A new book detailing the still shocking Niceforo murder will be launched in Katherine next month.
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The author is ABC senior reporter Steven Schubert who is today working in Alice Springs but was working as a rural reporter in Katherine at the time of the tragic killing in 2011.
Mr Schubert says his book is a compelling true story of homicide and injustice in an outback town.
At first it looked like a swag, said the grader driver - as Mr Schubert writes.
The driver had found the body just off Gorge Road outside Katherine in October 2011.
Police quickly identified the dead man as Ray Niceforo.
A few days later, three young local suspects were arrested, including nineteen-year-old Indigenous man Zak Grieve.
Christopher Malyschko and Darren Halfpenny were convicted of the actual killing.
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A month later, Mr Niceforo's former partner was also arrested.
But when the accused faced court in the "rough justice" system of the Territory, it quickly became apparent that there were few provable facts to be had.
Depending on who was talking, a loving friend could be an abusive monster, a battered wife a conniving temptress.
And a joke between mates about the best way to dispose of a body could be a conspiracy to murder.
The outcome of the case was no less murky, thanks to the Northern Territory's mandatory sentencing laws, which, the judge said, 'brings about injustice'.
Grieve's 20 year sentence was last year reduced to 12 years by NT Administrator Vicki O'Halloran, meaning he will be eligible for release in 2023.
Grieve maintained he was not there when two of his friends murdered Niceforo, as he got cold feet.
The judge at his trial ultimately accepted his versions of events, but was forced to sentence Grieve to life in prison with a 20-year non-parole period due to the Territory's mandatory sentencing laws.
Mr Schubert's publishers say his book raises several important questions, including how an Indigenous man who didn't attend a murder can be sentenced to jail for 20 years.
It is also important to remember the local Niceforo family still grieves for their lost member, brutally taken from them.
Mr Schubert will launch his book at the Finch Cafe in Katherine on Friday, July 12 from 6pm.
The book goes on sale on Monday.
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