Two days after being reported as missing by family, Cobby's body was discovered by a man in a paddock of his farm in Prospect, NSW.

[1] Upon arriving to the location of her body, it was clear to authorities that Cobby had sustained a prolonged and vicious attack, with multiple sharp puncture wounds and cuts, as well as lacerations from being rolled in and dragged through barbed wire.

The forensic pathologist who performed her autopsy additionally noted that Cobby was ‘likely still conscious’ at the time of her throat being cut, and estimated it would have taken ‘between 2-3 minutes’ for her to bleed to death.

The murder received widespread media coverage and public condemnation, including calls to reinstate the death penalty.

Cobby was walking alone from the station along Newton Road, Blacktown around 10 p.m., when the gang of five men drove up beside her and stopped their stolen white HT Holden Kingswood.

], his younger sister, and his mother heard someone screaming from the street in front of their house and had gone outside in time to see Cobby forced into the attackers' car.

[3] They eventually drove down Reen Road (now known as Peter Brock Drive), Prospect and stopped by the now-empty Holden, where the man used a spotlight to search the adjacent paddock.

[6] Once inside the car on Newton Road, Cobby had been ordered to strip off her clothes but refused, begging her attackers to let her go and saying she was married and also menstruating.

[3] Cobby was then driven down Reen Road to the secluded paddock, while being held down in the car, raped repeatedly, and being continually beaten by her five attackers.

They then dragged the brutally beaten Cobby into the paddock along a barbed wire fence, where they dumped her and continued to sexually and physically abuse her for some time.

[7] When Cobby did not return home, her family initially thought she was staying overnight with a friend, but after learning that she failed to appear at work the next day, they reported her missing on 3 February.

[9] On 6 February, the NSW State Government posted a A$50,000 reward (equivalent to $149,000 in 2022) for information leading to the capture of Cobby's killers.

Also on 6 February, morning radio host John Laws obtained a leaked copy of Cobby's autopsy report, which contained explicit details of her injuries, and read it live on the air, both shocking and galvanising public sentiment.

Miss X was subsequently sent back in to talk to Travers, agreeing to hide a recording microphone device in her bra while she visited him in his cell and was able to obtain a confession.

Sydney newspaper The Sun published a front-page story on the day the trial began, carrying the headline "ANITA MURDER MAN GUILTY" alongside a large image of Travers.

[11] According to the medical examiner's report, Cobby's body showed extensive bruising on her head, breasts, face, shoulders, groin, thighs and legs consistent with "a systematic beating",[12] including a "blow of considerable force around the right eye".

[13] He also testified that some radio bulletins purportedly based on his own report contained misinformation about the type and extent of Cobby's injuries.

[15] The trial for the remaining members of the gang lasted 54 days, with the men's defence relying on convincing the jury of their minimal involvement in the beating and murder.

In 1996, he and another inmate were being transported from Goulburn to Long Bay when they attempted to escape from the prison van by hacksawing through and kicking in the back door.

Since being sentenced Travers has spent time in Long Bay, Parklea, Maitland, Goulburn, Grafton, Lithgow and Wellington Correctional Centres.

During his imprisonment Murphy had been held in Long Bay, Maitland, Lithgow then spent majority of that time at Goulburn until being diagnosed with liver cancer.

Since being sentenced Murphy has spent time in Long Bay, Parklea, Lithgow, Grafton, Maitland and Goulburn Correctional Centres.

Since being sentenced Murdoch has spent time in Long Bay, Parklea, Windsor, Maitland, Bathurst, Lithgow, Junee and Goulburn Correctional Centres.

The Australian social-realist film The Boys (1998), directed by Rowan Woods,[22] is, in part, inspired by the Cobby murder and follows the journey of three brothers leading up to a similar crime.