Everything We Know About the Hunt and Capture of Gino and Mark Stocco

Yesterday, Gino and Mark Stocco were arrested in Dunedoo, central western New South Wales, ending a man hunt that has spanned a decade. The men were apprehended by a full police tactical squad at a 385-hectare property named Pinevale. It's believed police received intelligence they were hiding out on the property before launching the "covert operation".

Following the Stocco's arrests, the decomposing body of a 68-year-old man was discovered on the property. The man was believed to have been missing since Thursday, and reports have indicated he was the owner of the property.

With the capture of Australia's most-wanted criminals, we look back on the father and son's crime career.

Twelve days ago, 57-year-old Gino and his 35-year-old son Mark sprang to national attention when police attempted to pull over a silver Nissin Navara near Wagga Wagga, NSW, and the duo started shooting. Their car was later found abandoned in bushland about five kilometres from the Hume Highway. The pair have been on the run since.

Or rather, they've been on the run continuously since 2003. According to the Adelaide Advertiser the Queensland father and son's criminal partnership began when Gino's marriage fell apart, leading Gino to buy a yacht with his $100,000 divorce settlement. The pair spent the following three years sailing up and down the east coast, stealing personal information from hapless friends and using the information for personal loans. At one point they even used a certificate of ordination they'd stolen from a priest.

As complaints against the pair mounted, police began tracking the boat's GPS data. This culminated in an arrest on December 21, 2006, as they attempted to rob the Port Fairy Yacht Club.

The following February they were found guilty of burglary, theft, criminal damage, obtaining financial advantage by deception, and making false passport statements. Mark was also nabbed for robbing his own mum in 2004. Gino received a fine of $2,400 and a week in jail, while Mark was fined $600 and received two months.

The Stucco story wasn't a big deal at the time—beyond most articles highlighting the fact they were kind of like pirates. But media outlets are now calling them modern bushrangers, a transition they made after prison.

Following their release, the Stoccos quickly began to accumulate new victims, and by the end of 2007 there was another warrant out for their arrest. At this time they were moving across rural Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland, working on farms for cash and accommodation. A farm owner told SBS about how the pair stayed on his property in Coolatai, northern NSW, doing general handyman work for 12 months. He described them as "a bit strange," but explained it wasn't until they had a falling out that there was a problem.

After a disagreement, they left in the middle of the night without saying a word. Then a few days later the farmer found his guns missing from his safe, as well as holes drilled in his tyres. A month later he found more tyres had been destroyed and 36 fences mysteriously cut.

Skip forward to Friday October 16, when the Wagga Wagga police pulled over a Navara with unmatched plates, and the aforementioned shooting took place. An extensive search was launched over the surrounding region, involving specialists and the Victoria Police Air Wing, but the men escaped on foot.

Two days later a white 2013 Toyota LandCruiser was reported stolen from Holbrook, an hour south of Wagga Wagga. On October 19 this was followed by a sighting at a petrol station in Euroa, north-east Victoria, before another at a Bairnsdale supermarket. The pair then roared through a police roadblock in Castella early the next morning, before ramming a police car in St James later in the afternoon. The pair were next seen filling up their LandCruiser at a South Gundagai service station on Saturday night. They stole fuel and drove off before police could intercept, and haven't been seen since.

Police are saying they'll likely emerge in the next 48 hours for supplies, but that they need ongoing information from the community. As NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Gary Worboys told Sky News, "We certainly need the community to be our eyes and ears and report everything that they see, no matter what time of day or night."

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