The following Monday morning at around 3:00 a.m., sixteen-year-old Daniel, who was still awake, heard the sound of a car approaching the MacKenzie home.
A search party fanned-out in an attempt to locate any evidence or means of identifying those responsible, an effort which lasted seven days.
Mitchell was convicted of the murders in 1995 at the age of 24 and was sentenced to four concurrent terms of life imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 20 years.
According to the television series Crime Investigation Australia, a judge ruled that the exact way in which Daniel, Amara, and Katrina were killed was to be sealed.
[citation needed] An appeal overturned the non-release ruling and reinstated his 20-year non-parole period, and he consequently became eligible for parole in 2013, with a three-year review in 2016.
Attorney General Michael Mischin stated that his decision to refuse parole was based upon the gravity of the crime and the safety of the community.