COVER STORY barrington tops

chips and gravy sachets.
Phillips said that was the second time he
had taken gravy and wonderedwhether it
had anything to do with some missing goats
from a nearby farm.
Healso appears to have a sweet tooth –
manyvictims have reported losing
chocolate during burglaries.
AtMountMooney,Nadenalso took a
wet-weather jacket, a pair of binoculars,
shorts and a pair of boots.
‘‘It has put the windupall of usnow,’’
Phillips toldH2.
‘‘Iknowit is only food andclothing but
he is dangerous.
‘‘What dowedo?Dowefillupall the
cupboards again andsay, ‘Merry
Christmas, Malcolm.Comeand help
yourself?’
‘‘We feel very alert, very awareand very
frustrated about the lack of promptness
from police.
‘‘This guy is very clearly able to remain
out there for a long time.
‘‘What is it going to take, ishe going to
have tocomeupbehindsomeone before
anything is done?’’
Residents say a group ofupto 50 police
turnedupin July, searched areas of bush
along with dogs and anAboriginal tracker,
but left without anything.
They haven’tbeen back, not even to have
a look at the latest break-in atMount
Mooney.
Phillips andBebber are not alone in
being the victims of alarming break-ins.H2
knows ofmorethan 20 burglaries across
the Barringtons since Easter.
All are eerily similar.
BobandLynn Stegh,whohadnever had
a break-in inmorethan 10 years, said they
were targeted three times in a few months,
and believe itwas Naden.
In July, the intruder returned andtook a
.22 calibre rifle as well as food.
‘‘He only took the .22 single shot, he
could have taken an extra four or five
bigger guns but he obviously didn’t want to
be heard,’’BobStegh said.
‘‘He can shoot that and notbe heard.’’
It appearsNadencan survive in a hermit
world.
Heis suspected of being involved in the
disappearance of his cousin Lateesha
Nolan in January 2005.
After her disappearance,Nadenbolted
hisbedroomdoor from the inside and
family passed food through awindow.
Nadendisappeared hours before Kristy
Scholes, a partner of another cousin, was
found deadin his room, having been
strangled, in August 2005.
Kangaroo carcasses, expertly butchered,
were foundon the banks of the Macquarie
River behind theWestern Plains Zoo after
police discoveredNadenhad been hiding
in an enclosure. Similar kangaroo
carcasses havebeen found in parts of the
BarringtonTops, also expertly cut.
‘‘He wouldbe living exactly thesameas
a fox lives,’’ Lateesha Nolan’s distraught
father, Mick Peet, toldH2.
‘‘He is moving during the night and
staying quiet during the day.
‘‘I don’t think they will ever gethimuntil
they throw a lot of resources at it.
‘‘He will stay one step ahead.’’
Along-timeMountMooneyresident said
he would bewatching everyone.
‘‘He [Naden] wouldknowexactly what
wehave for tea,’’ he said.
‘‘He couldcomewithin 25 yards of us and
wewouldn’tknow.
‘‘He is clever and heis tough.
‘‘Only the other night I walked outside to
getsomemore[fire]woodand said to the
wife I should go back outside andjust yell,
‘Malcolm, it’s too bloody cold mate,comein
here andget warm’.
‘‘One fellowuphere said the onlyway
they will gethimis if abrownsnake gets to
himfirst.’’
Asenior police source saidNaden
would beusing a series of campsites to
allowhimto keep moving.
They might include public campsites,
which hewould blend into after watching
whowascamping.
That iswhyresidents say the authorities
need to publiclywarn people.
‘‘We have visitors putting themselves in
danger andwehavewomenherewho
spend a lot of time on theirownwhile their
husbands are out,’’ a resident said.
‘‘They need tobe protected.
‘‘Someone is going to stumble ontohim
atsomestage andwhoknowswhat might
happen.’’
Acting HunterValley crime manager
Detective Inspector Peter Robinson has
been onNaden’s tail for several years as
part of his previous jobs with the Northern
Region police.
Hesaid althoughNadenhadto be
considered dangerous, heappeared to be
happy to keep to himself.
Inspector Robinson said the only time
he hadbeen cornered was at theDubbo
zoo and hedid not attack.
‘‘All I can say is the only time he was
confronted, his optionwas to run,’’
Detective Inspector Robinson said.
‘‘If you want to try andpredict what
people will do, you look at their past, and
his first instinctwas to run.’’
That is whatNadenis continuing to do
– tomorrow will be his 1900th day on the
run.