Directed by Thomas Tancred, the film Last Stop Larrimah revolves around a real-life documentary about a man who disappeared from Larrimah without a trace. The mysterious disappearance is related to the 11 residents of the small town of Larrimah, located in the middle of nowhere in Australia. The film is an amalgamation of interviews with the residents, people in charge of the case, and other associated people. Trying to shift the blame on each other, all the residents look like possible suspects. There are zillions of similar real-life crime documentaries and series like Vanished: The Missing Person’s Project, Who Killed Jill Dando, The Devil on Trial, and others that seek to find the truths behind the disappearances. Will there be a resolution to the case of the disappearance in Larrimah? Let’s find out!
Spoilers Ahead
What Happens In The Documentary?
Last Stop Larrimah opens with an interview with the old residents of Larrimah and how they liked it there. They all reminisce about the old days and say that it was nice staying there in the old times, as they all engaged in sports and drinks with friends. They also talk about how things were decaying and how the town was ceasing to exist with time. There is a plunge into the case of the missing Patrick Moriarty, nicknamed Paddy, who mysteriously disappeared from the face of the earth on December 16, 2017. The residents are questioned on the case, along with reporter Kristy O’brien from ABC News, who has been deeply involved with the case. Paddy’s disappearance was reported to Mataranka police. Sgt. Chalkie was investigating the case and led a search mission for him after he went missing. Des Barret, working in Mataranka fire and emergency response, along with other volunteers, went out on a search for him. The residents said that during the time of the search, there was a ruckus all over town, with a lot of media channels trying to cover the story.
Kristy said that her former boss had conducted an interview with the people of Larrimah, which they had attained in order to gain more light on the case. The tapes brought out the utter hatred that the people of the town had for each other. Matt Allen, a detective sergeant with Northern Territory, and his team went up the town to make an inquiry into the events. The residents were all asked during the interrogation if they knew something about the case or if they had anything to do with the murder. The initial inquiries were made at Barry’s bar, a place Paddy used to frequent. It was found that there were no signs of disturbance at Paddy’s house and nothing was misplaced. They, however, found the phone booth to be virtually down across his house, from which two phone calls had been made on the night of the disappearance. However, the truth was yet to be found out by the police.
What Conflict Did Paddy Have With Fran?
Fran was a pie maker in the town and had a strong feud going on with Paddy, making them hate each other’s guts. She complained that Paddy harassed her and said in one of her interviews that even his dog wouldn’t eat her pies, which she claimed to be Larrimah’s famous pies. He would harass her by throwing kangaroo carcasses at her bedroom window from across the street. She would often take her complaints to the police against Paddy for stealing her umbrella, damaging her security cameras, and damaging her property. She also complained that Paddy had once thrown a dead donkey’s genitals at her just to harass her. Fran was also disliked across the town for having thrown her husband, Billy, out of the house after the divorce. Based on the feud that Fran had with Paddy, it made her one of the biggest suspects in the town. The forensics team had been sent to her home to search for Paddy’s body. She was quite scared at the thought of someone having planted any evidence in her house because everyone disliked her. However, they did not find anything at her place. Her innocence was never proven, and she often heard people calling out to her as a murderer, which eventually forced her to leave Larrimah and settle in Melbourne.
Who Were The Ones Blaming Barry?
Karl and Bobbie said that they had heard a gunshot on the night of the disappearance and that Barry had a gun. This was them pointing their fingers at him, which could also have been because of an old family feud that they had. There was a feud about the bar that had been opened by Diane, Bobbie, and Karl’s daughter, which Barry had taken over. They also blamed Paddy for being an accomplice to Barry, as he used to chase away Diane’s daughter and niece on the road. They were pointing their fingers at Barry, maybe because of a personal conflict that they had. Diane complained that she had opened Green Park and that it had been burned down by Paddy and Barry while her parents were not there, leaving her bankrupt. On the other hand, Barry blamed the family of the arsonist so that they could get the insurance money. Diane also jokingly says that any internal dispute between Barry and Paddy must have caused him to feed Paddy to his pet crocodile. Karen and Mark also point a finger of doubt at Barry when they say that he was well trained in dealing with wild animals and that he had supplied Bob Irwin, the father of Steve Irwin, with his first crocodile. Fran had also been skeptical about Barry being innocent and said that he was a close friend of Paddy and did not inform the police of his disappearance before 72 hours. There were a lot of fingers being pointed at Barry, making him another possible suspect.
Who Did Karen And Mark Point Their Fingers At?
Mark and Karen said that there was a huge possibility that Richard could have been a suspect. They said that he was into drugs and was a very short-tempered man. On the day of Paddy’s disappearance, they had seen a brawl between Paddy and Richard. They also said that as Paddy’s dog had also gone missing, there was a possibility that Richard had killed them both out of jealousy as he had dogs of his own. The couple had gone to the dumpster to find a putrid smell coming from it, only to find Richard’s puppies killed and dumped. The drugs could have driven him to kill and dump Paddy along with his dog, just like he had done to his own puppies. There was, however, no solid proof against him for having committed the crime.
How Could Owen Be Involved In The Case?
Fran had appointed a gardener, Owen, to keep her company and to look out for the atrocities committed against her by Paddy. There are, however, multiple theories that prove Owen’s involvement in the case. Richard stated that Owen had a brawl with Paddy over the dog and said that he would shut it for Paddy if he did not. The police also found that the last phone call on the day of the incident was made by Owen from the phone booth across Paddy’s house. Four years after Paddy’s disappearance, Northern Territory police revealed that there were listening devices installed in Owen’s bungalow. They had records of him singing frantically about having killed Paddy with a hammer. On questioning Owen further, he refused to give an interview and was represented by a lawyer, Matthew Littlejohn.
Final Thoughts
There are a lot of possibilities behind the truth about Paddy’s disappearance. He could have been murdered by Owen, Fran, or Barry, but the internal feud between the people of the town kept the truth of the case from coming out. They just kept pointing fingers at each other because of their personal grudges, rather than helping to mitigate the case. The case of Paddy has not been taken seriously by the authorities, as till date there has been no solid evidence found against anyone. One question, however, remains! Are the recordings received not enough to prove Owen’s guilt in the case? The loopholes of law are very difficult to understand, so let’s just keep that topic aside for another day.
