Double killer hailed a hero for gunning down Warrnambool thug in Kirkstall, Victoria
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A man who shot dead a notorious criminal in cold blood before turning the gun on himself had ‘begged’ police to arrest him before taking the law into his own hands.
Travis Cashmore was reportedly fed up with Warrnambool thug Kevin Knowles tormenting his friend’s family when he shot him and his mate Benjamin Ray dead on July 22.
Knowles had already been jailed earlier this year over threats to kill Cashmore’s mate and his family.
Travis Cashmore’s mate had been under threat by Kevin Knowles when he armed himself with a shotgun and shot him and his associate Ben Ray dead
Kevin Knowles was among two shot dead in Kirkstall on July 22. He was a career criminal and suspected killer himself
Emergency services on Kirkstall-Koroit Road, Kirkstall after Travis Cashmore shot dead Knowles and Ben Ray
Knowles and his acquaintance Benjamin Ray were gunned down in broad daylight a few kilometres from Knowles’ home in Kirkstall, north-west of Warrnambool.
Cashmore’s body was found at his home down the road after he turned his gun on himself after dispatching the pair.
Just days after the killings, Cashmore’s father Ron Cashmore told a local ABC reporter his son’s concerns about Knowles were dismissed by police and no action was taken.
Mr Cashmore claimed his son had filmed Knowles breaching an intervention order against his mate just two days before his violent rampage.
Knowles had been jailed in January after lobbing up at Cashmore’s mate’s house armed with a knife, the Warrnambool Standard reported.
The notorious brute had visited Cashmore’s friend’s home with Mr Ray, who hid behind bushes.
Mr Ray reportedly claimed to have been previously threatened by Cashmore’s mate.
Cashmore had been at his friend’s home at the time and filmed the incident, in which Knowles brandished a silver kitchen knife.
‘I’m going to kill you and your kids. Your days are numbers,’ Knowles reportedly said.
Knowles had been due to face intervention order breach charges allegedly related to the harassment of Cashmore’s friend when he was killed.
Travis Cashmore, 45, armed himself with a shotgun and blasted Knowles and his associate
Benjamin Ray was run down and then shot by Travis Cashmore
A witness told police she heard at least two gunshots and the sound of a vehicle speeding off shortly before the grim discovery (pictured, police vehicle on Kirkstall-Koroit Road)
Knowles had also threatened to kill Cashmore, his father told the ABC.
So paranoid was Cashmore he had security lights and cameras installed outside his home, which was just a kilometre down the road from Knowles.
‘What he did to Travis was out of this world, you wouldn’t believe it. He terrorised and harassed him,’ Mr Cashmore Snr said.
‘Knowles would stand in Travis’s yard, he’d ask for money, he knew where he hid his keys … Travis began to think he had cameras on him. He became paranoid.’
Ray – a father of three – would be run down on Scotts North Road by Cashmore’s car before being blasted at near point blank range with a shotgun.
The Standard, claimed Knowles was shot in the back of the head execution style.
Days after Cashmore’s killing spree, a sign was erected outside his property.
It read: ‘Free. Trav! You and the Kirkstall community are now free from Kevin Knowles. RIP.’
Kirkstall, a small town 275km south-west of Melbourne with a population of less than 400 people, is known as a peaceful farming community.
But word of Knowles’ bloody execution was greeted largely with relief within the wider Warrnambool community.
‘He was a standover man, woman bashing oxygen thief and that’s putting it nicely,’ one local posted to social media upon learning of Knowles’ demise.
‘Hope he seen it coming. Pity that Travis didn’t plan it better. The pub literally sold out celebrating.’
Travis Cashmore is believed to have taken the law into his own hands when he executed two men
Cashman was found dead at a property nearby on Chamberlain Street shortly after the shooting (pictured, emergency services on Kirkstall-Koroit Road)
At the time of Knowles’ death his criminal record filled more than 50 pages.
He was also suspected of committing at least two murders, including that of his long suffering partner Amanda Bourke, 44.
Knowles had routinely bashed Ms Bourke, whom he had snatched away from her partner while he was in jail.
When Warrnambool man Stephen Johnston was bashed to death on December 8, 2016, a Victorian coroner found Knowles was responsible for it despite him never being charged.
Johnston had made the mistake of mentioning Knowles’ ‘grass cutting’ to him during a drunken binge in his backyard.
When Knowles wound up dead in July, detectives initially suspected it was Ms Bourke’s former jailbird lover who did the deed.
Ms Bourke would die under mysterious circumstances in January 2018 while Knowles was still under investigation over Mr Johnston’s death.
A coroner in 2018 found Ms Bourke drowned after she agreed to go on a swim with Knowles in a notorious stretch of water halfway between Warrnambool and Port Fairy.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Victoria Police and Ron Cashmore for comment.
Amanda Bourke drowned while swimming with thug Kevin Knowles. She had been the only witness to a suspected murder committed by him