When Larrimah larrikin Paddy Moriarty and his dog went missing four years ago, there was no shortage of theories about what happened.
The 70-year-old had either been swallowed up by a sinkhole, suffered a medical episode on his morning walk, or, as police would quickly fear, met with foul play in a tiny town of just 13 people.
Several new theories — some more far-fetched than others — emerged earlier this week when the Northern Territory coroner resumed his inquest into the former ringer's mysterious disappearance 500 kilometres south of Darwin.
One witness told the court he overheard Larrimah tea shop owner Fran Hodgetts offer his mate up to $10,000 to "get rid of … the old man who was still giving her a hard time".
Ms Hodgetts told the inquest she had nothing to do with Mr Moriarty's disappearance.The same witness told the inquest he suspected his mate also killed British backpacker Peter Falconio two decades ago, despite the conviction of Bradley John Murdoch.
Another witness — who described himself as a "psychic" — said two men by the names of Richard and "Roo Dog" told him they had shot and buried Mr Moriarty near the town of Mataranka.
Detectives investigated the claim but confirmed both men were working in Western Australia when Mr Moriarty vanished from Larrimah.
This week's inquest also revealed police had secretly installed a listening device inside the bungalow of Ms Hodgetts' live-in gardener, Owen Laurie.
The scratchy audio, played in the courtroom, features a man talking and singing to himself in the months after Mr Moriarty's death.
"I killerated old Paddy," the male voice says, according to detectives.
"Struck'd him on the head and killerated him, basherated him."
In another recording, police claim the male voice says: "Smacked him on the f***ing nostrils with a claw hammer".
Mr Laurie, who maintains he was not involved in Mr Moriaty's disappearance, told the inquest the recordings were not of him.
He then chose to exercise his right to remain silent.
Neighbourly dispute turned deadly, coroner says
Mr Moriarty was last seen leaving Larrimah's iconic Pink Panther-themed hotel with his red kelpie Kellie on the evening of December 16, 2017.
Despite extensive land and air searches, no trace of the man or his dog has ever been found.
But even without a body, coroner Greg Cavenagh believes Mr Moriarty's colourful life came to an end in suspicious circumstances later that night.
"Paddy was killed in the context of and likely due to the ongoing feud he had with his nearest neighbours," Mr Cavenagh stated in his official findings, released this week.
Mr Moriarty lived in a disused service station directly across the road from "Fran's Tea House", where Ms Hodgetts also sold pies.
The neighbours were initially on good terms when Mr Moriarty first purchased the "Top of the Town" servo in 2010.
"However, things deteriorated", the coroner said, in somewhat of an understatement.
Over the following years, their feud escalated, with Ms Hodgetts filing nine separate complaints with police.
Among the many accusations, she claimed he stole her $200 red umbrella, deliberately scared away her customers, and dragged the stinking carcasses of kangaroos onto her property.
A little over a year before he went missing, the warring neighbours entered a truce, of sorts.
In their signed mediation contract, they agreed to "leave past matters in the past", "limit interactions to necessity" and "if one person waves, the other will wave back".
But a year later, the civilities ended amid claims Mr Moriarty had poisoned her plants.
Her newly appointed live-in gardener, Mr Laurie, told the inquest he was joking when he told Ms Hodgetts: "Any f***ing bastard comes in here and poisons my f***in garden, [it'll] be the first murder in Larrimah."
'Don't do anything stupid', Ms Hodgetts allegedly told gardener
Opinions of Irish-born Mr Moriarty vary.
Publican Barry Sharpe — whose outback bar included a zoo with 700 birds and a 3.5 metre crocodile — told the inquest Mr Moriarty was "a good natured, happy-go-lucky man."
His friend Karen Rayner said he would spin yarns for the tourists who dropped in for a cold drink.
"He was like our concierge … he was very popular," she said.
But other residents suggested he had a bit of a "temper" and could be "very rude [and] obnoxious when he was drunk".
Several days before he went missing, the inquest heard he and Mr Laurie had a verbal altercation after Mr Moriarty's dog ventured across the highway towards the gardener's residence.
Mr Laurie told the inquest their voices were neither raised nor aggressive.
But according to the barman at the hotel, Mr Moriarty told him it was a heated exchange.
"You need to shut that f***ing dog up or I'll shut it for you," Mr Moriarty claimed his neighbour had said.
Mr Moriarty is said to have fired back: "Shut your mouth or I'll take your knees out from under you."
The bartender told the 70-year-old: "Be careful, mate".
The inquest heard Mr Moriarty replied: "It's all good, I've got a baseball bat".
When Ms Hodgetts found out the pair had had words with each other, she said she told her gardener: "Don't do anything stupid. I'm going to Darwin, I don't want to have to come back and bail you out of jail."
Mr Laurie disputed that she had given him such a warning at that time and told the inquest Ms Hodgetts tended to embellish things.
Paddy Moriarty's final drinks
After returning from Darwin, Ms Hodgetts and her gardener set up a new water feature on her property and put new plants in the ground.
Later that evening, on December 16, Mr Moriarty left the pub on his quad bike and headed home for dinner.
"It appeared that in the midst of meal preparation something unexpected happened," the coroner said.
In his findings, the coroner said he could not determine the cause of Mr Moriarty's death.
But he noted that NT legislation does not permit him to include a finding or comment that a person may be guilty of an offence.
"However, I will refer this investigation to the Commissioner of Police and the DPP," Mr Cavenagh said.
As the investigations into Mr Moriarty's death continue, police hope the offer of a $250,000 reward for information will help solve the "once-in-a-generation" case.
