiting their father's grave has become a dream of the three sisters.

"We know he obviously did some things that weren't the best, but he's still our dad and no one deserves that," Ms Bartely said.

"We just need some closure."

Ms Bartley has set up a GoFundMe page in an effort to raise money to allow her and her sisters to visit Danniel Kelly's grave in the Riverina.

"We've never been able to afford anything like this, and it would mean so much to us," she said.

Donations can be made via https://au.gofundme.com/f/247zpdh5c0.