Australia’s most wanted man Graham Potter arrested in Far North Queensland after 12 years on the run

Australia’s most wanted man has been captured by police in Far North Queensland after spending more than a decade on the run.  

Graham Gene Potter was arrested on Monday at Ravenshoe, 120km south east of Cairns, on outstanding charges for conspiracy to murder as well as federal drug charges. 

The fugitive has been wanted by authorities for 12 years after allegedly failing to appear at Melbourne Magistrates Court in February 2010 on charges of conspiracy to murder. 

At the time, Potter was connected with Victorian and New South Wales organised crime figures. 

‘Acting on information received, Tablelands Detectives, uniformed police and the Cairns Dog Squad attended an Ascham Street residence at approximately 8:45am where the 64-year-old was located and taken into custody,’ Victoria Police said.

‘Detectives from Victoria Police will now travel to Queensland to see Potter’s extradition.’ 

There had been several suspected sightings of Potter across the country since his disappearance, including in Tully, just south of Cairns, in 2011.

That same year a $100,000 reward was issued for information leading to his arrest.

He is expected to appear before Mareeba Magistrates Court on Tuesday February 22. 

Dramatic footage of the arrest released by Queensland Police shows Potter being surrounded by officers inside a rubbish-filled shed.

He can be seen climbing down from a dilapidated bunk-bed onto metal cages as officers storm the room. 

Potter was wanted on outstanding charges for conspiracy to murder as well as federal drug charges

‘Stay there. Do not move,’ an officer yells.

‘This is the police. Do not move. Put your hands where I can see them.’

Potter abides by their requests and is handcuffed before being taken outside and placed inside a police vehicle. 

Potter was one of three charged over the alleged planned murders of two men, including an associate of underworld figure Mick Gatto, related to disputes within a drug syndicate.

Potter was also wanted on federal drug charges for a record 4.4-tonne ecstasy haul, which involved 15 million tablets being smuggled in tinned tomatoes in 2008.

Police have carried out a significant number of searches and public appeals over the past 12 years in an effort to find him.  

Potter was jailed for life in 1981 for the murder of teenager Kim Barry, 19, in Wollongong, after he beat her and cut off her head. 

Pictured: Kim Barry, 19, who was murdered by Potter in 1981 

Then a 23-year-old coal miner, Potter knew Kim from dance classes they both took and ran into her at the Crown Gardens disco in Keira Street, Wollongong, during his buck’s night on February 6, 1981.

The pair went back to Potter’s Corrimal flat where he bashed her to death before returning to the disco. Police believe Kim may have rejected Potter’s sexual advances.

The next morning Potter used a hacksaw to cut off Kim’s head and fingers.

Her body was found near a mountain lookout at Jambaroo and her head and fingers were located inside a garbage bag about 1km away three weeks later.

He was released in 1996 after serving just 15 years. 

There have been dozens of sightings of Potter over the past 12 years, including in Queensland, the Riverina in NSW, and around parts of the NSW-Victoria border.