Sleepy town in underworld drama

Updated November 2 2012 - 11:54am, first published June 17 2009 - 12:45pm
LOCATION: The house in Muddy Lane, Myrniong where a man was arrested and later released on Tuesday.
LOCATION: The house in Muddy Lane, Myrniong where a man was arrested and later released on Tuesday.

NESTLED in the sleepy town of Myrniong, Muddy Lane may seem like your typical, quiet country road.But just two days ago, drama erupted as police linked a local resident to the killing or Des Moran.The street is lined with large family homes, sporting swings sets, trampolines and basketball rings in their front yards.Children walking home from the primary school at the end of the lane wave at passing cars and people go about their daily business, mowing the paddock next door.It's a remarkably different scene to Tuesday, when police cars dotted the street and residents peered out of the windows to see what was happening.The school day was ending and as the bells rang, police pounced on a property on Muddy Lane, arresting a fourth suspect in the case of Des Moran's death, a 45-year-old Myrniong man.Later that evening, the man was released and residents were unsure whether he had returned home.The next day, neighbours still shocked about the arrest spoke of their surprise.One resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said he had been mowing earlier in the day, but hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary."You really don't expect that sort of thing," he said.Two mothers picking up their children from school said they had little concern, saying they felt safe in the street.Across the street and a few houses down from the incident, Jill McKay said she knew something was off when police cars were parked along the side of the road."I saw about four or five cars along the side of the road, and asked one of my boys what was going on," the mum of four said."I saw one of the plain clothed policeman with a vest on, and was quite surprised."Something like this just doesn't happen in a quiet country town like this."Two hours later, Ms McKay said she saw police going through the house and shed."It's strange, It's always quiet there, I've never seen anyone come in or out," she said.

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