The man accused of murdering a country family over a fence boundary dispute holds sovereign citizen beliefs and was in a relationship with his stepmum, it has emerged.
Darryl Valroy Young, 59, is accused of shooting his neighbours Maree and Mervyn Schwarz, as well as Maree's son Graham Tighe, at his home in the Queensland Whitsundays town of Bogie on August 4.
Maree's other son, Ross Tighe, was also shot but was able to flee and raised the alarm at a neighbouring property.
An ominous sign at the front of Young's property promoting sovereign citizen ideology warns 'all men, women, persons and entities', including law enforcement, caught trespassing on his property would face a $10,000 fine.
Self-proclaimed sovereign citizens hold the belief that Australia's laws do not apply to them.
Young was also in a relationship with his late father's partner at the time he allegedly shot the Bogie family.
Police allege Young invited his neighbours to meet at the border of their two properties in the early hours of August 4 where he then allegedly shot the four family members.
Maree and Mervyn Schwarz and Graham Tighe were killed at the scene but Ross Tighe, Maree's other son, managed to flee with a bullet wound to his stomach.
Mr Tighe reportedly ran to a farm car with his severe injuring while still under fire.
The 77km-long Normanby Road, the only way to access the isolated properties, is a mobile black-spot meaning Mr Tighe was unable to call for help.
Instead he was forced to drive some 40km to a neighbouring property were he could raise alarm about the shooting.
Young was arrested 12 hours after the mass shooting alongside two contractors that were on his property, his son and his late father's partner.
It is understood Young began a relationship with the woman after his father passed.
Young was the only person charged in relation to the alleged murder.
Mr Austen, who is Mrs Schwarz's brother-in-law, told Daily Mail Australia the boundary line had been a source of tension for a long time.
'It was a fence line dispute, and it's been going for many years,' he said.
'How it happened in this day and age is beyond me. It's not America.'
Mr Austen also said Graham Tighe, Maree's son, had spent as little as three-days with his newborn son before he was tragically killed.
He said the baby was hospitalised in Brisbane, more than 1,000km south of Bogie, soon after his birth three weeks before the attack 'because he was crook'.
Earlier this week it was revealed Young's 2010 gun licence renewal was rejected by police.
Police said he was 'not a fit and proper person' and that the renewal of his licence was 'not considered to be in the public interest'.
However, the ban was overturned by Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal after Young argued he had not broken any laws preventing him from gun ownership and that he needed a weapon for pest control on his property.
Young appeared in Proserpine Magistrates Court via video link on August 8 where he was refused bail and ordered transfer from the watchhouse to Queensland correctional facility until his next scheduled appearance on November 1.
May 2021: The Schwarz family buy the 300-square-kilometre Bogie farm for $10million
Thursday, August 4, 2022
9am: Mervyn and Maree Schwarz, and Maree's sons Graham and Ross Tighe meet neighbours at the boundary lines of their properties. An altercation occurs and all four are allegedly shot.
Ross escapes and makes it to a property several kilometres away where he raises the alarm.
10am: Queensland Police confirm they have sent units to a rural property following reports four people have been shot
11am: Police announce they have located one man some distance from the property and he is being treated for gunshot wounds
An emergency declaration is set up by police and members of the public are told to avoid the area
4pm: Police confirm three people have been found deceased at the Bogie property
Friday, August 5, 2022
7.15am: Queensland Police Acting Superintendent Tom Armitt announces the alleged gunman has been taken into custody