Desert Demon

On the morning of 9th June 1987, on the banks of the Victoria River in Australia’s Northern Territory, German tourist Joseph Thomas Schwab shot and killed father and son, Marcus and Lance Bullen, who were on a fishing holiday in the remote and isolated area. Five days later, at a campsite at the Pentecost River Crossing in Western Australia, Schwab shot and killed Phillip Walkemeyer, his fiancée Julie Warren, and their friend, Terry Bolt. Following an intense police search, Schwab was eventually spotted on 19th June 1987 hiding in remote bushland near Fitzroy Crossing in Western Australia. When Police approached and identified themselves, Schwab fired on them and after a protracted shoot-out, he was shot and killed. While this book is a work of fiction, it was inspired by the deeds described above and I respectfully dedicate it to the families of those who lost their lives at the hands of a deranged killer and to all the police officers from both the Northern Territory and Western Australia involved in the manhunt and eventual deadly confrontation with Schwab.