Captured: Portraits of Crime 1870-1930 - Flipbook - Page 106
19 21
L O N G B AY
GAO L
I N S A N I T Y, C O N S P I R AC Y,
DESTINY
Maximilian Foy
SHOOTIN G WITH INTENT TO MURDER
Maximilian Foy, a 38 year old horse trainer from Victoria,
was photographed at the State Penitentiary, Long Bay on
30 November 1921. The previous day Foy had been found not
guilty of shooting with intent to murder on the grounds of
insanity and sentenced to be detained at the Governor’s
Pleasure. At the time of the offence, Foy was on bail from
Callan Park Mental Hospital where he was undergoing treatment
for ‘mental confusion’.
Foy’s trial took place at Central Criminal Court on
29 November. He was accused of shooting at his former horse
trainer, John Moore, on 19 July 1920, at Kensington in Sydney’s
east. The Court heard that the bullet missed Moore but hit a
door causing pieces of debris to injure the trainer’s niece,
Vera Anderson. Foy’s defence argued that he had not intended to
fire the gun, but rather, had carried it with him in an attempt
to press Moore into admitting his role in what Foy believed was
a conspiracy by the Australian Jockey Club. Imagined or
otherwise, Foy believed that horse trainers had a vendetta
against him and fixed races causing his horse to lose on numerous
occasions between 1918 and 1920. He maintained that Moore had
deliberately not trained his horse and this caused it to
underperform. Foy had laid bets on it to win, but given its
failure to do so, had lost money. He had been forced to sell his
horse for less than it was worth in an attempt to recoup his
financial losses. With a new owner, however, the horse had
consistently placed in races. For Foy, this was no coincidence.
Foy’s defence was that the gun had accidently discharged,
shooting Moore. Foy argued that he was a champion shooter, and
if he had wanted the trainer dead, he would not have missed his
target:
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