Drifter guilty of hostel blaze murders

A homeless fruit picker was today convicted of murder and arson for starting a blaze that tore through an Australian backpackers’ hostel killing 15 young travellers, including young Limerick woman Julie O'Keeffe.

A Brisbane Supreme Court jury of seven women and five men reached the verdict after nearly two days of deliberations and 19 days of testimony in the trial of drifter, Robert Paul Long, 38.

Long had pleaded innocent to murder and arson charges following the June 2000, blaze at the Palace Backpackers Hostel in Childers, a farming community 190 miles north of Brisbane.

Seven young British backpackers were also among the dead.