In the six months before Mathew Dunbar’s death, his now convicted murderer now known as the ‘Widow of Walcha’, Natasha Darcy’s internet search history gave a chilling insight into her plan.
‘‘Plastic bag suffocation”, “99 undetectable poisons” and “How to commit murder” were among Darcy’s many Google searches before the eventual death of her sheep farmer partner.
Mathew passed away in his bed during the early hours of August 2, 2017, at his property, Pandora near Walcha in the NSW Northern Tablelands, and last week, after a two-month court case, Darcy was convicted of his murder.
The court found the 46-year old had given Mathew a cocktail of sedatives, including a veterinary tranquilliser commonly used on horses and sheep, blended in a NutriBullet.
She then connected a helium tank to a plastic bag, placed it around his head and asphyxiated him.
In a bid to cover her tracks, Darcy then made a triple zero call and gave the impression Mathew had taken his own life.
It was a narrative the mum-of-three had been building for months before the murder.
She told family and friends the 42-year-old was struggling with his sexuality, had mental and physical health issues and was suicidal.
While Mathew had been struggling with depression, the court later found it was due to Darcy “gaslighting” and exploiting her partner.
DEADLY BEGINNINGS
Mathew and Darcy had met at the end of 2014 via a dating website and just six months later the farmer had been persuaded to rewrite his will so his new girlfriend stood to inherit his $3.5 million sheep farm.
Mathew had talked openly about how happy he was to have finally found love and that he wanted to marry Darcy.
But there were early signs that Darcy was a dangerous choice of girlfriend.
A few months into the relationship, Darcy was imprisoned for stealing a former boyfriend’s credit card and breaching probation conditions.
In 2009 she’d been charged with attempted murder of her husband, Colin Crossman, after sedating him and burning down their family home while he was asleep.
Tree days before, she’d hit Colin on the head with a hammer while he slept.
The police later discovered an internet search referencing the drugs found in Colin’s system on their home computer.
Darcy had also taken out a life insurance policy that paid out $700,000 on Colin’s death.
She eventually pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was sentenced to two years and 11 months in prison.
The couple never divorced and by the time Darcy and Mathew were together, Colin regularly visited his and Darcy’s children at Pandora.
In the months before Mathew’s murder, Darcy attempted two “dry runs” at killing him.
On one occasion she injected a veterinary sedative into the farmer’s leg causing him to blackout for two days.
On another, Darcy gave Mathew an overdose of her son’s ADHD medication.
POISONOUS MILKSHAKE
By July, internet searches showed Darcy had settled on how to kill the sheep farmer.
But a vet Darcy approached to buy a large quantity of horse sedatives was so concerned she rang the local police and made a statement.
According to reports, around this time local police set up a strike force looking into how Darcy might be planning to murder her boyfriend.
But before they could act, Darcy carried out her plan, mixing the ram sedative acepromazine and medications temazepam, clonidine and
seroquel in a blender and feeding it to Mathew.
She then placed the mixer in the dishwasher but forgot to switch it on.
In another bizarre twist, Darcy’s ex was one of the first paramedics on the scene.
Colin would later testify in court that Darcy had screamed at him to continue CPR on Mathew even after he was declared dead.
In the days to come, Darcy stayed at Colin’s home.
After police arrested Darcy in November 2017, she wrote to a friend and offered her $20,000 to lie about Mathew having depression and making past suicide attempts.
When the friend cut off contact, Darcy sent a second letter offering more money.
At the beginning of the trial Darcy pleaded not guilty to murder but said she had aided and abetted Mathew’s suicide.
While Mathew had been diagnosed with depression in 2009 and during the later stages of his relationship with Darcy had threatened selfharm, his psychiatrist stated he wasn’t suicidal.
‘In the dock at the Sydney court, onlookers noted the blonde woman didn’t appear to react when the jury found her guilty after three days of deliberating.
The woman now dubbed the “Widow of Walcha” was sentenced to 40 years in prison in February 2022, and will be eligible for parole in 2047.
“The offender has shown nothing remotely resembling remorse or contrition,” Justice Julia Lonergan said during Darcy’s sentencing hearing.
