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'The only way he's going is in a body bag': Eyewitness recalls one of Australia's most cold-blooded murders

Robert Strange is the only survivor and witness to one of Australia's most cold-blooded murders.

He now suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and recurring nightmares about the day he watched his friend and colleague Glen Turner gunned down on the job by Ian Turnbull.

Glen Turner and Robert Strange were two environmental compliance officers working for the Department of Environment and Heritage.

The pair was held at gunpoint on a country road in New South Wales for 20 minutes while Ian Turnbull subjected them to a terrifying shooting spree.

Mr Turner and Mr Strange were just doing their jobs. The compliance officers’ jobs were to make sure farmers stuck to the rules that limited how much native vegetation they could clear.

Ian Turnbull pointed his gun, while Mr Turner and Mr Strange were unarmed. (Reenactment)
Ian Turnbull pointed his gun, while Mr Turner and Mr Strange were unarmed. (Reenactment)

The laws are designed to give wildlife ample cover and protect the land from erosion.

Mr Turner made a powerful enemy after investigating the removal of 3000 trees from the Turnbull family properties, which led to a $140,000 fine.

Ian Turnbull (pictured) hated Glen Turner and all that he stood for.
Ian Turnbull (pictured) hated Glen Turner and all that he stood for.

Ian Turnbull was a wealthy farmer and despised Mr Turner.

"If a farmer had 200 hectares of grazing land that was not developed that may well be worth $2 million", Mr Strange said.

"If that farmer clears that 200 hectares and turns it into a cropping land, that land may then be worth five times that amount of money.

"There was always tension. Especially in relation to broad scale land clearing.”

So when Ian Turnbull discovered Glen Turner near his property on July 29th 2014, he showed up with a gun and shot him without a word.

Mr Strange said: "[Turnbull] went there with the sole intention in my opinion of killing Glen Turner and be it if he did it in one shot or be it if he did it in seven or eight, he didn't leave that location until he believed that he had killed him."

Mr Strange held back tears recalling the final moments of his colleague and friend, Glen Turner.
Mr Strange held back tears recalling the final moments of his colleague and friend, Glen Turner.

It wasn’t until Mr Turner was shot three times and near death that Turnbull lowered the gun and said, “I'm going home to wait for the police”.

"I realised that a short time later, probably ten seconds later, Glen had been shot within the chin area of his face", Mr Strange recalled.

"The second shot was aimed for his heart."

Mr Strange held back tears as he described the terrifying ordeal.

Mr Strange and Mr Turner were subjected to a bizarre game of cat and mouse.
Mr Strange and Mr Turner were subjected to a bizarre game of cat and mouse.

"I just pleaded with him, you know pleaded with him that we were unarmed, we were here to do a job, that's all we were there to do, he'd respond that we weren't letting the Turnbulls do their job… that Glen had persecuted them."

While Turnbull ranted that Glen had “persecuted” him, Mr Strange was giving his friend instructions to move around the car and stay out of the firing line.

Mr Strange said Turnbull wasn’t going to let them go. He recalled the moment Turnbull said the only way his mate was going was in a body bag.

"I had him crouched down calling him forward on the car when Turnbull would move to the back of the vehicle or visa versa", he said.

"If Turnbull had moved up to the front, I'd say Glen move to the back, move to the back."The deadly cat and mouse game was becoming increasingly desperate for Glen who was bleeding badly from gun shot wounds to his chin and upper chest.

As Turnbull continued to make threats and fire his weapon, Mr Turner managed to reach into the car window and switch on an EPIRB, which sent an alarm with their location to authorities in Canberra.

Glen Turner had a wife and two children and was a passionate environmental officer.
Glen Turner had a wife and two children and was a passionate environmental officer.

Mr Strange said: "I've never been in a war zone, but what that man did under fire is absolutely beyond belief because the bravery he showed should never be forgotten."

As darkness fell Glen made a desperate dash for the cover of bushland and it was the change Turnbull was waiting for.

"He got probably five metres from the vehicle and I saw Turnbull raise the firearm”, Mr Strange recalled.

"He shot him and killed him, lowered his fire arm, looked at me, and said he was going home to wait for the police and that I can go now.

Mr Turner had been shot for a third time, this time in his back and as Mr Strange held him he was only just breathing.

A neighboring farmer came down the road and Mr Strange flagged him down, but he knew it was too late to save his friend Glen.

"I just said come on, we've got to get home," Mr Strange recalled through tears.

"But I knew he was dying."

Back in Tamworth, Mr Turner’s wife Alison had returned home to find a message that her husband’s emergency beacon had been activated.

The Turner family on their Tamworth property.
The Turner family on their Tamworth property.

Mrs Turner said: "I just thought it was a mistake and they said yes there's been a shooting, Glen's been shot, and I can give you the number of a police officer”.

"Eventually I was put through to a detective and he broke the news to me over the phone that Glen was dead."

What appeared to be an open and shut legal case of cold-blooded pre-meditated murder was not.

Incredibly Ian Turnbull pleaded not guilty.

Mrs Turner said: "There is no absolutely no excuses, no excuse, it was definitely pre-meditated and it wasn't an accident, it wasn't as a result of anyone’s mental illness.

"It was a planned and cowardly attack on somebody who was defenseless."

Ian Turnbull pleaded not guilty.
Ian Turnbull pleaded not guilty.

In April 2016, the murder trial of Ian Turnbull, now 81, began in the NSW Supreme Court.

Turnbull’s defence argued because of a mental condition he should be convicted of manslaughter, not murder.

His lawyer claimed the environmental officer’s eagerness to investigate land clearing had made the farmer lose control and snap.

Mr Turner’s sister Fran Pearce was outraged.

"I'm not sure how this gets twisted around to be all about a poor old farmer, you know it's not about him, he's the one that caused this, it's actually about my brother who's lost his life doing a job, an important job, and a job he believed in."

The trial lasted six weeks and, despite his plea, Ian Turnbull was found guilty of murder and sentenced to 35 years jail with a non-parole period of 24 years.

He will die in jail, largely thanks to the emotional testimony of Robert Strange.

Robert tried his best to get Glen out alive and suffers PTSD from the ordeal
Robert tried his best to get Glen out alive and suffers PTSD from the ordeal

He said: "No one has to go to work, nobody, and not come home because of the actions of another person."

"He has done what he has done and he, you know, he has to deal with that. His family has to deal with the fact that he is a convicted murderer and that is how he will die."

"It's a struggle, it's a daily struggle in all honesty, living with the nightmares and they are not nightmares because it actually did happen."

Robert suffers from PTSD as a result of the shooting, affecting his ability to work, has set up a GoFundMe page to raise money to help out

Glen Turner was a much-loved father and husband.
Glen Turner was a much-loved father and husband.