Robert John "Rocky" Lane (12 December 1946 – 13 July 1979) was a Victorian police detective who was murdered in the line of duty. He was also an Australian rules footballer who played two senior games with Carlton in the Victorian Football League (VFL).[1]
Family
The son of George Walter Lane (1910-1968), and Eliza Jean Lane (1915-1977), née Lane, Robert John Lane was born at Kerang, Victoria on 12 December 1946.[2]
Lane, who hailed from Kerang, had joined the Victoria Police before he was recruited to Carlton. Former teammates remember him turning up to training in his police uniform. He managed only the briefest of opportunities at the VFL level, coming on late in the last quarter in both of his appearances.
On 13 July 1979, while working as a detective senior constable with Victoria Police, Lane accompanied Daniel Bernard Chapman (who was suspected of stealing a police car) to a campsite across the state border at Kyalite, New South Wales.[8] While Lane was searching the caravan, Chapman shot Lane twice in the head, with a rifle that he (Chapman) had hidden, killing Lane instantly.[2][6][9][10][11]
Following a massive manhunt,[12][13] involving both Victorian and New South Wales police,[14][15] the suspect was apprehended seven days later,[16] after he had dumped the police car in the river. He was tried,[17][18][19] convicted of murder, and (on 1 July 1980) sentenced to life in prison,[20][21] and was released 13 years later.[22]
Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2009). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers: every AFL/VFL player since 1897 (8th ed.). Seaford, Victoria: BAS Publishing. ISBN978-1-921496-00-4.
