Updated ,first published
When Donna Wills woke up on Easter Sunday, there was nothing to indicate the hell that was about to befall her family.
Her husband, Richard, had got up early as usual. Dressed in a yellow high-vis top and a dark-coloured cap, he had eaten his breakfast about 8am, kissed her goodbye and headed to their farm along the Mallee Highway – a dusty outpost dotted with sheep on the outskirts of the tiny community of Ouyen, near Mildura, where he spent most of his time.
Richard, known by most as Rick, was a workaholic. It wasn’t unusual for him to stay at the farm until nightfall, tinkering with old machinery that he wanted to sell or tending to the animals. But when the 65-year-old grandfather failed to return to their home on Hughes Street for Easter lunch, Donna started to worry.
“I went out there and couldn’t see him, so just presume maybe someone’s called in,” Donna remembers.
Richard was the type of guy who would turn around and help a stranger with a flat tyre, or run a jerry can of fuel to someone stranded by the road. It was strange that he hadn’t taken his phone with him, but perhaps he had gone for a drive with a mate and something happened, Donna thought.
But when Richard did not return home that evening, Donna knew something was wrong. She went back to the farm with a family friend, but her husband of 32 years (and partner of 40) was nowhere to be found. The following morning, Donna called the police.
Police, SES members, friends and family descended on the 1600-acre sharecropping property looking for Richard. About 1.30pm on Tuesday, they found the body of the 65-year-old buried in a shallow grave. He had been shot dead and dragged behind a vehicle.
“He was one to help anyone,” Donna says. “Why would they want to do it to him?”
It’s the same question detectives are struggling to answer.
On Saturday, Detective Senior Sergeant Steve Trewavas, a homicide investigator with the Missing Persons Squad, said police hadn’t been able to ascertain the motive behind the “vicious” killing and asked anyone with information to come forward.
“We see this as a very vicious killing. It’s a homicide investigation that we are seeking further information from,” he said.
Richard usually left the gates unlocked while working on the property, and police believe his killer or killers are likely someone he knew. Since his body was found earlier this week, detectives have been going through CCTV footage and speaking to residents in the Ouyen and Mildura areas, but are yet to arrest anyone.
“This is a vicious killing, and it’s not lost on the police that a man who went to work on Easter Sunday, one of the holiest days in his calendar, has not come home,” Trewavas said.
“There will be somebody in this community who knows what happened, somebody who has information or is concerned by the actions of a person on Easter Sunday that’s alerted them to the fact that they may be involved in this incident.”
Located at the junction of the Calder and the Mallee highways, about 440 kilometres north-west of Melbourne, Ouyen is home to a community of about 1170 people.
On social media, Richard’s heartbroken daughter Kayla Phillips described her father’s death as “another nightmare we don’t get to wake up from”, having lost her sister 10 years ago after a medical episode.
“For those that don’t know, our beautiful Dad has been found. It is not the outcome we had hoped for, and we are in shock and disbelief,” the post read.
“We have a long road ahead while we wait for answers as to what has happened. We feel held, loved and supported by all of our friends/family near and far.”
Police are urging anyone who saw Richard last Sunday or who has information about his death to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit an anonymous report at www.crimestoppersvic.gov.au.
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Marta Pascual Juanola is an investigative journalist at The Age. Before that, she was a crime and justice reporter. You can contact her securely via m.pascualjuanola@proton.me or Signal on +61 468 688 436.Connect via X or email.