Cold case: Breakthrough in Gulgong’s Michelle Bright murder, jury finds Craig Rumsby guilty
Cold case breakthrough: jury finds man guilty of murdering schoolgirl as she left 15th birthday party – dumping her half-naked body in long grass
- Michelle Bright jury finds man guilty of murder
- Found 17yo with underwear around her ankles
- ‘Sexually motivated abuse’, court hears
The family of murdered teen Michelle Bright is now closed after more than two decades in which a jury found her killer guilty.
On Friday in the NSW High Court in Dubbo, jurors found Craig Henry Rumsby guilty of murdering Michelle in February 1999 and strangling an 18-year-old woman with intent to rape her in January 1998.
Both crimes were committed in the town of Gulgong in central western NSW.
Mrs Bright was killed after leaving a friend’s 15th birthday party and her body was found hidden in long grass on the side of Barneys Reef Road.
Michelle Bright was last seen alive on Saturday 27 February 1999 in Gulgong, Central Western NSW
The 17-year-old’s blouse had been pushed up, the fasteners on her bra had been torn off, and her jeans and underwear were around her ankles.
An autopsy of her body, which had abrasions on the abdomen, thighs and knuckles, failed to confirm cause of death with a report that Ms Bright was killed by ‘homicidal force of undetermined etiology’.
Rumsby strangled the other female victim with the intent to sexually assault her after she left a New Year’s Eve party.
He denied both charges despite making a confession to undercover police for both crimes before his arrest.
While there was no physical evidence linking Rumsby to the murder of Mrs. Bright, his wallet was found at the scene of the attempted rape.
The jury heard that the last victim had not pressed charges and retracted a statement made at the time because she feared going to court would discredit her character.
She told the jury how her attacker came out of the shadows, punched her and grabbed her throat, then pushed her to the ground and got on top of her and threatened her to shut up or he would kill her.
The man fled after her boyfriend emerged and threatened to hit him with a concrete manhole cover found nearby.
The Crown Prosecutor described similarities between the ambush and that of Mrs Bright, who was seized by the throat in a sexual assault while alone a few hundred yards away late at night.
Craig Rumsby was found guilty by a NSW Supreme Court jury
Rumsby’s legal team argued that he was duped into making his confession.
However, the jury retired on June 15 did not accept that.
NSW Police had been interviewing Rumsby about the murder and attempted rape since 1999, but only made an arrest after the unsolved homicide team reopened the cold case in 2019.
In August 2020, the police publicly announced a $1 million reward for anyone who had information about the murder.
Rumsby responded to a post about the announcement on the NSW Police Force’s Facebook page.
“It’s so sad they haven’t caught her killer yet. Michelle was like a sister to me. I feel sorry for her,” he wrote.
He will be sentenced at a later date.