Joshua Warneke

A young apprentice carpenter's life was brutally cut short on a night out in a remote party town, leaving a 16-year-old mystery and a wrongfully convicted man in its wake.

Joshua Warneke, a 21-year-old apprentice carpenter, was found dead on the side of Old Broome Road in Broome, Western Australia, in the early hours of February 26, 2010. He had been out socialising with friends at the Roebuck Bay Hotel's wet t-shirt competition and the Bungalow Bar nightclub. He was last seen alive walking home alone after 2 am.

The initial investigation into his death was plagued by errors, leading to the wrongful conviction of Gene Gibson, a young, cognitively impaired Aboriginal man from the remote community of Kiwirrkurra. Gibson, who spoke little English, was convicted of manslaughter after a coerced confession and spent almost five years in prison before his conviction was overturned in 2017. He was later awarded $1.3 million in compensation.

The cause of Warneke's death remains a mystery, with theories ranging from a hit-and-run to an attack with a weapon like a star picket or machete. A coronial inquest was held in 2024 to re-examine the evidence and hear from witnesses, but it is unclear if it will lead to any definitive answers. The case remains a painful open wound for his family, particularly his mother, Ingrid Bishop, who has tirelessly campaigned for justice for her son.