A Suburban Nightmare

Before gun control, Australian mass shootings weren’t at all uncommon.

The Wahroonga house (left) where four members of the family were found dead . A note left next to the bodies led police to a block of flats (right) where the bodies of a man woman from the same family were found — Images: Sydney Morning Herald

In April 1984, Rosemary Brandon, 35, was in the middle of planning a 6th birthday party for her youngest daughter. The party, scheduled to take place on the first Sunday in May, was to be a lavish affair, with a large group of family and friends all invited to the Brandon family home in Boundary Road, Wahroonga, on Sydney’s leafy north shore.

Organising the party was a task Rosemary relished. As a housewife and mother of three, she lived for her family. Her husband, John, 42, did what he could to help out but as much of his time was spent working the party planning, like most of the day to day domestic chores, had been largely left to Rosemary.

A week out from the party all the invitations had been delivered, the catering sorted, and a good supply of Champagne purchased and stacked in the garage ready to be chilled for the adult guests. All that was left to do was decorate the house; a task that Rosemary and her children, Justine, 11; Damon, 8; and the birthday girl Sarah, 5, would take care of on the morning of the big celebration.

As fate would have it, none of them would live to see that day.

The Brandon family were relatively new to Wahroonga, having bought their large 7-bedroom house…