Author(s): Shears Richard

True Crime

Rich, beautiful and well educated, Margaret Clement was the belle of Melbourne society. With a legacy from her wealthy father, she and her sisters set up a mansion called Tullaree in the pastures near the Tarwin River. With staff to run the property, they impressed the cream of Edwardian society with Japanese screens, tapestries and furniture from their trips abroad. Hit hard by the Great Depression and World War I, their finances declined and the ditches that kept the Tarwin River back collapsed through neglect. The lush paddocks sank under a vast swamp as the elderly belles clung to their beloved Tullaree. As the swamp rose, so too did the presence of opportunists, scammers, lawyers - and a killer.