MALCOLM  JOHN  NADEN

  Please note - at the time Malcolm disappeared he more closely resembled the photo top CENTRE, much thinner and with a fuller beard. It has been over two years now and he may have changed his appearance - hair and beard etc.

 NSW Police Homicide Squad is ready and willing to listen to anyone with definite information about Malcolm Naden's current whereabouts. I know that you might feel scared about contacting Police but I am vouching for then, they WILL listen to you and WILL help you.

e mail   homicideintell@police.nsw.gov.au

Malcolm John NADEN

Full name: Malcolm John NADEN Age: 32 Years Wanted for: Wanted in relation to murder and aggravated indecent assault offences. A $100,000 reward is available for information which may lead to the capture of this person. The community is encouraged to provide any information which may assist police in locating this person. Do not approach this person direct but provide any information to Crime Stoppers 1800 333 000 or contact Triple Zero (000) if the person is sighted. Last updated: Fri 02 Feb, 2007 Have you seen this person? Never approach, contact or attempt to apprehend a wanted person. If you sight or are aware of the whereabouts of a wanted person you should telephone: Crime Stoppers 1800 333 000, Triple Zero (000) or your local police station. Alternatively you can click here to report online. (You can report anonymously).

Malcolm Naden is number one on the NSW Police Most Wanted List -

 http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/can_you_help_us/wanted/malcolm_john_naden

MALCOLM  JOHN  NADEN has been on the run since June 2005. He is currently the most wanted man in NSW and there is a $100,000 reward on offer for information as to his current whereabouts.

If you have ANY information at all call Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000.

It is vital that Malcolm Naden is found as he may have some answers about what has happened to his missing cousin Lateesha Nolan and murdered woman, the girlfriend of another cousin, Kristy Scholes. Click on the girls' names to read more information about them.

Friday, 8 July 2005. 10:00 (AEST)
Police probing Dubbo death seek missing man

Police investigating the death of a Dubbo woman are appealing for assistance to find a man they believe can help with their inquiries.

Malcolm Naden, 31, has not been seen since June 20 - two days before the body of Kristy Scholes, 24, was found in a bedroom of a Bumblegumbie Road house.

The Orana local area commander, Superintendent Stuart Smith, says anyone with information about Mr Naden's whereabouts should contact police.

"Investigators are certainty interested in talking to this individual who we think may be able to assist with the inquiries," he said.

Strike force detectives appeal for information after woman's death - Dubbo 8 July 2005

Strike force detectives investigating the death of a woman at Dubbo last month are appealing for help to locate a man who they believe might be able to assist with inquiries.

Police found the body of Kristy Scholes, 24, inside a house in Bumblegumbie Road, Dubbo, in the early hours of the morning on Thursday 23 June.

Ms Scholes' death is being treated as suspicious.

Strike Force Durkin has been set up to investigate Ms Scholes\' death and comprises detectives from the State Crime Command\'s Homicide Squad and Orana Local Area Command.

Detectives would like to speak with 31-year-old Malcolm Naden, who police believe might be able to assist with their inquiries into Ms Scholes\' death.

The Dubbo man has not been seen since Monday 20 June 2005 and there are concerns for his welfare.

He is described as being of Aboriginal appearance, 177cm tall, 85kg, with a medium build, olive complexion, brown eyes, shaved head and possibly a moustache and/or beard.

Anybody who might know the whereabouts of Mr Naden, or who has any information regarding Ms Scholes\' death, is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Man sought over murder, disappearance
08:39 AEST Sat Aug 20 2005
AAP
A man is being sought in connection with the death of a woman and the disappearance of another at Dubbo in central-western NSW.

Police said they had issued an arrest warrant for 31-year-old Malcolm Naden, who they believe can help them with their inquiries into the death of 24-year-old mother-of-two Kristy Scholes and the disappearance of his cousin, Leteesha Nolan.

All three were part of an extended family living in West Dubbo.

The body of Ms Scholes, the de facto wife of one of Naden's cousins, was found in a Dubbo home on June 22 after she was reported missing by a friend.

Police said Ms Scholes' children, aged three and four, were in the house when her body, surrounded by pillows, was found lying on the floor of a room in the house.

Naden is also being sought for questioning over the disappearance on January 4 this year of Ms Nolan, a mother of four who lived at the same West Dubbo house.

Detective-Sergeant Bryne Ruse, of Dubbo police, who heads Strikeforce Durkin, said Naden had disappeared on Monday, June 20.

He is described as being of Aboriginal appearance, 177cm tall, of medium build, weighing 85kg, with olive complexion, brown eyes, shaved head, and possibly a moustache and beard.

'Strangler' goes bush as six kids lose two mums
By John Kidman Police Reporter
August 21, 2005
The Sun-Herald

Police have launched a statewide hunt for a man whom they believe has murdered one woman and may have vital information about another who is missing, presumed dead.

Malcolm John Naden is thought to have gone bush after disappearing in the state's west two months ago.

Homicide detectives have spent weeks searching sheds and abandoned farmhouses for the 31-year-old fugitive, but their efforts have proved fruitless. They have now publicly named Naden as a key suspect in the strangulation killing of 24-year-old Kristy Scholes, a mother of two from Dubbo, on June 23.

Police have also described him as someone they believe could help with their investigation into the whereabouts of 24-year-old mother of four Lateesha Nolan, who vanished from the same Dubbo address in January.

Naden is a cousin of the two women and was a long-term resident of the house.

"There are so many people who have been affected, not in the least six little kids under the age of six, who have lost two mums," the women's uncle Ted Lancaster said.

"It's been just horrendous.

"Kristy's children have at least had a funeral service to attend and a place to go and visit their mummy.

"But Lateesha's little ones are still asking where she is, whether she still loves them and if they can go and look for her.

"This is what we're going through and it is absolutely horrible. It's been one long nightmare."

A week before Ms Scholes's death, she and her two children moved into the East Dubbo home of her partner's grandparents while their own home was being repainted.

Homicide squad Detective Sergeant Shane Conant said her four-year-old daughter, Libby, was found wandering in the front yard of the house, having escaped through a window, on June 22.

Relatives searched immediately but Ms Scholes's body was not found until the following morning, when police entered Naden's bedroom.

Sergeant Conant said Ms Nolan vanished after leaving her two youngest children, 19-month-old Shaqkaila and three-year-old Jayden, with their grandmother Florence Nolan on January 4.

Naden is Aboriginal, 177 centimetres tall, weighs 85 kilograms and is of medium build. He has an olive complexion, brown eyes, a shaved head and possibly a moustache and/or beard.

Double killer hiding in bush

By STEVE GEE - The Daily Telegraph
August 22, 2005

SUSPECTED double murderer Malcolm Naden left his young nephew and niece locked inside a home for up to eight hours after strangling their mother, police revealed yesterday.

Confused four-year-old Elizabeth Scholes cut open a flyscreen to escape her grandparent's Dubbo home, leaving three-year-old brother John inside while their mother, Kristy, lay dead in a separate room.

Relatives found Elizabeth wandering in the front yard on June 22 and called police, but it was not until the following day that Ms Scholes' body was located inside a locked bedroom, where Naden, her cousin, had also been living.

The tragic chain of events was revealed as police launched a belated appeal to help catch Naden, who is also wanted over the suspected murder of another cousin, Lateesha Nolan, who vanished on January 4.

"We don't really know how long the children were inside, but they were locked in," Detective Sergeant Bryne Ruse said. "Fortunately they had no idea [about their mother]."

Police fear Naden, a skilled bushman, may have fled into bushland near Dubbo or is being sheltered by friends.

The 31-year-old unemployed shearer was last seen three days before police found the body of Ms Scholes.

It was the same house Ms Nolan was last seen dropping off her children to visit their grandparents before she disappeared.

Although her body has not been located, detectives are conviced she has been murdered.

Sgt Ruse refused to reveal a motive for the killings, but ruled out any suggestion Nader was sexually involved with either woman.

The Nolan children often spent time at the property visiting their grandparents, who were away in Sydney at the time of the murder.

Police seek man on run after cousin found dead
By Les Kennedy - The Sydney Morning Herald
August 22, 2005

For the past 16 years Malcolm John Naden lived a hermit-like existence in a sparsely furnished bedroom at his grandparents' home in Dubbo. He kept the door bolt locked from the inside.

He would leave his sanctuary through the bedroom window, though in the past year he rarely ventured outside. His reading material included the Bible, encyclopedias and books about bush survival.

The stocky, quiet, 31-year-old unemployed shearer and former skinner and boner at Dubbo abattoir also sketched, but police will not reveal the nature of the drawings they found in his room last July 23.

They had broken into the room that day and found the strangled body of his cousin Kristy Scholes, 24, on the floor beside his single bed. She had been missing for two days and the alarm was raised when one of her two small children was found crying outside the home, in Bumblegumbie Road.

His disappearance and the murder of Ms Scholes, who had been living in the home while her neighbouring house was being painted, has also been linked with the disappearance last January of another cousin of Mr Naden, Lateesha Nolan, 24.
Ms Nolan was last seen at 9pm on January 4, when she dropped off two of her four children at the same house. The next night her blue 1996 Ford Falcon station wagon was found in a car park in the town centre, four kilometres away.

Homicide squad detectives yesterday made a statewide appeal for information on Mr Naden's whereabouts.

The head of the investigation, Detective Sergeant Bryne Ruse, said police believed Mr Naden had fled to another town, to Sydney or had taken to living off the land with his knowledge of bush skills.

Sergeant Ruse said police also wanted to speak to Mr Naden about the disappearance of Ms Nolan.

The issuing of a warrant for Mr Naden's arrest means there are now two large but unrelated manhunts under way in rural NSW.

In the north-west of the state, police are searching for the killer of a farm manager near Warialda last Wednesday.

Queensland police have joined the investigation into the murder of Nigel Pettet, 31, at a property he managed. His Toyota Landcruiser utility was last seen in the Queensland town of Warwick. Police have not revealed how or why he was killed.

Anyone with information on Ms Nolan's disappearance and the murders of Ms Scholes and Mr Pettet are asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Police step up murder suspect hunt
From: AAP
August 21, 2005

NEW South Wales police have intensified their search for a man they say is the key suspect in the murder of a woman in Dubbo, in the state's central west.

Officers who have been searching for Malcolm Naden, 31, since the murder of 24-year-old mother of two Kristy Scholes in June today released pictures of him in the hope someone will report his whereabouts to police.
Police also want Naden for questioning over the disappearance of another woman, his cousin Lateesha Nolan, a mother of four who vanished from Dubbo in January this year.

"Detectives allege Naden is the key suspect in the murder of 24-year-old Kristy Scholes who was found dead in his bedroom in a house (in Dubbo) on June 23, 2005," a police statement said today.

An arrest warrant for Mr Naden was granted after the death of Ms Scholes and the disappearance in January of Ms Nolan, who has four children.

All three were part of an extended family living in West Dubbo.

The body of Ms Scholes, the de facto wife of one of Mr Naden's cousins, was found in a Dubbo home on June 22 after she was reported missing by a friend.
Police said Ms Scholes' children, aged three and four, were in the house when her body, surrounded by pillows, was found lying on the floor of a room in the house.

Detective-Sergeant Bryne Ruse, of Dubbo police, who heads Strikeforce Durkin, said Mr Naden had disappeared on Monday, June 20.

He is described as being of Aboriginal appearance, 177cm tall, of medium build, weighing 85kg, with olive complexion, brown eyes, shaved head, and possibly a moustache and beard.

Wanted man seen at dump - The Ridge News
Thursday, 22 September 2005

Malcolm Naden, the man wanted for questioning over the murder of one of his cousins and disappearance of another, has been sighted over the past weeks on the Mulga Dump. Superintendent Stan Single told The Australian newspaper the intelligence was strong enough to mount an operation, but Walgett police did not find him. Mr Naden, 31, from Dubbo has family in the Walgett area and a number of positive sightings had been reported to police, Superintendent Single said. "He may have been lucky and spotted police and done a runner, it's a fairly big area to cover," he said. Superintendent Single said Mr Nolan was capable of living in the bush in some sort of humpy or other dwelling. Mr Naden is wanted over the death of Kristy Scholes on June 22, and for questioning over the disappearance Lateesha Nolan. He is described as being of Aboriginal appearance, 177cm tall, 85kg, of medium build, olive complexion, brown eyes, shaved head and possibly a moustache or beard. Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Wanted man in opal area: police
By David Dixon - The Weekend Australian
September 15, 2005

POLICE believe a man wanted for questioning over the murder of one cousin and the disappearance of another is hiding out in a remote opal prospecting area in far north-western New South Wales, they said today.

A number of sightings of Malcolm John Naden in the Grawin Opal Fields, 80km west of Walgett, during the past two weeks led to an unsuccessful police operation to arrest the expert bushman last Friday.

Most reports described him as prospecting in an opal dump site, with local police believing he is trying to find enough opals to survive on financially.

Supt Single said the operation by about 10 local police and homicide detectives was hampered by the large area of the opal fields, its remoteness, and the lack of established roads and buildings.

"He is capable of living in the bush in some sort of humpy or other dwelling."

By Edmund Tadros - SMH
December 23, 2005 - 4:10PM

Dubbo's Western Plains Zoo was closed to the public today as police searched for suspected double murderer Malcolm Naden.

The action came after a report Naden was hiding in the grounds of the world-famous zoo, in central western NSW.

The zoo, a former army camp during World War Two, is a 300 hectare oasis of woodland and irrigated grassland, containing more than 1,000 different animals from five continents.

Some 60 police and a Polair helicopter searched that expanse for eight hours while one zookeeper remained on site until the zoo was reopened around 1600 AEDT.

A police spokeswoman said there had been a report that 31-year-old Naden had been sighted in the zoo.

Police search for murder suspect
Thursday, 22 December 2005

Homicide detectives from across the State descended on Grawin last week in a large-scale operation to catch a suspected murderer believed to be hiding in the area.
While the oblivious locals went about their business 19 undercover officers spent the days searching for Malcolm Naden, who is wanted for the murder of Kristy Scholes in June of this year.

Detective Sergeant Bryne Ruse said police have strong reason to suspect Naden has chosen Grawin as his hiding place.

"Our intelligence has been building for the last couple of months and it seems to point to him being somewhere nearby," Detective Ruse said.

There have been several sightings of the fugitive, including one as recently as last Tuesday.

Although Naden is said to be capable of living in the bush on his own it is believed he is being supported by somebody. He has several associates in the area, including some distant relatives.

"Our intelligence suggests that he may be getting an income by working for cash, perhaps in the mines, or selling opals after noodling on the dumps," Detective Ruse said, adding that anybody caught assisting Naden would face serious charges.

A warrant for Naden's arrest was issued after he disappeared following the murder of Miss Scholes, his cousin, in Dubbo on or about June 22. He is also wanted in relation to an act of indecency on a child in 2004, and for questioning over the disappearance of Lateesha Nolan earlier this year.

Miss Nolan, a mother of four, went missing from Naden's house - the same house where the body of Miss Scholes was found - on January 4 and has not been seen since.

Police are appealing for help from the local community in their search for the suspected killer.

"At the moment we're trying to keep the trail warm, and we need the public to come forward," Detective Ruse said.

Locals are being told to keep an eye out for Naden and, if they see him, make what observations they can.

"Things we need to know are what vehicle he's driving and who he's with, but any small piece of information might assist the police."

There is a reward available for anybody who assists in the capture or prosecution of Naden.

He is 31 and described as being of Aboriginal appearance, 177cm tall, 85kg, of medium build and olive complexion, with brown eyes. It is also likely that he may have grown more facial and head hair and may act in a way to disguise his appearance, such as wearing a hooded jacket in the middle of the summer heat.

Anyone with information is urged to immediately contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Man wanted for questioning over murder seen near Lightning Ridge - ABC
Thursday, 22 December 2005.

Police say a Dubbo man wanted for questioning in relation to a murder has been sighted in the Lightning Ridge area.

Another subsequent covert operation in the Grawin opal fields failed to find Malcolm Naden, 31, who police want to talk to about the murder of Kristy Scholes in June this year.

Mr Naden has been on the run for six months and is also wanted for questioning over the disappearance of Lateesha Nolan.

Detective Sergeant Bryne Ruse from the homicide squad warns anyone assisting Mr Naden could face serious charges.

"Well, we believe he's being supported by people and also living off the land, at this time we haven't been able to get those people to open up to us and provide us [with] the information," he said.

Help sought to find fugitive
NICK COOK - Dubbo Daily Liberal
Thursday, 22 December 2005

Police have once again called on the public to help them find Dubbo fugitive Malcolm Naden who is wanted in relation to the murder of Kristy Scholes and the disappearance of Lateesha Nolan earlier this year. This follows a large-scale undercover operation in Grawin last week where Mr Naden was believed to be hiding. Nineteen undercover police officers from the Castlereagh Local Area Command went to Grawin in the belief that Mr Naden was working for cash in the mines, or selling opals. Orana crime manager Detective Inspector Michael Willing said Dubbo police were working with the homicide squad and they still believed that people in Dubbo might have information about the fugitive's whereabouts. "He's been evading police and we believe he's had assistance from people to be able to do that," Mr Willing said. "It's not beyond the realm of possibility that people here know where he is and are helping him," he said. "I would ask those people to put themselves in the position of the families of Kristy Scholes and Lateesha Nolan and find it within yourself to contact the police and let us know any information you have." A warrant for Mr Naden's arrest was issued after he disappeared following the murder of Ms Scholes, his cousin, in Dubbo on or about June 22. He is also wanted in relation to an act of indecency on a child in 2004, and for questioning over the disappearance of Ms Nolan in January this year. Ms Nolan, a mother of four, was also a cousin of Mr Naden and was last seen at Mr Naden's house - the same house where the body of Ms Scholes was found. Mr Naden is 31 years old, described as being of Aboriginal appearance, 177cm tall, 85kg, of medium build and olive complexion, with brown eyes.Anyone with information is urged to immediately contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Murder suspect still at large
By David Crawshaw and Amy Fallon - The Australian
December 23, 2005

A MASSIVE police search has failed to locate a suspected murderer believed to be hiding in Dubbo's Western Plains Zoo.

The world-famous zoo was closed to the public today as police searched for Malcolm Naden following reported sightings of the fugitive.

Mr Naden, 31, is wanted over the death of 24-year-old mother of two Kristy Scholes and the disappearance of his cousin, Lateesha Nolan.

The three were part of an extended family living in West Dubbo.

"There's been a number of alleged sightings by zoo security and staff members here," Orana Local Area Command crime manager Detective Inspector Michael Willing said on Channel 10.

"We felt it was necessary to take the action that we did."

Frustrated tourists, some who had travelled as far as 200km, were turned away from the zoo as police conducted the search.

Streets around the zoo, one of regional New South Wales's biggest tourist attractions, were cordoned off, but Newell Highway remained open.

A zoo spokeswoman said all visitors were evacuated, including an unknown number of people who were staying at an on-site lodge.

"The zoo was closed at 8am today," she said.

She said most staff had left the premises, with a small number remaining to look after animals.

The search ended shortly before 4pm (AEDT) and despite being unsuccessful, Insp Willing said police believed Mr Naden was in the area.

"He may be sourcing food from within the zoo somewhere," he said.

"He's been able to survive on the ground. We know he's got excellent bushcraft skills and he's been able to elude police for some time now."

The body of Ms Scholes, the common-law wife of one of Mr Naden's cousins, was found in a Dubbo home on June 22 after a friend reported her missing.

Ms Nolan, a mother of four who lived at the same West Dubbo house, disappeared on January 4 this year.

Police issued a warrant for Mr Naden's arrest in August.

"If anybody sees this man, we urge them not to approach him, but to call police immediately," Insp Willing said.

The zoo is traversed by 7km of sealed roads and 6km of bushland walking tracks.

It contains more than 1000 animals from five continents including lions, elephants, rhinos, tigers, gorillas, giraffes and seals.

Board insists zoo safe after search for fugitive
KIM BARTLEY - Dubbo Daily Liberal
Tuesday, 27 December 2005

The Zoological Parks Board claims the people and creatures of Western Plains Zoo are not in danger. But it has offered little other information about the zoo's role in the manhunt for fugitive Malcolm Naden or the impact of Statewide media coverage of its closure on December 23. That day police searched the zoo hoping to find the suspected murderer. In a statement released in the 24 hours after the zoo gates were reopened, the board said police had comprehensively searched for the suspect and "the area where this person is thought to have gained access to Western Plains Zoo premises has been locked down". "At no time has there been any threat to the visitors, animals and wildlife on site at Western Plains Zoo," the statement read. "As always their care and welfare have remained at the highest standards." The board said police would continue to conduct patrols around the zoo and surrounding areas with the "full co-operation" of its staff and security personnel. Yesterday a media officer for the zoo said management was not available on public holidays to provide further information. She said visitor numbers at the zoo following the search would not be known until after they were "collated" at the end of January. Zoo staff did not like to "speculate" on any ramifications of the search to the operations of the zoo, the media officer said. Police have declared the area safe but are making "sporadic" patrols of it in their bid to question Malcolm Naden in relation to the disappearance of one of his cousins and the murder of another.

Where the wild things are: murder hunt closes zoo
By Jordan Baker, Kelly Burke and Edmund Tadros - SMH
December 24, 2005

HE does not sound like a man easily spooked, so it may have seemed the perfect spot for the suspected killer Malcolm Naden to hide: a sprawling zoo of wild animals, with rules to stop others venturing to its more perilous corners.

There are lions and cheetahs, elephants and rhinos, bears and tigers - plenty to keep the curious at a safe distance. And police believe Naden, a skilled bushman suspected of killing two women, may have made his home among the animals in Dubbo's Western Plains Zoo.

Now visitors to the zoo are angry that police let them stay there overnight, without warning them that there might have been a murderer in their midst.

Naden, 31, is an unemployed shearer and former skinner and boner at Dubbo abattoir. He had lived like a hermit at his grandparents' Dubbo home until June, when police found the strangled body of his cousin, Kristy Scholes, 24, in his room. Naden vanished - and police thought he was also involved in the disappearance of another cousin, Lateesha Nolan, 24, in January.

The first public inkling that something was amiss at the zoo came about 9pm on Thursday, when visitors on an overnight tour were told their morning expedition was being brought forward, from 8am to 6.15. They would have to leave the park by 8am because of a security lock-down. Jay Nevin, a businessman, his wife and their three children, aged 13, 10 and eight, from Newcastle, were on an overnight safari worth $1000.

"We are angry," Mr Nevin said. "Angry and disappointed … We should have been given the opportunity to get out of there. We wouldn't have stayed … I have three young kids - they're too precious to me."

Another visitor said: "People were asking if a lion had escaped. They were just laughing that off." They had been told there were no safety concerns.

At 3pm on Thursday, a zoo worker had spotted a man believed to be Naden in the 300-hectare park. On Friday morning, after the guests were removed and the zoo closed, police sealed it off. They blocked roads outside and brought in 60 police, sniffer dogs and a helicopter to search in up to 41-degree heat. Some residents knew why, even when police were refusing to confirm Naden was their quarry. Others thought he was hiding in a vacant cottage.

It was afternoon before police confirmed the rumours. The Orana region crime manager, detective inspector Mick Willing, said police thought Naden had been in the zoo for a matter of days, not weeks.

"We made a decision - it was a tactical one [not to evacuate] the park earlier," he said. "We needed to ensure that we could engage in a search for this individual, and [that] he was captured today … We believe it was the right decision to make. The overnight groups that were in the park were monitored by police throughout the evening."

By Friday night, Naden was still at large. Police believed he was no longer in the zoo, which was declared safe and was to be open on Saturday. Superintendent Smith believed he would not return, but admitted: "We cannot wipe out the opportunity that he could come back to the park."

Whatever his next move, police say he is a survivor. They believe he has lasted on fruit, by stealing food or hiding with contacts.

Wanted for murder - Daily Telegraph
December 29, 2005

A BIZARRE picture is emerging of a suspected double murderer accused of killing at least one cousin before using his bushman skills to elude police by hiding at an open-range zoo.

Malcolm Naden was a recluse who became obsessed with religion, believing the end of the world may have been near, and started reading books on karate, crime and survival techniques.

He has been on the run since the strangulation murder of Kristy Scholes, 24, who was found dead in his bedroom at his grandparents' Dubbo home in June.

He is also believed to be responsible for the disappearance of Lateesha Nolan, 24, who disappeared from the same house in January.

Family members say the 31-year-old's state of mind had taken a disturbing turn in the years leading to the tragedy.

About two years ago Naden began reading books forecasting the end of the world and started ordering home Bible study kits.

He became a recluse, leaving the Bunglegumbie Rd home in secret through his bedroom window without talking to his family.

When his room was searched they found a Bible and a survival guide.

He had grown up with his cousins, spending hours playing in the bush around Dubbo, becoming an expert on bush skills while fishing for days with just a small pack of supplies.

Now Naden is believed to be using those skills picked up during his happy childhood to remain on the run from police, recently in Dubbo's Western Plains Zoo, just a few kilometres from the scene of his alleged crimes.

Naden's family are begging him to come forward, and although they are struggling to believe he could be responsible for the crimes, they think he may be the only person who can solve the tragic mystery.

Their chief priority is to locate Ms Nolan, who is pr

There is also a warrant for Naden's arrest for an alleged indecent assault of a child last year.

Ms Nolan's father Mick Peet yesterday said: "He's got to be found, he has got to have help.

"He had a Bible and a survival book. When I first heard they had found the Bible I thought he was going to kill himself to meet his maker, but then with the survival book it seems he decided to do a runner."

Naden's cousin Kirsty Peachey, who also grew up with Naden, yesterday recalled how he had been going through unusual stages.

"One minute he had the TV in his room taken out and he lived like a monk," she said.

A vigil is planned for Ms Nolan on January 4 at the car park in Tamworth St, Dubbo, where her car was found.

Detective Sergeant Bryne Ruse said police needed to speak to Naden to determine if he was responsible.

"Until we speak to him it is really just a (circumstantial) connection that Kristy Scholes' body was found in that particular house he was residing in and Lateesha Nolan went missing from there," he said.

ANYONE with information about Naden's whereabouts should contact police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Police warn fugitive's allies
From: By Marnie O'Neill - Sunday Telegraph
January 01, 2006

POLICE hunting suspected double murderer Malcolm Naden have warned that those responsible for hiding him could face 25 years to life in jail.

Naden, 31, is accused of murdering his cousin Kristy Scholes and causing the disappearance of Lateesha Nolan, leaving six children behind.
He has been on the run for six months and is considered an expert bushman.

Detectives believe he has sought refuge in Dubbo's Western Plains Zoo and that friends are helping to feed and hide him.

The zoo was temporarily shut last week as police scoured the scrub for clues to Naden's whereabouts.

"That person or persons faces charges of accessory after the fact to murder, which is akin to murder and carries a penalty of 25 years to life," Homicide Squad Detective Sergeant Bryne Ruse said.

"At the very least, they face charges of aiding and abetting or perverting the course of justice."
Mother of two Ms Scholes, 24, was found strangled in Naden's bedroom at their grandparents' Bumblegumbie Rd home in Dubbo on June 23 last year. Her cousin Ms Nolan, also 24, disappeared on January 4 last year after dropping off her four children at the same house.

Her body has never been found and police fear she too has been murdered.

Naden is the prime suspect in both cases.

Naden's aunt, Janette Lancaster, said she felt for the two women.

"We will never give up, there is no way we will give up until we know what happened to Lateesha and the circumstances surrounding Kristy's death," she said.

Naden moved in with his grandparents while in Year 7 because of a poor relationship with his own parents.

The Sunday Telegraph understands the crimes he is accused of and his fugitive status have divided the family. Naden's father refused to comment last week.

The family will hold a candlelight vigil for Ms Nolan on Wednesday.

The last snapshot of man wanted over strangulation murder
January 3, 2006 - SMH

Malcolm Naden's aunty talks about the man on the run, writes Jordan Baker.

THIS is Malcolm John Naden as his family remembers him.

For reasons known only to the man on the run from murder allegations, Naden posed for the photograph after gathering and destroying every picture he could find of himself.

It captures Naden, dishcloth in hand, as he looked when he disappeared a day before the strangled body of his cousin's partner Kristy Scholes was found next to his single bed in August.

Until now police have relied on a picture of a fuller-faced man with closely cropped hair to jog the memories of members of the public who may have seen Naden on the run.

The photograph is taken in the Dubbo home of his grandparents, who took him in when he fled his home after repeated clashes with his father.

Janette Lancaster, his aunty, said she "grabbed him on a good day".

By the time the photo was taken he was virtually a hermit, shutting himself in his sparsely furnished room, bolting the door from the inside and occasionally climbing through the window at night.

"You never knew whether he was there or not," Mrs Lancaster said. "He sometimes had blankets over the windows. He even used to put his clothes under the door so no one could see the light.

"The boys would give him food through the window. Dad would leave fruit on his door in a plastic bag.

"Before what happened with Kristy, he wouldn't take the food; it was just going rotten."

Naden disappeared more than four months ago. Police believe he is living rough using the survival skills he learned while camping and fishing, with perhaps some help from contacts.

He has been spotted across western NSW - at Moree, Coonabarabran and Coonamble.

The only two confirmed sightings have been at Grawin, near Lightning Ridge, and at Western Plains Zoo, where the former skinner and boner from Dubbo abattoir lived for up to two weeks.

Grawin's opal fields suit wanted men: empty camps, deserted mines the size of ballrooms, and furtive "noodlers" who scavenge through dumps for riches the miners missed.

"You could go months and months without seeing anybody out here if you chose the right spot," said Cheryl Bailey, the manager of a local club.

Police operations in both places failed to find him.

Relatives are begging Naden to turn himself in, and his grandparents cannot bring themselves to return to the house they have lived in for 30 years.

Mrs Lancaster said: "There's some that don't want to believe it, but there's others who say why would she be found in his room with the door locked? Nobody went into his room. His father doesn't want to believe it at all.

"You don't want to think someone you trusted and loved and helped raise can murder someone. It's so unbelievable it's not funny. Until we find him and he gives us his story we don't know what happened."

Police also want to question Naden over his cousin Lateesha Nolan, missing since last January. A vigil will be held for her tomorrow, the anniversary of her disappearance.

Wednesday, January 11, 2006. 10:34am (AEDT)
Murder suspect sighted in Dubbo

Dubbo police have received dozens of reported sightings of wanted man Malcolm Naden in the city in recent weeks.

The 31-year-old is suspected of murdering his cousin Kristy Scholes and is also wanted for questioning about the disappearance of Lateesha Nolan.

Since a man-hunt at Dubbo's Western Plains Zoo failed to find him last month, the homicide squad has been continuing investigations in the Dubbo area.

Police are certain Naden is being assisted, possibly by family members.

Murder in 'Redfern of the bush'
Caroline Overington - The Weekend Australian
January 07, 2006

FOUR-YEAR-OLD Elizabeth pushed the flyscreen out of her bedroom window, climbed up over the sill, and tumbled onto the ground.

On June 22 last year, after being trapped in the house for eight hours with her three-year-old brother, John, Elizabeth was finally free.

The little girl ran into the garden, where relatives later found her in tears. They called the police, who knocked down a locked door and found her 24-year-old mother, Kristy Scholes, lying dead on the floor near a bed. Suspicion immediately fell on Kristy's cousin, an Aboriginal man named Malcolm Naden, who has disappeared and is wanted by police.

The murder attracted little attention at the time, in part because it occurred on the Gordon Estate, in remote and dusty Dubbo, about 300km northwest of Sydney.

But Gordon Estate is back in the news this week, and is fast developing a reputation as the nation's most dysfunctional community - a so-called "Redfern of the bush".

The estate, 5km from Dubbo's small airport, is home to about 5000 people - 4000 of them Aborigines - in the city's total population of almost 40,000. Many of the families are related; almost everybody seems to be somebody else's cousin.

Like all of Dubbo, the estate is hot, flat, dry and dusty. Most of the homes are neat - some have garden gnomes out the front - but many have been destroyed by the residents.

About 60 homes have plywood hammered over the windows to prevent Aboriginal kids from getting in and setting them on fire. The streets are filled with Aboriginal children, many of them as young as three or four, walking through the estate, day and night.

Some residents have complained the youngsters are neglected and spend their days making mischief, stealing cars and breaking into homes.

Others make the point that few people on the estate can afford a car (or have lost their licence) so walking is the way the children can get around.

There are no shops on the estate, no school, no post office and no bank. The only building that isn't a house is a community centre, where poor children are given meals.

The Gordon Estate made the newspapers in January last year when Aboriginal elders decided to begin patrols in an effort to cut the crime rate.

This week it made the news again, after Aboriginal youths bashed a police officer and torched a police car on New Year's Eve.

The Weekend Australian visited the estate to talk to residents about why its problems keep making national news.

Some, like Kelly Smith, a 25-year-old Aboriginal mother of four, who was resting in the shade under the eaves of her house, could not understand it.

"I've been here three years and never had any trouble," she said, as her toddlers gambolled around.

True, stolen cars raced up and down the streets at night and were occasionally torched, she said. "But it's not Beirut, like I read in the newspaper."

But one of Smith's neighbours - a white man, who spoke to The Weekend Australian from behind a locked security door - said the estate once had "one Aboriginal family for every five white families. Now it's one white family to every 1000 Aborigines".

He wanted to move off the estate - "My friends at work always say, 'How do you sleep at night?"' - but the rent, at $90 a week for a three-bedroom house, is cheaper than anywhere else in Dubbo.

The man believed police were stirring up trouble in the estate over the New Year period for just one reason: "They think Naden is here."

Others said the same. "It's got nothing to do with kids this time. It's Naden they're after," said Charlie Nelson, who drives a community bus.

"They think his relatives are harbouring him. He's got heaps of relatives around the place, and they think they've been helping him."

Police are anxious to speak to Naden, an unemployed shearer, skinner and boner, and skilled bushman - not only about the killing of his cousin Kristy, but also about the disappearance of another cousin, Lateesha Nolan, a 24-year-old mother of four.

Nolan was last seen on January 4 last year, dropping off her children at the same house where Scholes's body was found. Naden has since disappeared, and his reputation as a wild man has grown since he fled. Some residents say his eyes are "just crazy" and that he could "snap a girl's neck with his fingers".

It is known Naden spent some time hiding with the animals at Dubbo's Western Plains Zoo, a few kilometres from the Gordon Estate. He reportedly lived on rotten meat and fruit left out for the bears, tigers and rhinos.

Sixty police, sniffer dogs and a helicopter were used to search the zoo last month after a staff member spotted Naden, but he was not found.

"They think he's come back to Gordon Estate," said Nelson. "That's why there's been trouble here."

But the problems at the estate extend well beyond the hunt for Naden.

"This place was built for good people - just good people on low incomes," one white local, who has lived there for 25 years, said through his closed curtains. "Now it's like a slum."

Some blame the Aborigines, most of whom are unemployed. The women have children very young, the children don't go to school for long, and there is drug abuse and alcoholism.

But Aborigines who are living upright lives feel the racism too. Nelson's son Robert, a self-described "blackfella", said: "I can't get a job here. Lot of rednecks here."

Charlie Nelson - who has six children and 25 grandchildren, many of them living on the estate, and all employed - tries to talk to the young Aborigines running wild on the streets around his neat home.

"You try to set them on a right path," he said. "We pick them up at night in the community bus and take them home." The problem is some families just don't care that their children are running wild. They are too drunk or drugged.

The suspected presence of a wild bushman, a murder, the disappearance of a mother and the riot on New Year's Eve brought the media to Dubbo.

The damaging publicity upsets the good folk of the town, and a brawl broke out between local politicians over whether the problems should be discussed in the "Sydney media".

MP Dawn Fardell was upset by an interview councillor Ben Shields gave on the Seven Network,, and called on him to resign for "damaging Dubbo's image".

In response, Shields told the local Daily Liberal newspaper: "To hell with her, I'm sick to death of her trying to push things under the rug."


Naden sightings reported
Thursday, 12 January 2006 - Dubbo Daily Liberal

Suspected murderer Malcolm Naden, on the run for the past five months, continues to evade police despite fresh reported sightings in the Dubbo area.
NSW Police believe the skilled bushman has been using his craft to survive on the outskirts of the central-western city since they issued a warrant for his arrest in August.

Naden, 31, is wanted over the death in June last year of 24-year-old mother of two Kristy Scholes and the disappearance six months earlier of his cousin, Lateesha Nolan.

The three were part of an extended family living in West Dubbo.

"Police are following a number of reported sightings of Naden in the Dubbo area this week," a NSW police spokeswoman said.

Naden belongs to a large Dubbo family, but police have not found any evidence to suggest they are helping him, the police spokeswoman said.

"Police continue to appeal for the public's help in finding Naden and we continue to receive reported sightings," the police spokeswoman said.

Dubbo's Western Plains Zoo was closed for a day last month when a massive police search failed to find the fugitive after he was sighted on the grounds.

Police thought Naden may have been sourcing food from somewhere within the zoo.

Video link to footage of the Dubbo Zoo hunt -

http://seven.com.au/news/popup_video/131137

Murder suspect evades police
From: AAP
By David Dixon

February 28, 2006

SUSPECTED killer Malcolm John Naden, who evaded police in a manhunt that led to the evacuation of Dubbo's Western Plain Zoo in December, has again escaped his pursuers.

A team of 60 police, accompanied by police dogs and a helicopter, swooped on the Willowbend Village Aboriginal mission in Condobolin at the weekend, expecting to corner the 31-year-old former shearer and abattoir worker.

But for the third time since September, when he was sighted at the Grawin Opal Fields, 80km west of Walgett, authorities found that Naden, a skilled bushman, had again eluded them.

On December 23, a massive police search led to the evacuation of the Western Plains Zoo after Naden was reported to have been seen there.

Police later said they believed he had slipped through their cordon.

Naden disappeared on June 20 last year, three days before the body of his cousin, 24-year-old mother of two, Kristy Scholes, was found in his bedroom.

He's also wanted for questioning over the disappearance of another cousin, 24-year-old Lateesha Nolan, who went missing from the same house after dropping two of her four children off on January 4 last year.
Despite the Dubbo man's success in evading capture, police deny he is outsmarting them or that Aboriginal trackers should be employed in their hunt for him.

They say Naden's "reclusive personality" and "a poor communication" of leads to his whereabouts is helping him evade detection.

"He's a desperate man in a desperate situation and he knows he's wanted. He's doing everything he can to lie low," Lachlan Local Area Command Crime Manager, Detective Inspector Tony Taylor said.

Naden is believed to be getting support from family and friends and is moving around in an area of western NSW from Tamworth in the north down to Condobolin and Parkes in the south.

"At the moment, we're still looking at information on the Condobolin area. We believe that he does have ties and that is one possibility we are exploring to explain why he might be hiding in Condobolin," Det Insp Taylor said.

The weekend operation included heavily-armed police from the State Protection Group, operational units; detectives from Dubbo and Parkes, the highway patrol, dog squad, and AirWing.

It involved raids on two homes in Condobolin and a search of nearby bushland.

Det Insp Taylor said because Naden was such a skilled bushman, there would be little point in employing an Aboriginal tracker.

"If we had information that he was operating in an area of bushland, our preferred option would be to use the dog squad because of their speed and senses," Det Insp Taylor said.

"It's just a matter of time; he's playing a game that he will eventually lose. Somebody will recognise him and he will be apprehended," he said.

Murder suspect manhunt involves local police
Wednesday, 1 March 2006 - Parkes Post

About 6am last Saturday police from the Lachlan and Orana local area commands along with negotiators and detectives from Sydney Special Protection Group and State Protection Support Unit stormed two homes in Dargin and Gordon streets in Condobolin.

According to Parkes police officer Sergeant Ben Dawson the search warrants were executed following a tip-off that Mr Naden was in the town.

Bushland around the area was also extensively searched on foot and via police airwing unit and numerous homes were canvassed by police seeking more information from the public. The search lasted for more than four hours.

Mr Naden (31) was last week placed on the state's most wanted list. He has been on the run from police for eight months.

Police welcome $50,000 reward for the capture of Malcolm Naden - Dubbo
3 January 2007

Homicide Squad detectives have welcomed today’s announcement by Police Minister John Watkins of a $50,000 reward for information leading to the capture of Dubbo man Malcolm Naden.

An arrest warrant for murder has been issued for Naden, 32, in relation to the 2005 murder of mother-of-two Kristy Scholes.

Ms Scholes’ body was found in a house at Bumblegumbie Drive, West Dubbo, on 23 June 2005.

She and her two children, then aged three and four, had moved into the home temporarily while their own home was being repainted.

There is a second arrest warrant for Naden over a 2004 offence of indecently assaulting a child.

Unlike rewards that offer money if a person is convicted in court, today’s reward has $50,000 on offer for information that leads to the apprehension of Naden.

The reward comes a day ahead of the two-year anniversary of the disappearance of Dubbo mother Lateesha Nolan.

Ms Nolan, then 24, was last seen on the night of 4 January, 2005, at her grandparents’ Bumblegumbie Drive home in West Dubbo.

She had left her four children there, then aged one, three, four and five, about 9.30pm with a promise to return shortly, but has not been seen since. It’s believed she might have met with foul play.

Detectives believe Malcolm Naden might have important information about Ms Nolan’s disappearance and are very keen to speak to him.

Detective Superintendent Geoff Beresford, Commander of the Homicide Squad, welcomed the Minister’s reward, saying it may encourage the breakthrough police have been seeking.

“Detectives have been carrying out exhaustive inquiries across the state to locate Mr Naden, but believe he has been assisted in his efforts to evade police” Det Supt Beresford said.

“It is our view that with the offer of this reward, it may cause whoever is helping him to rethink their position and provide us with crucial information.”

Naden is described as being of Aboriginal appearance, 177cm tall, 85kg, with a medium build, olive description, and brown eyes.

Anyone with information on Naden’s whereabouts is urged to phone Crime Stoppers on
1800 333 000.

Anyone who sees Naden should not approach him but phone ‘000’ immediately.

MALCOLM NADEN SIGHTING - WIN News Feb 1st 2006
One of Australia's most wanted men, spotted in Roma

New South Wales detectives from Strikeforce Durkin were last night on the trail of one of Australia's most wanted men, spotted in Roma.

There'd been unconfirmed reports from a local business operator that Dubbo's Malcolm Naden, who's accused of the strangling murder of mother-of-two Kristy Scholes in two thousand and five, was in town.

Thirty-two-year-old Naden's thought to have been seen in a red Ford Falcon, and was recognised from an article in a women's magazine.

The man believed to be him was last seen heading towards Toowoomba.

A fifty thousand dollar reward's being offered for information leading to Naden's arrest.

Police also want to question him over the disappearance of his cousin Lateesha Nolan two years ago.

Naden's of Aboriginal appearance, one hundred and seventy seven centimetres tall, eighty five kilograms, with a medium build and brown eyes.

Bounty unpaid as zoo fugitive eludes police

Wanted ... Malcolm Naden.
 

31 December 2007 - 1:03PM

Fugitive still at large Emily Wheeler - The Daily Liberal       This week marks the first anniversary of a $50,000 reward offered for information leading to the arrest of Malcolm John Naden.   Naden is wanted in relation to the murder of Kristy Scholes in 2005 and the disappearance of Lateesha Nolan, who went missing the same year.   Despite the $50,000 bounty - the first of its kind in 127 years - the Dubbo fugitive has continued to elude police.   This month also marked the second anniversary of Naden's last confirmed sighting at Western Plains Zoo which resulted in 60 police, including detectives deployed from various State commands, locking down the tourist attraction and conducting an extensive manhunt.   Police searched in and about the zoo's bushland on Christmas Eve 2005, following a number of reports from zoo staff that they had seen Naden, who had been on the run since June 2005.   The anniversary of the bounty announcement, made by former NSW police minister John Watkins, comes on the eve of another significant anniversary.   Dubbo mother of four Lateesha Nolan, who is Naden's cousin, went missing on January 4 three years ago.   Police believe Ms Nolan met with foul play and that Naden was involved in her disappearance.   They also want to question him about the death of Kristy Scholes, who was found dead at a house in West Dubbo before Naden fled.   Ms Scholes was the partner of another of Naden's cousins.   A warrant was also issued for his arrest in relation to indecently assaulting a child in 2004.   Police have received countless unconfirmed sightings of Naden since his disappearance but the only firm sightings were at the Dubbo zoo two years ago, and another near Lightning Ridge in August 2005.   There was speculation about whether he would return to Dubbo for his grandmother's funeral last December, but he wasn't seen.   Police from the State Homicide Squad told the Daily Liberal in January 2007 they had "exhausted every resource" before announcing the $50,000 bounty.   It was the first time a reward for information leading to the arrest of someone - not a conviction - had been offered since the time of Australia's most renowned outlaw, Ned Kelly.   Margaret Walker, Ms Nolan's aunt, said her family spoke to police on occasions, but had not received any information about the wherabouts of Naden or Ms Nolan.   She said the family needed closure, especially Ms Nolan's children, who still expected their mother to come walking through the door.   Her children will write messages to her and release them in balloons on Friday, at the spot where her car was found abandoned.   The event will take place at the eastern bank of the Macquarie River, below Tamworth Street, from about 6pm.

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