Mr Vaux’s shepherd, James Easton, left his wife and six week old baby in their hut on the morning of 7 May 1849. A man named Bakilta and his wife were employed to cut grass outside the hut. When Easton returned home later in the day, he found his wife dead. She had been speared in the chest, face and neck. Her six week old baby was unharmed but exhausted from continual crying. Bakilta said that Malpita was responsible.
(See 'The South Australian Frontier and its Legacies' for more details.)

Four Aboriginal people, namely Ilgalta (an old man), Bakkilti (a man), Korlo (woman) and Putarpintye, were apprehended by Tolmer and charged with the murder of Anne Easton. According to one newspaper correspondent, three of the four were captured by Aboriginal people and handed to Tolmer. They were taken to Adelaide to be tried at the Supreme Court.
(See 'The South Australian Frontier and its Legacies' for more details.)