‘I wouldn’t have gone through with it’: Killer’s stunning confession ends 27-year firebombing mystery

A man has pleaded guilty to a horrific firebombing of an inner Sydney house 27 years ago, which led to the heartbreaking death of a teenager, finally delivering answers to the boy’s family and bringing the cold case to a resolution. Gregory John Walker sat in a jail cell on Wednesday and via videolink told a court the words Arthur Haines’ family had been waiting decades to hear: “I’m guilty, Your Honour.” Walker, 58, on Thursday appeared in the NSW Supreme Court where he pleaded guilty to manslaughter and throwing a molotov cocktail into the Walker St, Waterloo home where Haines, 13, was attending a sleep-over on the night of April 9, 1998. His horrific crime was the result of a bitter neighbourhood dispute that spiralled out of control. Arthur was an innocent victim and was killed because he had asked to sleep over with his friend that night before they went to the Royal Easter show the following day. Walker was due to face a murder trial next month, but on Wednesday he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter. Arthur’s mother Julie Szabo was in court as Walker pleaded guilty. Outside court, Ms Szabo called it the “biggest day of my life”. “I always wanted the truth to be revealed and today’s the day,” she said. “That’s all I wanted to hear — the truth. And he’s finally admitted it. So I’m very grateful.” She said she would visit a tree planted in Arthur’s memory as justice was served for her son after 27 years. “He was very cheerful, he was a mummy’s boy … and he was very well mannered, very respectful. He was such a good child,” she said. According to a statement of agreed facts tendered to the court, Walker admitted to throwing the molotov cocktail into the Department of Housing home, which resulted in Arthur dying due to his horrific burns 11 weeks later. At the time, Walker was living down the road from the house with his partner. According to court documents, the firebombing was a result of a feud between a woman who lived at the property and her neighbour, who was Walker’s partner’s mother. There was a physical confrontation between the two women on April 8, 1998 — the day before the firebombing. The following day, black and red paint was thrown over the neighbour’s car. That night, Arthur was dropped off at the home to see his friends, and asked if he could sleep over. Later that night, he retired to a third floor bedroom. At about 10.30pm, Walker drove to the rear of the house and threw the Molotov cocktail over the fence. According to court documents, Walker claims he intended to cause a fire in the outside verandah and did not know anyone was home. He “appreciated the risk to persons”, the court documents state. The woman who was living in the home saw the projectile land on the kitchen floor and despite her efforts to put out the fire, it quickly spread. The other people in the house ran out, then realised Arthur was still inside. When they attempted to go back in, they realised it was too hot. They ran to the rear of the house and urged Arthur to jump from the top floor. When he landed, they saw he had suffered serious burns, was “covered in black” and smoke was billowing off his body. He was rushed to hospital having suffered burns to 60 per cent of his body, and there was soot in his mouth and nose. Arthur went through multiple skin grafts and surgeries over six weeks, and during his time in hospital he remained heavily sedated. In May 1998, he suffered a severe brain injury, as a result of the shock he suffered and the large amount of opioids required to alleviate his pain. He died on June 29 as a result of complications from his severe burns. In 2001, police announced a $100,000 reward, and the case was reopened in 2004 and 2019 before the reward was increased to $1m. The fresh investigation uncovered new leads, which led to Walker’s eventual arrest. By 2014, Walker was living on Queensland’s Gold Coast, with court documents detailing a confession he made to one person. According to the documents, he said he could not move back to Sydney because of a house fire in which a boy was killed. He told the person he was having trouble with a family at the time and did not know anyone was home when he set the house on fire. “If I had known there was a kid there I wouldn’t have gone through with it,” he told the person. Walker was arrested in Queensland in August 2022 and extradited to NSW before he pleaded guilty on Wednesday. He will appear in court again next month for sentencing proceedings.