Man charged with quadruple murder after car allegedly run off NSW road​on March 5, 2025 at 4:00 am

A man has been charged with four counts of murder after allegedly running a car off the road in an attempted robbery in the NSW Northern Rivers region.

Alec St Clair faced Coffs Harbour Local Court on Tuesday afternoon accused of killing ute driver Mark Dodds, 36, and his passengers Sophie-Lee Fullagar, 24, Benjamin Watego, 50, and James Doherty, 42, in Wardell, south of Ballina, in February 2024.

Police previously said they were treating the tragedy as a homicide investigation and released footage of a silver Toyota Corolla sedan travelling behind Dodds’ Mazda BT-50 on a bridge, taken before the ute left the road.

St Clair, 29, was allegedly behind the wheel of the second vehicle.

“The investigation established that a man in a silver Toyota Corolla sedan allegedly attempted to rob those in the utility, causing the utility to collide with a tree, killing the four occupants,” police said in a statement on Wednesday.

St Clair was arrested at Coffs Harbour police station on Tuesday morning and charged with four counts of murder and one count of assault with intent to rob while armed with an offensive weapon inflicting grievous bodily harm.

He did not apply for bail when his case came before court, and it was formally refused. His case returns to Lismore Local Court on May 14.

The families of the crash victims shared video statements about their loved ones during the police appeal.