Coniston massacre
On 15 August, dingo trapper Bruce Chapman arrived at Coniston and Murray sent Chapman, Paddy and Alex Wilson and three aboriginal trackers to the soak to find out what happened. The three buried Brooks on the bank of the soak. In the afternoon two Warlpiri, Padygar and Woolingar arrived at Coniston to trade dingo scalps. Believing them to be involved with the murder Paddy arrested them but Woolingar slipped his chains and attempted to escape. Murray fired at Woolingar and he fell with a bullet wound to the head. Stafford then kicked him in the chest breaking a rib. Woolingaar was then chained to a tree for the next 18 hours. The next morning the posse, with Padygar and Woolingar following on foot in chains, set out for the Lander River where they found a camp of 23 Warlpiri at Ngundaru. With the posse encircling the camp, Murray rode in and was surrounded by Aboriginal people yelling, Brisco started shooting with Saxby and Murray joining in. Three men and a woman, Bullfrog's wife Marungali, were killed on the encounter, with another woman dying from her wounds an hour later. A subsequent search of the camp turned up articles belonging to Brooks. Stafford was furious with Murray over the shooting and the next morning returned to Coniston alone.
Ulick Fionn Burke
Early in 1503, "Mac William of Clanrickard gave a very great overthrow to O'Kelly and a party of the people of Conmaicne-Cuile, where the greater part of the gallowglasses of both the Clann-Donnell and Clann-Sweeny were slain around their constables, and where Walter, the son of John Burke, a distinguished captain, was also slain." This was followed up with a successful encounter against the king of Ui Maine, at Bel Atha na nGarbhan:Burke followed this by attacking, seizing and demolishing three of O Cellaigh's castles.O Ceallaigh had a personal motive, in that his wife was in open adultery with Burke. FitzGerald had a similar motive, in that his daughter was being slighted by the affair, but, with Burke's capture of the independent towns of Athenry and Galway, the matter had become national and could no longer be ignored. FitzGerald assembled an alliance of Gaelic-Irish and Anglo-Irish lords, led by himself, to confront Burke. They included Ó Donnell of Tír Conaill, Ó Neill of Tír Eoghain, Ó Connor Roe, MacDermot of Moylurg, Bourke of north Connacht and many lords of The Pale.