Ivens François "Toon" Buffett was the Lands Minister and Deputy Chief Minister of Norfolk Island. He had previously served one term as Chief Executive. On July 19, 2004, Buffett was shot dead in his office. The popular local politician became the first sitting Minister of an Australian Government (the island is an external Australian territory) to be assassinated. Buffett's son, Leith, was charged with the murder of his father [1] but was acquitted. Leith Buffett has been described as having psychological problems and believing that his father was "The Evil Prophet". Due to the inadequacy of jail cells on the island, Leith Buffett was transferred to Long Bay Prison's hospital in Sydney, a matter which required an amendment to the Crimes Act 1999 in New South Wales. [2] Police stressed that the Buffett case was unrelated to the 2002 death of Janelle Patton who, until Buffett's death, had been the only person in the island's recent history to be murdered there [3].
