The Greenough Family Massacre refers to the murders of Karen MacKenzie, 31 and her three children, Daniel 16, Amara 7 & Katrina 5 at their remote rural property in Greenough, Western Australia on February 21, 1993 [1] .

As mentioned on Crime Investigation Australia the exact way of how Daniel and Amara died were deemed to be kept secret and ruled that the details never ever be revealed to the public and to this day remain a secret.[2]

It took police 5 or more weeks to catch their murderer William Patrick Mitchell who was convicted of the murders in 1993 at the age of 24 and sentenced to life imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 20 years.

The above is from various sources- i'm just puzzled as i have never come across such an embargo in a crime case, i assume it is too disturbing and horrific- although Jack The Ripper's depravities were hardly kept from the public .

Back in the days of the Jack the Ripper slaughters Scotland Yard vowed that the death-chamber photographs of Mary Jane Kelly would remained sealed away forever, but today they are freely available not only in books but on many Internet sites.

What bothers me most about the Australian case, however, is that a murderer whose crimes were so disgusting that the police still refuse to reveal their bloody details may be released at the relatively young age of 44 - just 15 years from now.

Yes i agree with you on the kids glove approach to the killers "punishment"-its because he would no "longer pose a danger"- this is completely irrelevant - what matters is punishment and justice only- not the killers lack of future threat to public

I cant find anything on this "Greenough Family" anyone have any luck?

He killed them with an axe.

Here

Thanks. Im not sure I really want to know the full details of what he did to those little girls.

I dont see why they would keep it a secret unless the family were a lot deeper into something bad and they did not want the family's secret to get out... I dont know I mean maybe it was they were going to try and catch the killer by not making the murders public so that way he would not be as popular and he would get sloppy and mess up and get caught easier.

Why is the cause of death being kept a secret. it should be made public so people know what that guy really did and they make sure he stays in prison.

i saw this on crime investigation australia. Daniel, the oldest child, went outside to see who had come to their house so late and when he realised who it was he went over to welcome him. at this point he was murdered with an axe in the front yard of their property. the rest of the family was asleep inside the house. the a****** then entered the house and murdered and raped karen, the single mother, then he went to the little girls bedrooms and murdered them while they slept. from what i can understand karen was a friend of his but when she refused his advances to take it further he started being weird. they were at a party not long before the murders and he tried again and she knocked him back and she was off laughing and talking to other guys there and this seems to have set him off as a pyscho. i totally agree that a non parole period of 20 years is not long enough. he murdered 4 people he should never see daylight again imo.

I definately agree with what you said alwaysseatching.

To murder kids in their beds shows a clear lack of conscience. Just because you get rebuffed from a chick doesn't mean you go and slaughter the entire family. Apparently he was using amphetemines, which I'm sure the defence used as an excuse to show that he wasn't in his right mind at the time.

Hopefully the Western Australian government vehemently oppose his release when his non parole period is up.

however the murders were taken place, I don't see it likely being any worse than what's seen across US media everyday..

Try just FIVE years from now. He was sentenced in 1993. The twenty-year non-parole period will be up in 2013. Hopefully he won't be released then!