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ABC News
ABC News
National
By Jamie McKinnell

Alleged family court bomber, murderer to learn his fate in court verdict

Leonard Warwick pleaded not guilty to a string of murders and bombings.

A man accused of four murders and a string of bombings in Sydney in the 1980s will learn his fate today after a disjointed, marathon trial.

The judge-only trial of Leonard John Warwick, 73, began in May 2018 and was initially scheduled to take six months.

Supreme Court Justice Peter Garling began considering his verdicts in April this year, nearly two years later.

Mr Warwick, a former firefighter, denies two dozen offences including four murders and maliciously blowing up a court between 1980 and 1985.

They include the alleged shooting murders of his wife's brother and of Justice David Opas outside his home in Woollahra, both in 1980.

Justice Opas had dealt with Mr Warwick's court matters.

Mr Warwick also denies setting off a bomb that killed the wife of Justice Ray Watson, Pearl Watson, in 1984 and another bomb that killed Jehovah's Witness Minister Graham Wykes.

The court heard a court in Parramatta was also bombed in 1984.

The case against Mr Warwick is that he was motivated by a dispute with his wife.

Over the course of the lengthy trial, the Crown accused Mr Warwick of "extreme violence" which was both pre-planned and intentional.

Mr Warwick's barrister, Alan Connolly, insisted his client did not have the skill to build the explosives and labelled evidence to the contrary as "out of Monty Python" and "ridiculous".

The Supreme Court trial, which heard from more than 150 Crown witnesses, was plagued by delays, including last year when the 73-year-old ran out of money to fund his defence.

Legal Aid lawyers then had to step in and try to get on top of the part-heard case.

Mr Warwick was arrested in 2015, more than 30 years after the alleged crimes.

Justice Garling will deliver his judgment at 2pm.

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