Leonard John Warwick is found guilty of three murders and a string bombings of in Sydney in the 1980s over a feud with his ex-wife, in a marathon trial that lasted nearly two years.

A man has been found guilty of three murders and a string of bombings in Sydney in the 1980s following a feud with his ex-wife.
Key points:

• Leonard Warwick did not visibly react when the guilty verdicts were handed down
• Justice Peter Garling found him not guilty of the shooting murder of his brother-in-law
• But he said Warwick engaged in a “distinct period of violence” against the Family Court

Leonard John Warwick faced a marathon Supreme Court trial that dragged on for nearly two years, despite an initial estimate of six months.
The 73-year-old former firefighter was arrested in 2015, more than three decades after attacks that struck fear into the newly-formed Family Court and Sydney’s legal fraternity.
His victims included Family Court judge Justice David Opas, Justice Ray Watson’s wife, Pearl, and Jehovah’s Witness Minister Graham Wykes.
Warwick pleaded not guilty to more than 20 charges, including four murders and maliciously blowing up a court between 1980 and 1985.
Leonard Warwick pleaded not guilty to more than 20 charges.(ABC News: Vincent de Gouw)
Justice Peter Garling today found him guilty of all of the offences except the alleged shooting murder of his brother-in-law in 1980.
“This was a distinct period of violent offending against judicial officers of the same registry of the same court, in a way not seen before in any court in Australia, let alone concentrated in one registry of an Australian court,” Justice Garling said.
Justice Garling heard the case without a jury.
Warwick sat quietly on an audio-visual link as he learned his fate, a walker stationed behind him, and did visibly react.
The crown case was that his motivation for the crimes was retaliation linked to a bitter dispute with his ex-wife.
Warwick harboured ‘deep resentment’ towards judge
Justice David Opas was the first of Warwick’s victims, killed with a .22-calibre weapon in his Woollahra front yard in 1980 after hearing Warwick’s court matters.
The trial heard that prior to the shooting, Warwick made a comment to his ex-wife that the judge “wouldn’t be there much longer”.
The Family Court in in Parramatta was bombed in 1984.(Supplied: NSW Police)
Justice Garling found Warwick felt “deep resentment” and “antipathy” towards Justice Opas.
The next judge who then oversaw Warwick’s matter, Justice Richard Gee, was injured and his home at Belrose destroyed by a bomb in 1984, the court heard.
Justice Gee’s children were at home asleep at the time.
The Family Court building in Parramatta was also bombed that same year, along with the home of Justice Ray Watson.
Justice Watson’s wife, Pearl, was killed when an explosive fixed to the door of their unit blew up as she opened it.
In 1985, an explosion at a Jehovah’s Witness church hall killed minister Graham Wykes and injured several people inside.
A week before that blast, the hall was broken into and bloodstains on carpet and cardboard boxes later became key in linking Warwick, via DNA, to the crimes.
The Jehovah’s Witnesses church hall was bombed.(ABC News)
Part of Warwick’s defence was that he did not possess the skills required to create the type of explosives used in the bombings.
But Justice Garling found “sufficient information was publicly available” to allow him to inform himself about the process.
Warwick was accused of the shooting murder of his brother-in-law, who was killed with a .22-calibre gun in 1980.
But Justice Garling found him not guilty of this crime because there was “nothing which specifically links the accused to this murder”.
His arrest in 2015 was partially attributed to the enhancement of historic evidence by technology unavailable at the time of the attacks.
The disjointed trial repeatedly stalled, including last year when Warwick ran out of money to fund his defence.
The case was complex and involved more than 155 Crown witnesses.
Warwick will return to court for a sentencing hearing in August.