Theo Farmer alias Thomas Day was the prime suspect for the Gatton murders. Two weeks after the murders, Day asked the police if he was wanted for further investigation and was told that he was not. The records show that he later enlisted in the military but deserted in May 1899. The following year, a Thomas Furner was admitted to the Sydney Hospital in New South Wales suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. After his death on 25 October 1900, he was identified by Inspector Urquhart as Thomas Day. He died known as Thomas Furner in the Sydney Hospital on 25 October 1900, knowledge of which the police and governments in Queensland and New South Wales withheld from the public.