John Burrows, a local greyhound trainer, with Sandy, one of his greyhounds. Credit:Wolter Peeters But Villiers Lane, encased by three sleepy streets on a hill overlooking town, has become the scene of unimaginable terror and Portland is now grappling with its first murder mystery in several decades. Local greyhound trainer John Burrows, a 58-year-old father-of-three and employee at the local power plant for three decades, was blown up in a deliberate act on July 24. At 6.30am that Friday morning, as he did every week day, Mr Burrows walked from his home on the corner of Wolgan Street and Villiers Lane, down the lane to the garage behind his mother Phyllis' home on Villiers Street. "I used to call him 'big fella'," said Phyllis Burrows. "And in May, because of my arthritis, I gave my car to my daughter so I said, 'well big fella, that's your garage now'. He started putting his car in there every night. If only I hadn't given him that garage."

The aftermath of the explosion in Portland which killed John Burrows. Credit:Carmel Houlison As he reached the roller door just before dawn, he knelt down to pick up what looked like a white backpack. It was a sophisticated improvised explosive device that detonated in his face and catapulted him several metres to the other side of the laneway. He died instantly from the force but was also horrifically maimed and burnt, police said. Garry Burrows, outside his mother's garage where his brother, John, was killed. Credit:Wolter Peeters Windows blew out in surrounding homes and walls rattled along the entire street. People in Wallerawang, a town five kilometres away, heard the blast.

However, even more shocking that the monstrous explosion was the revelation from police later that day that it was being treated as a homicide. The home of well-known local greyhound trainer John Burrows, in Wolgan Street, Portland. Credit:Wolter Peeters "We believe that John was specifically targeted and whoever targeted him did so with the intent of killing him," Bathurst crime manager Detective Inspector Luke Rankin told The Sun-Herald this week. "It was someone familiar with his [morning] routine. It was someone who had the intent to kill." The Sun Herald has learnt investigators have been examining an ongoing conflict Mr Burrows had with a neighbour on Villiers Lane, stemming from his barking greyhounds.

Mr Burrows treated his dogs like his babies. He would trim their nails in his yard and use Palmolive Milk and Honey shampoo to give them an enviously glossy coat ahead of race meets, his brother Garry Burrows says. However, about 2010, two of his champion greyhounds were mysteriously bashed several times over many months and eventually had to be put down. No one was ever charged. Police have confirmed that in 2011, they were notified that Phyllis had discovered a neighbour, Paul John Fitzpatrick, standing in the Burrows' backyard with a stick. "He was yelling and screaming, 'I'm sick and tired of hearing that dog whinge, whinge, whinge'," Mrs Burrows recalled. Not long after, Mr Burrows and Mr Fitzpatrick, a pensioner who served in the Vietnam War and worked for most of his life as an electrician, had an altercation in Wolgan Street that turned violent.

Mr Fitzpatrick was hospitalised with a fractured eye socket yet an assault charge against Mr Burrows fell over in court due to unreliable evidence given by Mr Fitzpatrick. The incident stunned Mr Burrows' family, including his wife and three children. "He was such a calm guy usually, he never let anything worry him," Garry said. "You won't hear a bad word spoken about him around here." Residents in Portland either knew little of Mr Burrows or spoke fondly of him. His daughter runs a cafe in town and young workers at the Mount Piper power plant regarded him as a father figure. "He was so friendly, he was such a lovely fellow," said June Lane, 85, who went to school with Mrs Burrows and lives a few doors up. "This is the last thing I'd ever think would happen to him."

Many people in the streets around Villiers Lane knew of the tension over Mr Burrows' greyhounds. Another resident on Wolgan Street, who asked not to be named, said complaints were made about her dogs a few years ago and one day she found a man standing in her backyard. "John was a good man," she said quietly through her screen door. Soon after the blast, Mr Fitzpatrick spoke at length with police and the ramshackle property he shares with his sister was searched over two days. Inspector Rankin confirmed he had been questioned along with several others persons of interest to their investigation. When approached at his home this week, Mr Fitzpatrick declined to comment and ordered The Sun-Herald off his property.

The Sun Herald does not suggest he had any involvement in the homicide. Inspector Rankin said no suspects have been taken into custody at any point and the well-known conflict was one line of inquiry among others. "Any conflict is a prominent line of investigation," he said. It's understood detectives are looking closely at the explosive device and tracing the origin of each component in order to build a detailed profile of how it was made and by whom. For residents of Portland, initial shock has turned to silence and disbelief. A recent report in the Lithgow Mercury said the feeling being commonly expressed around town was: "This is Portland, not the Middle East". The last time Portland grappled with a murder was in 1988 when teenager Pheiona McCann was killed by Brett Francis Sharp after a concert at the Portland RSL.

In 1950, 26-year-old quarryman Kevin John Seach molested and killed two boys, aged seven and eight, whom he had come across behind a toilet at the sports ground. In a strange and tragic twist, Portland has suffered two other fatalities in the past five weeks. Kindergarten school mates Simon Williams and Rebecca Karini, both seven, were killed in separate road accidents on Pipers Flat Road. Lithgow mayor Maree Statham, who is from Portland, said it was an extraordinary run of bad luck for such a small town. "We are mourning for so many different reasons," she said. "I've been speaking to people in their 80s in Portland who say this is the most horrendous period of time for fatal accidents they've ever seen." Garry says his mother is struggling more than most. She had a nightmare about her son's killer last week and suffered two black eyes when she fell out of bed and hit a bedside table.

"Whatever has happened [with John] in the past, we never ever dreamt it would come to this," said Garry. "He was one of the best, truly one of the best." Correction: An earlier version of this story said the last murder in Portland was in 1950.