Outlaws
Over the next two months, the brothers managed to keep one step in front of the police, relying on Jimmy's tracking skills and knowledge of police tactics. Jimmy challenged the police by keeping fairly visible, wanting them to look incompetent.
Settlers in the region deserted their homesteads and schools in the region were closed. Business was at a standstill and no one travelled through the region.
The Governor brothers committed over 80 crimes in a short period, including the rape of a 15 year old girl at a farm at Cobark Creek. In early October, 1900, the NSW legislature declared them outlaws and increased the reward for capture from two hundred pounds to one thousand pounds.
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The community around Gresford were on guard, watching for the bushranger brothers and arming themselves for a possible confrontation. The Governors raided properties in the Paterson Valley and camped along the Paterson River. They moved east through Allynbrook and also robbed huts in the Gresford district.
Moving north up to the Forbes River, a shoot-out occurred and Jimmy was shot in the mouth. The brothers yet again escaped and the search intensified as Jimmy was losing blood, which the trackers followed.
With the pursuers closing in, the brothers were separated as they were crossing a river. With Jimmy severely wounded and now alone, capture was inevitable.
At dawn on Saturday 27 October, Jimmy was surrounded by armed locals, including three generations of the Moore family from the Allyn district, including 73 year old Thomas Moore senior. After a chase that lasted around three minutes, Jimmy was captured. Given food and tea, he was then handcuffed and announced he was glad he hadn’t been captured by the police stating, 'they couldn’t run down a bloody poddy calf!'
Joe Governor survived until the morning of the 31 October. Asleep at his camp hidden away in a deep gorge at Glen Rock near St Clair, Fallbrook Creek, a local grazier, John Wilkinson and his brother noticed smoke from a camp fire and investigated. They came upon a sleeping Joe Governor. Guns were fired, Joe tried to escape, but was too slow and was shot in the head at close range.