in 1849, brown was charged with having murdered "unknown aboriginal natives", estimated at between nine and eleven victims. the date of the massacre is unclear. moorhouse's original report in march 1849 stated that it had occurred some months before, and in his published report of october 1849, he placed it "about september" of 1848. on 19 february, the protector of aborigines, matthew moorhouse arrived in the district to investigate reports that some aboriginal people had been murdered near guichen bay. an aboriginal witness, leandermin, took moorhouse to the site of the alleged crime. he told moorhouse that, on the day the killings occurred, he and a white man named parker were walking along a road when they heard shots. he went to see what was happening and, from behind some trees, saw four or five aboriginal women lying on the ground with fresh wounds. he also saw others on the ground, whom he presumed were dead because they were not moving. two white men were present. leandermin identified brown as one of them, and stated that he had seen brown standing over the victims with a gun in his hand. brown's overseer, eastwood, was suspected of being his accomplice. moorhouse's party then located five holes containing human remains. scattered nearby they found human bones and cartridge paper discharged from a firearm. eighty paces from the graves they located the remains of a fire which contained more bones. moorhouse concluded that the bodies had first been buried, but later exhumed and burnt in an attempt to destroy the evidence.