Father's murder leaves daughters desperate for answers half a century on

Their father, Danniel Bingham, was murdered near Jerilderie on October 16, 1960, at 34 years old while his three daughters were all under the age of six.

The trio have nothing but one black-and-white image of their father and several newspaper clippings from which they ascertained all they know of his passing.

They have no memories, no closure, and they are yet to get their final goodbye.

Sharon Bartley, 64, and her two sisters Pauline, 67, and Marian, 69, were born and raised in Ireland by their single mother after their father, Bingham left for Australia with the Royal Navy.

After jumping ship and going AWOL, Bingham created a new life for himself in Australia, staying at the New Camp district near Jerilderie and changing his name to Danniel Kelly.

It was there he met Frank Parker - the man who would soon become his murderer - and Parker's wife Joan as they visited family in the district.

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.

On October 16, 1960, Bingham had been travelling along Goolgumbla Road, Jerilderie, on a pushbike with Joan when Parker struck the pair in his car.

He then exited the car and is thought to have hit Bingham with a knuckle duster before stabbing him repeatedly in the neck.

Both of Bingham's legs were broken below the knees and he had sustained facial wounds and incisions in his neck and later died at the scene.

Joan was also injured in the incident and was reported to have been taken to the hospital with a broken arm.

It was a story Ms Bartley and her sisters only learnt after their mother's passing.

"We were never told he was murdered, we were told he was knocked down and killed, my mother didn't speak about it," Ms Bartley said.

While the unknown haunts them, the sister's main wish is to visit their father's grave and ensure it is marked.

"My father is in a pauper's grave, there's no headstone and I don't think there's any markings there to say who it is," Ms Bartley said.

"We're Roman Catholics, so that doesn't sit right with us - we would like to put something on his grave."

Since learning the truth behind their father's fate the sisters have been trying to accumulate funds to visit Australia where their father was buried.

A GoFundMe page was launched in 2020 - just before COVID hit - to finance the trip, but it wasn't fruitful. The sisters believe they would have been eligible for a compensation claim at the time, had they known the circumstances of their father's death.

"We didn't know he was murdered, we didn't know were entitled to a claim and there was no internet or phone lines," Ms Bartley said.

While growing up without a father was hard enough, it is the years of wondering that have left the sisters feeling tortured by their own minds.

They also desperately hope to get in contact with Parker's relatives.

"We know he was found guilty but we can't find out where his sentence was or how long he served," Ms Bartley said.

"We want to know if any of the children are alive - if Joan ever spoke about him.

"There's a lot of things we don't know, I was only one when he was murdered. Did he ever mention us?

"Pauline was three and Marian was six, so we never knew him."

Parker's case went to 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.

Donations can be made online at gofund.me/400250d9.