Graham Archer’s 11-year battle over lawyers, guns and money is close to a successful and satisfying end.
Archer, producer of Channel Seven’s Today Tonight, has been chasing justice for the victims of jailed paedophile Peter Liddy since 2001.
The chase ended in the District Court recently when Judge McIntyre awarded the ownership rights of a multi-million dollar antique gun collection to Channel Seven.
“After 11 years we got something back,” Archer said on the day of the court decision.
“We are now in the process of valuing and auctioning the guns, and then distributing the funds to the long-suffering victims of Liddy,” he told InDaily this week.
“These are the people that started the civil action against Liddy and they are the ones most worthy.”
The saga goes back to 2001 when former magistrate Liddy was charged with offences related to the abuse of young boys in the 1980s.
Liddy lived in a mansion called Shenandoah in Kapunda where he stored and showcased his massive personal collection of shipwreck treasure, antique guns and coins.
He had served as a magistrate for more than 20 years and was also a lifesaving coach at Brighton Surf Life Saving Club where he groomed his victims.
When police started investigations into Liddy they applied for a freeze on his assets.
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“On the day of the freeze, assets were removed and a complex set of arrangement started to play out,” Archer recalled this week.
In late 2001 Liddy was jailed for 25 years, and police seized what was remaining in the house.
“There seemed to be little interest in where the entire collection had gone,” Archer said.
“For a man who had always kept scrupulous records it didn’t add up that it had all somehow been given away or sold off with no details of where, when and for how much.
“I thought that Liddy had either hid them or destroyed them; that he was trying to keep the collection out of the hands of his victims.
“Liddy was already on the record saying that two of Colt 45s in his collection were so rare that they would bring in an auction record (more than $500,000 each).
The two Colts have consecutive serial numbers; one gun has the inscription “Candelabra Mining Company” locating its ownership in a part of Utah closely associated with the famous bandits Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
“We spent a lot of time investigating where Liddy had got the guns and where they had gone. We followed a series of leads that led to his mother who lived in a house in Gawler.”
Archer told the police and the fraud squad raided Liddy’s maternal home and found a Derringer rifle, a Winchester rifle, powder horns and coins.
But Archer knew there was much more to be found.
“I got hold of one of Liddy’s home and contents insurance policies, we spoke to former colleagues and associates and we kept watch on auctions and collectors’ forums.
“We found some more.
“And then in 2005 we went back to Mrs Liddy and she relented.
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“She went into the laundry and pulled the covers off a laundry tub and there they were – 18 Colt 45s and three rifles.”
Again the assets were handed over to police, but Archer was concerned that ownership of the assets would never be settled and the long-suffering victims would be left without compensation.
The court case seeking clarification dates back to 2008 and various times involved the Commonwealth Government, the victims of Liddy, the purchaser of Shenandoah (Terry Stephens, a WA conman who had bought the mansion believing he’d find the treasure hidden inside), Liddy himself, Liddy’s mother, three men who had purchased some of the rifles at genuine auctions and Channel Seven.
“We wanted them declared as ‘found’ items so that possession and ownership would pass to us in the event the victims were unsuccessful,” Archer said.
And so it was that years later, the judge came down on the side of the journo who’s out-gunned the cops in the search for the Liddy treasure.
“In the absence of any other claimant I determine that Channel Seven’s possessory title to items 1 – 4 inclusive and 7 – 25 inclusive, as outlined in my original judgment, entitles it to the return of those items,” Judge McIntyre declared.
“These items ought be kept together and returned to Channel Seven. I correct that error in my original reasons for judgment.”
Archer’s victory cannot be underestimated.
In the search for the Liddy’s treasure he outdid the police, negotiated the complexities of the legal system and stayed the distance for more than a decade.
“We now have the property and we have a licensed custodian looking after them.
“We are dealing with experts in the US to further verify the provenance of the guns and are consulting with auction houses on the best way to sell them.
“We expect to finalise the sale in the next few months and collect several million dollars.
“We will then distribute the funds to the eight victims that were originally involved in the civil action seeking damages from Liddy.
“They are the ones who deserve the closure.”
And with his job done, Archer is likely to ride into the sunset.
*Watch Graham Archer’s 2009 story on the search for Liddy’s guns here
