Michelle Bright: Courageous moment when mother of murdered Gulgong schoolgirl confronts her daughter’s killer after 24 years

After her teenage daughter was murdered on her way home from a birthday party, Lorraine Bright felt haunted in her quiet country town.

Her 17-year-old daughter Michelle Bright was murdered in the early hours of February 27, 1999 after leaving the party in Gulgong, central western NSW.

The teenager’s body was found three days later hidden in long grass on the side of Barneys Reef Road.

A NSW High Court jury found Craig Henry Rumsby guilty of her murder and of a terrifying assault on another woman in June, more than 24 years later.

Ms Bright told Rumsby’s sentencing hearing that she had to leave Gulgong exactly one year after her daughter’s murder because the constant memories were too much to bear.

“It was too painful to keep driving past the spot where Michelle had lain for three days after she was so brutally murdered,” she told the court in Dubbo on Friday, her voice cracking with emotion.

“It was too hard to see several men pass by our local RSL where I worked, wondering and worrying, ‘Was it you?’.”

Ms Bright said her daughter was a loving and caring girl who dreamed of working with animals and wanted to have six children of her own.

“I know she would have been a great mom, but she never got that chance.

“All her dreams were stolen and shattered and as her mother, my dreams were shattered too.

“Losing Michelle the way we did has left a gaping hole in my heart.”

Following Rumsby’s arrest in August 2020, Ms Bright said she was overwhelmed to return to Gulgong to see it decorated with purple and yellow streamers in honor of her daughter.

“It touched the whole community of Gulgong and Mudgee, they never forgot her.”

Craig Henry Rumsby was found guilty earlier this year of the murder of Ms Bright in February 1999 and also of strangling an 18-year-old woman with intent to rape her in January 1998. Both took place in the town of Gulgong, near from Dubbo (photo)

Mrs. Bright’s father and brothers told the court about the horror of living for two decades, wondering what had happened to her and whether her killer would ever be brought to justice.

The woman who was suddenly attacked by Rumsby when she was 18 when she stood in front of her house on January 1, 1998, said she lived with terrifying flashbacks and fear.

“I couldn’t resist reliving it,” she said in a victim impact statement read by Crown Prosecutor Lee Carr SC.

The killer, Craig Rumsby, will be sentenced at a later date

“I couldn’t stop the flashbacks of his dirty face, his black teeth, and how he choked me, even to this day.”

The woman reported the attack and police spoke to Rumsby, but she did not make a statement for fear she would not be believed.

“As a result, I kept this attack a secret for 24 years,” she said.

Mr Carr told the court that Rumsby’s crimes were sexually motivated and involved some form of planning.

Rumsby planned to kill Michelle after admitting to covering her mouth for 10 minutes.

“A 17-year-old girl has the right to walk home safely and not be subject to this kind of behaviour,” Mr Carr said.

Acting Judge Robert Hulme will sentence Rumsby at a later date.