Douglas John Edward Crabbe was born in 1947 in Australia. He began working as a truck driver at the age of 14, a profession he continued into adulthood. Prior to the 1983 incident, Crabbe had several run-ins with the law. In February 1983, he was arrested for assaulting a group of youths at a service station near Tennant Creek. Later that year, in March, he was involved in two altercations at a country and western event in Curtin Springs, leading to his ejection from the venue. Witnesses later testified that upon being barred, Crabbe threatened to drive his truck through the pub, a statement he denied making.​

On the night of 18 August 1983, Crabbe was at the Inland Motel bar near Uluru (Ayers Rock) in the Northern Territory. After being refused service due to intoxication and subsequently ejected following a confrontation with staff and patrons, Crabbe returned to his parked 25-tonne Mack truck. He detached one of its two trailers and drove the vehicle back to the motel. At approximately 1:30 a.m., he drove the truck through the crowded bar area of the Inland Motel, resulting in the deaths of five individuals and serious injuries to sixteen others.

Following the incident, Crabbe fled the scene on foot. He was apprehended later that day at the Yulara Tourist Village construction site after being located by police and Aboriginal trackers. Crabbe was charged with five counts of murder. During his trial, he claimed to have no memory of the events between detaching the trailer and the crash. He was found guilty on all counts and sentenced to five consecutive life sentences.​

In 2004, changes to the Northern Territory's sentencing laws led to the establishment of a 30-year non-parole period for Crabbe's sentences, backdated to the date of the offense. He became eligible for parole in 2013 but was denied. In 2023, the Western Australian Attorney-General approved Crabbe's participation in a pre-release re-socialisation program, a step towards potential parole.