Collarenebri in shock over toxic moonshine that claimed three lives
Updated
The remote community of Collarenebri, in north-western NSW, has been in shock since three of its Indigenous members died after drinking poisonous moonshine last year.
But until now, the close-knit Indigenous community has kept quiet about the heartache the deaths have caused their families.
7.30 travelled to Collarenebri to speak with the those affected and found not only a town that is grieving, but one that has a deep-rooted addiction to alcohol.
It was this habit the owner of the local antique shop took advantage of, secretly selling moonshine to vulnerable residents, three of whom died within weeks of each other.
Coloured flags raise suspicions about new arrival
In 2014 a new resident arrived in town — Mary Miller.
She opened an exotic furniture store, exhibiting wares from the Indonesian island of Bali — a world away for the residents of Collarenebri.
After a few months residents began noticing coloured flags popping up outside the shop, raising local suspicions.
Many assumed Mary was running an underground marijuana business — which some felt was better than the drug ice that plagued the surrounding towns, so nothing was done about it.
The flags were in fact signals relating to a drug, but not the one they suspected.
Mary was trading in expensive homebrew, or moonshine — deadly concoctions of methanol-laced alcohol that smelt like methylated spirits and tasted like liquorice.
On setting up shop, Mary turned her attention to the vulnerable residents of Walli Reserve.
They flocked to the new stream of alcohol, and were soon spending up to $300 for their weekly alcohol fix.
'She held our keycard to take out the money for our grog'
Margaret Boney admits she has a drinking problem.
"I am a full alcoholic, I drink every day ... it is hard, cause that's all I have ever done, is drinking," Margaret said.
After Mary moved in, Margaret would go to her for her weekly for moonshine.
"The first time she brought the alcohol up to me in her car and she brought it big boxes, big crates," Margaret said.
"Every fortnight I used to spend more than $200 or $300 for the big boxes."
She shared the alcohol with her brother Norman, sister Sandra and Sandra's partner Roger Adams.
"[Ms Miller] would hold our keycard until our pay day, and when it came to our pay day we would walk up there and she would take out the money from the grog what we buy off her," Ms Boney said.
"She used to do that all the time, to me and my sister and my brother, Norman and Sandra."
'We didn't know what the problem was ... she didn't look normal'
Margaret, her siblings and Roger drank the home brew every day for months.
Soon people began to notice changes in Sandra.
Max Boney is Margaret's son and Sandra's nephew.
"I just noticed the colour of her skin wasn't the same and she just thought that she was very weak," Max said.
"She couldn't do things for herself.
"We didn't know what the problem was ... she just didn't look normal.
"[There were] similar symptoms [for the others], coughing up blood.
"Sometimes Norm would have blood in his urine when he'd go to the toilet."
Shortly after Christmas, Sandra was taken to hospital for treatment for her alcoholism.
When Suzanne Jenkins from the Aboriginal Medical Service visited Sandra, she knew this was not an ordinary case of withdrawal — this was poisoning.
Within three months of starting to drink the moonshine, Sandra, Roger and Norman were dead.
There was no remorse
The day after Sandra died, Mary opened her shop as normal and continued to ply her trade.
"There was no remorse or nothing," Max said.
"Words can't explain what it feels like to see her with the shop open, like nothing ever happened.
"If I knew it was so toxic I wouldn't let me mother, uncle and aunty, any of my family members buy it.
"No-one knew it was so toxic, that it would kill anybody.
"[Mary] picked vulnerable people and she knew who to target, she knew which person to ask, she knew who to tell, who would buy it and who to pick.
"Losing three people straight after one another and now knowing that their death was caused by the methanol, the poison within the moonshine ... none of us knew that it was a toxic that would kill anybody."
Last month, the NSW Deputy Coroner found the illegal liquor made by Mary contributed to the deaths of Sandra, Norman and Roger.
In evidence to the coroner, Mary denied selling the alcohol but claimed she would use a "barter" system with residents at the Walli Reserve.
"Ms Miller admitted that she gave a box of wine to Margaret Boney around Christmas time but claimed this was from the supply that she had previously purchased from an auction in Bathurst," the coroner's report said.
Mary has faced no criminal charges.
Topics: alcohol, health, death, collarenebri-2833, nsw
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