Darwin city taxi driver George Grantham was on a roll. That afternoon, April 20th, 1952, he had won over £600 at the races. Now two fares wanted him to drive them out of town on a trip that would take up all the evening and earn him a lot more cash. Things were definitely looking bright.
But not for long. His two fares, a Czech, Jerry Koci, 21, and a Romanian, Jonas Nopoty, 19, shot him in the back of the head and stabbed him in the heart before making off with his money. His body was discovered some distance from Darwin.
The killers were caught driving Granthams taxi eastwards towards Queensland. Nopoty told police that before they killed the taxi driver Koci had been involved in a car accident in which a toddler died. Frightened of being arrested, he had proposed that they steal a car, kill the driver and drive to a port where they could take ship from Australia.
They were taken back to Darwin for trial, where feeling was running high. George Grantham was a popular local man and a lynch party gathered outside the court. The locals were appeased only when the two killers were hanged on Friday, August 8th, 1952.