Murder of Peter Aston

On 4 May 1982, Australian Army personnel Robin Reid and Paul Luckman kidnapped teenage boys Peter Aston and Terry Ryan on the Gold Coast, Queensland. Reid and Luckman then drove the boys at gun and knife point to Kingscliff, New South Wales, where they were beaten, tortured, and sexually assaulted before Aston was ultimately murdered.

Kidnapping and murder[]

On 3 May 1982, Peter Aston, aged thirteen, decided to hitchhike from Marsden to his hometown of Melbourne, to join his brother. His school friend, Terry Ryan also thirteen, agreed to keep Peter company until he reached the Gold Coast, where he then planned to return home.^{[1](Ch 3)}

The two caught the train to Beenleigh and there stole around 20 packets of cigarettes and some clothes. They then proceeded to hitchhike south, down the Gold Coast Highway. After a short while they came across a yellow 4WD Daihatsu and its occupants Reid, 34, and Luckman, 17, who offered to give the boys a lift down the coast.^{[1](Ch 3) [2]}

Not long on the road, the two boys were threatened at knife and gunpoint by the two men, who then drove the car over the Queensland/New South Wales border, into the beach-side town of Kingscliff, where they forced the two boys out of the car and down a secluded beach track.^{[1](Ch 3)}

Reid and Luckman then bound, sexually assaulted and savagely beat the two boys.^{[1](Ch 4) [3]} Ryan was also forced by the two men to bash and assault his friend. Peter Aston was stabbed, tortured and eventually buried alive.^[3] By this point, Terry Ryan had reasoned with his attackers and they agreed to drive him home.^{[1](Ch 4–5)}

Ryan later told police, "They got everything they had, put it in the car and drove off, and me too, and they drove me back home. While we were driving they told me that they were Satan worshippers and they had to do it [kill Peter Aston] for the sacrifice."^{[1](Ch 5)}

Arrest and trial[]

Ryan immediately told his mother, who drove him to the police station to report the kidnapping and the murder of his friend.^{[1](Ch 1,5)} Reid and Luckman attempted to escape in a car they had stolen from a fellow army private at the Enoggera army base.^{[1](Ch 6)} The two were apprehended on the New England Highway.^{[1](Ch 7)} Further evidence and weapons were found in the pair's Daihatsu, which had been left at the army base, as well as in their living areas on base.^{[1](Ch 8–9)}

Reid and Luckman were formally charged with the murder of Peter Aston, and Reid was also charged with threatening to inflict bodily harm on Terry Ryan. They were refused bail and taken into custody.^{[1](Ch 11)}

Reid was taken by police on a tour of the murder scene, where he explained in detail exactly what happened on the night of the murder.^{[1](Ch 10)} Police reported he boasted of his exploits and seemed to be immensely enjoying his "15 minutes of fame".^{[1](Ch 11)}

Reid and Luckman's committal hearing was held at Tweed Heads Court on 4 August.^{[1](Ch 13)} At the time of the hearing there was massive public outrage, media coverage and death threats aimed at the two accused.^{[1](Ch 13)} The case was transferred to the Sydney Supreme Court with a jury of three women and nine men.^{[1](Ch 13) [3]}

During the trial on 8 November 1982, both men pleaded "not guilty", though Reid claimed that his bisexuality and his job as an Ordnance Corps clerk had put him under enough stress to have gone insane.^{[1](Ch 13)}

Aftermath[]

Reid and Luckman were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.^{[1](Ch 13) [3]}

In 1989, Luckman began taking estrogen hormones on the advice of a psychiatrist to transition to female. A year later, he changed his name by deed poll to Nicole Louise Pearce and underwent gender reassignment surgery.^{[1](Ch 14)} On 26 October 1999, he was released from the Kirkconnell Correctional Centre, a minimum security male-only facility in inland New South Wales.^{[1](Ch 14)}

Since imprisonment, Reid has been kept in protective custody for his own safety.^{[1](Ch 14)} Reid applied for a re-determination of his sentence on 26 November 1998, and was re-sentenced to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 24 years, meaning that he would next be eligible for parole in 2006. As of June 2014 he has been refused parole six times.^[2][3][4]

Media[]

The murder of Peter Aston was depicted in the Crime Investigation Australia episode "Buried Alive: Luckman and Reid".^[5]

References[]