NSW: Prostitute shot, flees attacker

AAP General News (Australia)
04-13-2004
NSW: Prostitute shot, flees attacker

By Lisa Davies

SYDNEY, April 13 AAP - A prostitute shot several times in a quiet western Sydney industrial
street tried to flee the gunman before collapsing 150 metres from where she was attacked.

Police said the woman was gunned down on Murtha Street, Arndell Park, sometime before
a passing motorist found her body about 11.50pm (AEST).

The woman suffered a number of gunshot wounds to the head and body.

Blacktown Police Superintendent Kerry Doherty said while the woman had not been positively
identified, she was "known in the area".

"We are 98 per cent sure we know who it is," he told reporters.

Police sources later said the woman was a local prostitute who worked the nearby Great
Western Highway.

Forensic specialists and police divers today canvassed the area for clues to the murder.

Supt Doherty said that at the time of the murder, the entire area would have been almost
deserted.

However it was a possibility that someone in the area may have seen a truck driver
leaving in a hurry, he said.

"That's a possibility ... a number of lines of inquiry are being followed up," Supt Doherty said.

The woman's body was clothed when she was found and police believed she may have been
chased down the quiet street by her attacker.

"She was probably, from where the original crime took place, probably 150 metres to
where she actually fell to the ground," he said.

"It indicates that she was trying to leave the vicinity where she was originally shot."

Homicide Detective Sergeant Garry Jubelin said despite the absence of witnesses so
far, police were confident the killer would be found.

"They're all difficult, but we're confident that the lines of inquiry that we're following
up, that positive results would come from the investigations," he said.

Police urged anyone who was in the vicinity of Murtha Street at Arndell Park last night
to contact them.

AAP ld/nf/hu/jlw

KEYWORD: MURTHA NIGHTLEAD (PIX AVAILABLE)

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