37 Facts About Martin Bryant

Martin Bryant was born on 7 May 1967 at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Hobart, Tasmania.

Martin Bryant was the first child of Maurice and Carleen Bryant.

In 1979, at age 12, Martin Bryant was hospitalised at Royal Hobart Hospital from an injury caused by a firework accident.

Martin Bryant was described by teachers as being distant from reality and unemotional.

Martin Bryant returned to school the following year with improved behaviour but he persisted in teasing younger children.

Martin Bryant was transferred to a special education unit at New Town High School in 1980, where he deteriorated both academically and behaviourally throughout his remaining school years.

In early 1987, when Martin Bryant was aged 19, he met 54-year-old Helen Mary Elizabeth Harvey, heiress to a share in the Tattersall's lottery fortune, while looking for new customers for his lawn-mowing service.

Helen, who lived with her mother Hilza, befriended Martin Bryant, who became a regular visitor to her neglected mansion in New Town and assisted with tasks such as feeding the fourteen dogs living inside the mansion and the forty cats living inside her garage.

Martin Bryant tells me he would like to go around shooting people.

In 1991, as a result of no longer being allowed to have animals at the mansion, Harvey and Martin Bryant moved together onto a 29-hectare farm called Taurusville that Harvey had purchased in the small township of Copping.

Neighbours recalled that Martin Bryant always carried an air gun and often fired it at tourists as they stopped to buy apples at a stall on the highway and that late at night, he would roam through the surrounding properties firing the gun at dogs when they barked at him.

Martin Bryant was inside the vehicle at the time of the accident and was hospitalised for seven months with severe neck and back injuries.

Martin Bryant returned to his family's home to convalesce after leaving hospital.

Martin Bryant was briefly investigated by police for the role he played in the accident, as he had a known habit of lunging for the steering wheel and Harvey had already had three accidents as a result.

The order was based on evidence of Martin Bryant's diminished intellectual capacity.

Martin Bryant inherited the proceeds of his father's superannuation fund, valued at AU$250,000.

Martin Bryant later sold the Copping farm for AU$143,000 and kept the former Harvey mansion.

Martin Bryant often wore an electric-blue suit with flared trousers and a ruffled shirt to the restaurant he frequented.

However, Martin Bryant had felt as lonely travelling as he did at home in Tasmania.

Martin Bryant enjoyed the flights, as he could speak to the people sitting adjacent to him who had no choice but to be polite.

Martin Bryant later took great joy in describing some of the conversations he had with fellow passengers.

Martin Bryant has provided conflicting and confused accounts of what led him to kill thirty-five people at the Port Arthur site on 28 April 1996.

Martin Bryant fatally shot the Martins in the guest house and stole their weapons and the property keys before travelling to the Port Arthur site.

At Port Arthur, Martin Bryant entered the Broad Arrow Cafe on the grounds of the historic site, carrying a large blue sports bag.

Once he finished eating, Martin Bryant moved toward the back of the cafe and set a video camera on a vacant table.

Martin Bryant took out a Colt AR-15 SP1 Carbine and, firing from the hip, began shooting patrons and staff.

Martin Bryant then walked to the other side of the shop and fired twelve more times, killing another eight people while wounding two.

Martin Bryant then changed magazines before fleeing, shooting at people in the car park and from his yellow Volvo 244 car as he drove away; an additional four were killed and six were injured.

Martin Bryant drove 300 metres down the road, to where a woman and her two children were walking.

Martin Bryant stopped and fired two shots, killing the woman and the child she was carrying.

The older child fled, but Martin Bryant followed her and killed her with a single shot.

Martin Bryant then stole a 1980 gold BMW 7 series by killing all four of its occupants.

Martin Bryant was judged fit to stand trial, which was scheduled to begin on 7 November 1996.

Martin Bryant initially pleaded not guilty but was persuaded by his court-appointed lawyer, John Avery, to plead guilty to all charges.

Martin Bryant remained in protective custody for his own safety until 13 November 2006, when he was moved into Hobart's Wilfred Lopes Centre, a secure mental health unit run by the Tasmanian Department of Health and Human Services.

On 25 March 2007, Martin Bryant attempted to end his life by slashing his wrist with a razor blade.

Martin Bryant is currently housed in the maximum-security Risdon Prison near Hobart.