the bushrangers robbed a lot of houses and farms around new norfolk. on april 25, 1815, the gang went to the house of a mr.carlisle. carlisle and his friends went out to stop the gang from stealing a boat. carlisle was shot dead, and his neighbour, mr.o'birne, was badly wounded. o'birne died a few days later. the gang returned to new norfolk in may 1815, to rob more houses. they met a group of soldiers and john whitehead was shot and killed. to claim a reward for killing a bushranger, the body had to be identified. to stop people from claiming a reward for their capture, howe and whitehead had made a promise to each other. this would be to cut the head off whoever was killed first so no one would know who it was. as soon as whitehead was shot, his head was cut off by howe and hidden in the bush.