Knowles threatened Cashmore with a knife and launched a campaign of terror against a local woman. This was Knowles’ way of el-to take a dislike to someone and make their lives miserable with a dogged determination he failed to replicate in any lawful activity.
Jailed for a short time for threatening her – “I’m going to kill you and your kids, your days are numbered”, he said – once released he began again.
With no local police, Knowles could make his threats and disappear before patrols from the 24-hour Warrnambool station could drive the 25 kilometers to Kirkstall.
Cashmore went to police complaining that on July 20, Knowles breached an intervention order (yet again) against the woman. There was no immediate response, perhaps because Knowles was due at Warrnambool Court on Monday, July 25, to answer similar charges.
On Friday, July 22, less than 48 hours after reporting Knowles’ latest breach, Cashmore took a chainsaw to the neighbours’ trees in Chamberlain Street, hopped in his white van and drove until he found Knowles, 49, and his sidekick Ben Ray, 48, walking about six kilometers to Koroit.
Cashmore blasted Knowles in the back of the head with a shotgun before reversing over what remained of the dead man’s skull.
He ran over Ray before shooting him twice. Cashmore drove home, walked into his backyard and ended his life with the same gun.
The scene of the crime.Credit:Nine News
In many ways Knowles’ death freed his small community. “We have lived in fear for 10 years. People talked about selling up and moving,” says one resident.
A resident holding a small party heard Knowles yelling “I hope you die” from the street. Locals drove and walked different streets to avoid him. Garage sales stopped and functions were planned to avoid the local powderkeg.
In 1991, career detective Col Ryan transferred to Warrnambool and made it his home – serving 12 years as a shire councilor and two stints as mayor.
As a policeman in Richmond he had confronted drug dealer and killer Dennis Allen, at the armed robbery squad it was bandits with guns, and he was part of the task force that investigated the 1988 Walsh Street murders of police officers Steven Tynan and Damian Eyre.
Senior Detective Colin Ryan, who moved to Warrnambool and became a major of Moyne Shire.Credit:Damian White
When he first arrived Kirkstall was not much more than a pub and a bus stop, he says, but “in the early 2000s sea and tree-changers began to discover the quaint little location, five kilometers from Koroit and 14 from Port Fairy”.
The 2016 census showed Kirkstall had become a family community, with a population of 366 that included 69 children under 10 years old.
“The sense of community was strong, with the local progress association developing a park with tennis courts, playgrounds and barbecues,” says Ryan. “They also renovated the local hall, which was the venue for community functions. Over the road is the local pub, fondly known by locals as the ‘Kirky’.”
But Kirkstall “had a shadow cast over it when evil arrived, in the form of Kevin Knowles, who purchased a house in town… Knowles, a criminal, bully and thug, whose many victims were usually female, soon became well known and almost immediately was banned from the pub.”
Knowles, who had over 40 pages of priors, arrived in Warrnambool in the early ’90s, after a quick exit from Melbourne following the death of his then partner.
Ryan said when a local magistrate refused Knowles bail he “stacked on a turn in the court, which took five coppers to forcibly remove him but not before capsicum spray was used like fly spray”.
On the night of Knowles’ death a local band played at the “Kirky” and they served around 150 meals – three times more than usual.
As a criminal Knowles was an abject failure because he was invariably caught. His police record of him listed 300 offenses.
These are the offenders police hate. Their convictions don’t justify long jail terms, but they are vicious enough to damage a community.
There are three reasons most of us obey the law: We don’t want to hurt people; we don’t want to be arrested; and we don’t want to go to jail.
Knowles wasn’t concerned with those consequences, which made him impossible to control.
Which may be why that quiet Friday morning Cashmore (known in Kirkstall as “Trav”) snapped.
Benjamin Ray was killed in the attack at Kirkstall.
Cashmore murdered two people, yet many locals see him as a victim, pushed beyond his limits by Knowles. “As far as I am concerned, he is a hero,” one says.
Ray, who returned to the district a few days earlier, was with Knowles when he threatened Cashmore’s female friend. Intellectually disabled, Ray was caught in a dispute beyond his comprehension of him.
Knowles subjected women to unrelenting family violence. One relationship resulted in 35 police reports, with his partner finally stabbing him in the face with a wooden stool leg. In another, a woman smashed him in the face with a kettle.
He threatened people with knives, turned up for a court appearance in a stolen car, trashed cells, stole someone’s beloved dog, and sped from police at 150 km/h.
When locals saw flashing blue lights they knew police were heading to Knowles’ house. On the police computer his name he raised flags for assaulting police, weapons, family violence and drug use.
He was also a killer, who was not charged with homicide as the only potential witness died in circumstances that still have some wondering.
On December 7, 2016, Knowles and partner Amanda Bourke had a giant drinking session with Stephen Johnston in his backyard in Suzanne Crescent, Warrnambool.
Johnston was later found dying with 101 wounds, including a fractured skull.
The couple took Johnston’s credit card to buy cigarettes and Bourke destroyed the CCTV hard drive that probably showed Knowles beating the drunk and defenseless Johnston.
CrimeStoppers received a tip the fatal injury was inflicted by Bourke, who hit Johnston on the head with a vase. Police believe Knowles organized the call-which came from the home of one of his best friends of him-throwing his girlfriend under the bus to save himself.
On February 12, 2020, Coroner Simon McGregor found Knowles responsible for Johnston’s death, asking the Director of Public Prosecutions to consider charging him.
The only way to build a case against Knowles was for Bourke to give evidence. That option disappeared when Bourke and Knowles went swimming at a poorly signed local beach on January 18, 2018.
Even though the temperature was bumping 40 degrees, there were no swimmers because the beach was notorious for rips and shifting sands.
The evidence was that the couple were about 30 meters from shore, with Bourke affectionately climbing on Knowles’ back. Two weeks earlier she told police he had punched her, leaving her with a black and swollen eye.
They stepped out of their depth and were caught in a rip. Knowles said he tried to grab Bourke’s hand from her but she slipped free from her. A man walking on the beach jumped in and battled strong currents to reach her, and it took him 10 minutes to swim the 50 meters to bring her back to shore. She could not be revived.
Coroner Caitlin English said: “While I am satisfied that there was a history of violence committed by Mr Knowles against Mrs Bourke, there is no evidence to suggest he took any action to bring about Mrs Bourke’s death.”
There are some, including local police, who hold a different view.
Ray was an innocent victim and Cashmore is greatly missed in the tiny community he tried to protect. Knowles will never hurt anyone again.
If you or anyone you know needs support, call Lifeline 13 11 14, Mensline 1300 789 978, or the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counseling Service on 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732).