Finding into death of Benjamin Paul Ray
Deceased
Benjamin Paul Ray and Kevin Timothy Patrick Doherty
Date of death
2022-07-22
Finding date
2023-10-09
Cause of death
Head and chest injuries from ballistic trauma (shotgun wounds)
AI-generated summary
Two men, Benjamin Ray (49) and Kevin Doherty (50), were fatally shot by Travis Cashmore (45) on a rural road in Victoria on 22 July 2022. Cashmore had growing animosity toward Doherty following a December 2021 incident where Doherty threatened one of Cashmore's friends. On 20 July, Cashmore visited police to report alleged breaches of a Personal Safety Intervention Order protecting that friend. Officers did not act on Cashmore's information. Two days later, Cashmore shot both men with a shotgun and subsequently took his own life. The coroner found Cashmore intentionally caused both deaths through unsurvivable ballistic injuries. This case highlights the importance of police responsiveness to reports of order breaches and potential risk escalation in community conflict situations.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Drugs involved
Contributing factors
- Growing animosity between Cashmore and Doherty following December 2021 incident
- Personal Safety Intervention Order protecting third party
- Cashmore's acquisition of unregistered shotgun
- Police interaction on 20 July 2022 where Cashmore reported alleged breaches
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