An infamous Aussie outback pub at the centre of an eight-year cold case disappearance of a controversial local has gone on sale.
The Larrimah Hotel, which is situated in the Northern Territory, about 500km south of Darwin, has been put up for sale for the first time since it was featured in a Netflix series focusing on the disappearance of Paddy Moriarty.
Irish-born Mr Moriarty, 70, and his red kelpie cross Kellie were last seen leaving the pub, also known as the Pink Panther Hotel, on December 16, 2017, headed for his home 280m away.
Netflix crime series Last Stop Larrimah and the award-winning podcast, Lost in Larrimah, explored the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of Mr Moriarty, who was a regular at the pub when he went missing.
Publican Steve Baldwin purchased the pub from Barry Sharpe in 2018, just months after Mr Moriarty went missing.
The property, which is listed for $795,000, comes with two emus and two crocodiles called Sneaky Sam and Agro that live out the back of the hotel.
Mr Baldwin told newswire the pub was a great business opportunity with many visitors passing through to find out more about the mysterious disappearance.
‘You don’t often get a 100-year-old building here in the tropics, or in the Territory, or one at the centre of a Netflix series, and he still hasn’t been found,’ he said.
Paddy Moriarty was last seen in 2017 leaving the Larrimah Hotel, in a tiny outback town in the Northern Territory, with his dog Kellie
Larrimah Hotel, also known as Pink Panther Hotel, is on the market for $795,000
‘There was a reward of $250,000 to find out what happened to Paddy Moriarty, and in the budget last week the treasurer upped it to $500,000.’
Investigators suspect Mr Moriarty’s disappearance was linked to a feud with his neighbours.
Larrimah had a population of just 12 people when Mr Moriarty disappeared and this has now shrunk to eight.
Within two weeks of his disappearance, police installed recording devices on local man Owen Laurie’s home.
In 2022, an inquest heard alleged recordings from Mr Laurie’s Larrimah home, in which a voice was heard saying: ‘F***ing killed Paddy, hit him on the head.
‘Smacked him on the f***ing nostrils with my claw hammer’ and ‘I killerated old Paddy… I struck him on the f***ing head and killerated the bastard… basherated him’.
Mr Laurie denied the voice was his.
Larrimah Hotel is also home to two emus and two crocodiles called Sneaky Sam and Agro that live out the back of the property
Police suspect foul play in regards to Mr Moriarty’s disappearance and believe it is connected to a feud with his neighbours
The inquest also heard details of a feud between Mr Moriarty and Frances Hodgetts, who he had worked as a caretaker and gardener for.
Ms Hodgetts, who ran Fran’s Teahouse, allegedly suspected Mr Moriarty of repeatedly poisoning her plants.
The inquest heard that she had warned Moriarty off, saying: ‘If anyone touches my garden, it will be the first murder in Larrimah.’
In April 2022, NT Coroner Greg Cavanagh said that although Mr Moriarty’s death was ‘not able to be determined’, he suspected foul play.
‘In my opinion Paddy was killed in the context of and likely due to the ongoing feud he had with his nearest neighbours,’ his findings read.
After renewed interest in the case following the Netflix documentary, Northern Territory Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) announced in June last year that it will not lay any charges.
‘The DPP has determined that there is insufficient evidence to make out a charge against any person in relation to the disappearance of Paddy Moriarty,’ it said.
‘No further comment will be provided by the DPP at this time.’
The Larrimah Hotel is being sold by real estate agent Warren Andrews.
In the listing, he describes the property as containing everything you would want in a ‘true blue Aussie bush pub’.
Mr Baldwin suggested the pub would make a great investment opportunity for the future due to the Beetaloo gas project, which will see a huge gas field developed in Northern Australia.
