Alexander Robert McDonald, 76, one of Australia's most notorious criminals, will face trial again, nearly 30 years after he committed two armed bank robberies in New South Wales, the Australian Associated Press reported.
McDonald pleaded guilty to the robberies in 1996 and 1997 and is due to be sentenced on Monday. He had previously served lengthy sentences for armed robbery and murder, and escaped from a Queensland prison in 1995.
The first robbery took place in October 1996 at a Commonwealth Bank branch in Coonabarabran. McDonald entered the bank wearing a balaclava and carrying a shotgun and making off with about 19,000 Australian dollars. On his way out, he grabbed a 22-year-old woman and used her as a human shield to get to his motorbike unhindered. After he left, the hostage was released unharmed.
About two months later, McDonald robbed an ANZ branch in Laurierton. This time, the loot was about $78,000. The criminal took another hostage, a bank employee, and used her as a shield as he left. He then fled in a light green Subaru.
These crimes were only part of McDonald's criminal history. After escaping from prison in 1995, he moved to Melbourne, where he posted an ad claiming to be looking for workers for a job in the mining industry in Western Australia.
One of the responders was Ronald Joseph Williams, 47. McDonald traveled west with him, but Williams never arrived at his destination. McDonald later confessed to killing him with two shots to the head, taking his documents and other identification, and then burying him at Cheneys Beach, not far from Albany.
After the murder, McDonald assumed the identity of his victim, moved to Carnarvon, and then returned to Victoria. There, he bought a yacht for $20,000 in cash and spent another $40,000 on refitting it, planning to leave Australia.
In 1997, McDonald pleaded guilty to Williams' murder and another armed robbery in Busselton. He spent 25 years in prison in Western Australia, after which he was to return to Queensland to serve the remainder of his sentence for the crimes he committed before his escape.
In March 2026, after completing his Queensland sentence, McDonald was arrested and extradited to New South Wales to face trial on old charges. On August 6, he pleaded guilty to two counts of armed robbery and two counts of unlawfully keeping people. He is now due to learn his new sentence, almost three decades after committing these crimes.
