Hidden away among tall, towering pines and surrounded by weeds and a general air of neglect and dilapidation, there was a lonely farmhouse at Applethorpe, six miles from Stanthorpe on Queensland’s Granite Belt region. Ninety-five years ago it was the site of the Tomato Patch Murder. I told a version of this story live on Darling Downs radio 4AK.

Back in 1930, Mrs. Margaret Furst (pictured above) was a wealthy, educated, society woman. But she was also an eccentric cultured enigma, semi-recluse, and she lived in that farmhouse surrounded by her orchard.

Mrs. Furst was last seen by the local postmistress on February the 6th, after that the postmistress was unable to raise her by telephone. She became suspicious and told the local police. They discovered her parrot and bulldog on the verge of starvation and the house deserted. The police got the help of blacktrackers, the garden was dug up, and, finally, Mrs. Furst’s body was found fourteen inches below the surface.

The woman had been killed in her own packing shed, struck on the head with a blunt object, and buried in a tomato patch. Tomato plants that had been growing there before the macabre burial, were carefully replanted, and the ground re-tilled to hide any sign of what lay below. The death created horror throughout the district, and the case became known as the Tomato Patch Murder.

Giovanni Maggiora was a thirty-six year old Italian labourer who was employed on the farm but had gone missing on the day of the murder, and so a warrant for his arrest was issued.

It wasn’t until over two months later that two Melbourne policemen, Detective-Sergeant John Brophy and Detective Harry Saker, were informed that a suspicious Italian had gone into the country. So they went to Myrtleford, Beechworth, and Wangaratta, but found nothing.

Detectives Brophy and Saker were the same two detectives who later that same year would famously escort legendary racehorse Phar Lap onto the Flemington track prior to it winning the 1930 Melbourne Cup. That was after an attempt was made on the horse’s life, which was a shocking event remembered across Australia to this day. Brophy later went to work for the racing industry, and Saker was said to be better suited to the stage like his famous theatrical relatives in England.

In any case, further information was received from Sydney to keep a watch on the passport office in Melbourne because it was thought that the Italian would apply for a passport and attempt to flee to America. Brophy and Saker waited around the Customs House in Flinders Street, and there they intercepted Maggiora, handcuffed him and he was extradited back to Queensland.

And so ninety-five years ago, on Tuesday the 8th of July 1930, Maggiora appeared in the District Court at Stanthorpe before Justice Edward Douglas, charged with wilful murder. The judge was interesting because he was a grandnephew of the Marquess of Queensberry who is famous for endorsing the first rules of boxing, and his brother, also a judge, would later be knighted by the pope.

Testimony was given that the murder victim Mrs. Furst was known to be extremely argumentative. Police believed Maggiora’s story that he was packing tomatoes when Mrs. Furst came and tried to hit him with a stick in a dispute over wages. He took the stick from her and hit her with it. She fell backwards and hit her head. The only evidence against Maggiora was this confession he himself had given to the police.

The jury, after thirty-five minutes, returned a verdict of guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter. The Judge sentenced Maggiora to three years’ imprisonment with hard labour.

But the story doesn’t end there. In late 1932, Maggiora was released from the Brisbane prison after having served two and a half years. He was released in error because the Commonwealth authorities intended deporting him from Australia.

Authorities again went on the hunt for Maggiora, only this time the search ending in the most unexpected place, the morgue of what is known today as the Royal Brisbane Hospital.

Maggiora, the perpetrator of Applethorpe’s Tomato Patch Murder, tried to escape justice by fleeing the country, but his overseas journey was denied. After serving his sentence, justice wanted to fulfil Maggiora’s wish for overseas travel and deport from the country, but this time Maggiora denied justice by dying from illness before they could re-arrest him.

Ironic to the end, which would have impressed the theatrical arresting officer Harry Saker.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO A VERSION OF THIS STORY TOLD ON RADIO 4AK.

Photo credits:
Margaret Furst, 10 years before her death, at Stanthorpe Railway Station – Tom Furst 2025 via Find a Grave website.
Giovanni Maggiora – Daily Pictorial, Sydney, 24th February 1930, page 2.
Detective J. Brophy – Sun, Sydney, 3rd December 1928, page 16.
Detective H.S. Saker – Sun, Sydney, 25th February 1923, page 12.
Justice E.A. Douglas – Morning Bulletin, Rockhampton, 28th August 1947 page 4.