Coroner's Finding: Marshall, Donald Joseph
Deceased
Donald Joseph Marshall
Demographics
78y, male
Date of death
2013-06-04
Finding date
2016-01-21
Cause of death
Intra-oral gunshot wound to the head
AI-generated summary
Donald Joseph Marshall, 78, an experienced sailor, died on 4 June 2013 from a gunshot wound to the head while stranded on Badger Island in Bass Strait, Tasmania. After running aground on the island, he activated his EPIRB and made a mayday radio call, initially appearing calm and assured. A .22 bolt action rifle was recovered from his yacht's cockpit with a spent cartridge. At autopsy, a gunshot entrance wound to the roof of his mouth was discovered, with soot surrounding it. Ballistic examination confirmed the bullet came from the recovered rifle. The coroner concluded Marshall deliberately took his own life, likely driven to despair following repeated maritime incidents requiring rescue within days and confusion about his location on Badger Island. The search and rescue response was appropriate and timely, with minor coordination issues noted that had no bearing on the outcome. No recommendations were made as the death resulted from Marshall's voluntary actions.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Contributing factors
- Despair following repeated maritime rescue incidents within days
- Confusion about location on Badger Island
- Running aground on Badger Island
Full text
Related cases
Source and disclaimer
This page reproduces or summarises information from publicly available findings published by Australian coroners' courts. Coronial is an independent educational resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any coronial court or government body.
Content may be incomplete, reformatted, or summarised. All court orders for redaction and non-publication are respected; documents with technically defective redaction have been excluded from the database entirely. Always refer to the original court publication for the authoritative record.
Copyright in original materials remains with the relevant government jurisdiction. AI-generated summaries and tagging are for educational purposes only, may contain inaccuracies, and must not be treated as legal documents. We welcome feedback for correction —