On 2 August 1849, shepherd, William Bruce Scott, was brutally killed in the Hardwick Bay district while out with his flock. On 3 August, three Aboriginal people led Sergeant-Major McCulloch to the missing sheep. Through interpreter Native Constable Jim Crack, Wilcooramalap subsequently led McCulloch to Scott’s body. Wilcooramalap and, later, Tulta, were charged with Scott’s murder, but were released in March 1850 due to a lack of evidence.
(See 'The South Australian Frontier and its Legacies' for more details.)