Month: May 2020

New laws could resolve historic Qld crimes – Bega District News (21 May 2020)

https://www.begadistrictnews.com.au/story/6764305/new-laws-could-resolve-historic-qld-crimes/?cs=7

Under new laws that have passed parliament, coroners have greater power to compel witnesses to give self-incriminating evidence at inquests.

It’s hoped the laws could resolve historic cases including whether some people have so far escaped justice over the 1973 firebombing that killed 15 people.

Previously coroners could only force witnesses to give potentially self-incriminating evidence relating to deaths from 2003 onwards.

That time limit has now been lifted, paving the way for a re-examination of historic crimes.

“For deaths prior to 2003, witnesses could refuse to give self-incriminating evidence, which made it harder for coroners to find out what actually happened,” Acting Attorney-General Stirling Hinchliffe said.

“This led to the creation of a hard core of remaining cases that have not received the benefit of the modern coronial regime and remain unresolved to this day.”

But there’s a catch.

Self-incriminating evidence extracted from unwilling witnesses can’t be used in criminal proceedings unless perjury is involved.

The government ordered a fresh inquest into the Whiskey Au Go Go bombing in June 2017, saying witnesses who’d previously refused to speak might now be willing to do so.

James Finch and John Andrew Stuart were convicted over the attack, but both men insisted they were stitched up.

At one stage Stuart, who died in prison in 1979, climbed up on the roof of Brisbane’s Boggo Road jail, pulled out dozens of bricks and then used them to spell out the message: Innocent – victim of police verbal.

Mr Finch served 15 years behind bars before he was deported to the UK in 1988.

In 2018, he said he was willing to take a lie-detector test to show his confession to police never happened.

At the time, then Queensland Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said he was sure the coroner hearing the new inquest would be interested in anything Mr Finch had to say.

The new inquest was ordered one day after hardened criminals Vincent O’Dempsey and Garry Dubois were handed life sentences for murdering Brisbane mother Barbara McCulkin and her two daughters in 1974.

O’Dempsey’s trial heard he may have been motivated to kill Mrs McCulkin over fears she would try to implicate him in the Whiskey Au Go Go bombing.

O’Dempsey has denied being involved.

New law could help solve Whiskey Au Go Go massacre – Brisbane Times (20 May 2020)

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/queensland/new-law-could-help-solve-whiskey-au-go-go-massacre-20200520-p54uxr.html

New laws passed in Queensland Parliament on Wednesday may help solve one of the country’s most infamous crimes.

Fifteen people were murdered in the Whiskey Au Go Go nightclub fire bombing in Fortitude Valley around 2am on March 8, 1973.

Two career criminals were convicted of putting two 23-litre drums of diesel fuel in the downstairs nightclub foyer before lighting it.

In 2017, Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath announced a second inquest into the massacre would be held following the convictions of Vincent O’Dempsey and Garry Dubois for the murders of Barbara McCulkin and her two daughters 43 years ago.

O’Dempsey’s trial heard he may have been motivated to kill Mrs McCulkin over fears she would implicate him in the firebombing.

Ms D’Ath said in 2017 that the 78-year-old’s jailing may encourage some witnesses to come forward.

No date has been set yet for the new inquest yet but it will be heard under a tougher, retrospective Coroners Act, which was passed in Queensland Parliament on Wednesday afternoon.

Under the new laws, coroners will get more powers to compel witnesses to give potentially self-incriminating evidence at an inquest.

The laws were sparked by recommendations from a coronial inquest in 2018.

Coroner David O’Connell believed the law change “may well assist to resolve some of the most lingering mysterious cases which still exist in Queensland”.

“The Whiskey Au Go Go investigation comes to mind,” he said.

“I wonder aloud whether anything meaningful will be achieved unless persons are compelled to give evidence.

“By now most next of kin are well past the position of prosecution as their goal, they merely wish to ascertain the truth, as does the public.”

Acting Attorney-General Stirling Hinchliffe said coroners were handed powers to require self-incriminating evidence from witnesses in 2003, but this only applied to deaths occurring after that date.

“For deaths prior to 2003, witnesses could refuse to give self-incriminating evidence, which made it harder for coroners to find out what actually happened,” he said.

“This led to the creation of a ‘hard core’ of remaining cases that have not received the benefit of the modern coronial regime and remain unresolved to this day.

“By allowing coroners to compel witnesses to give self-incriminating evidence for deaths occurring prior to 2003, we hope to see some of these cases resolved.”

Mr Hinchliffe said the coroner may not require a person to give self-incriminating evidence unless satisfied it was in the public interest.

“Further, evidence given is not admissible against a person in any criminal proceeding, with the exception of perjury,” he said.

“These are important and necessary changes to Queensland’s coronial system and we’re confident they will serve the interests of justice.”

Coroners bill to lift lid on old mysteries – The Australian (19 May 2020)

By David Murray

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/queensland-coroners-bill-may-lift-lid-on-old-mysteries/news-story/2a4f3ad6cb7977e6fece417d261b1d90

Queensland’s toughest cold cases, including the 1973 Whiskey Au Go Go firebombing, have a fresh chance of being solved under new laws allowing coroners to compel witnesses to talk.

The state’s coroners currently only have the power to order witnesses to give evidence that could incriminate them in deaths reported after2003.

Legislation due to be debated in state parliament this week will extend this modem regime to all cases, no matter when a death occurred.

Historian Geoff Plunkett said it would increase the likelihood of finally getting to the truth behind the inferno that tore through the Whiskey Au Go Go nightclub in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley, killing 15 people.

A new inquest into the Fire was ordered three years ago next month by the state’s Attorney-General, Yvette D’Ath. It is awaiting the completion of police investigations and passage of the new laws.

“After almost half a century, I believe it will be difficult to find justice, as many of the major conspirators are dead,” Mr Plunkett told The Australian.

“As full justice is an impossibility, the aim of the inquest should be to attain, if not the absolute truth, at least a closer understanding of the whos and whys of the Whiskey Au Go Go murders.

“This goal is made more achievable with the new proposed legislation allowing the coroner to compel witnesses to give evidence.”

Two men—James Finch and John Stuart — were convicted over the blaze but there have long been suspicions that others were involved.

Mr Plunkett author of a book on the firebombing, said that at a 1980 inquest into the fire, suspect Vincent O’Dempsey answered “no comment” to 47 questions.

“This will not be permissible at the upcoming inquiry and that is a large positive,” he said.

Ms D’Ath ordered the new inquest in July 2017 after O’Dempsey and Garry Dubois were convicted and jailed for the 1974 murders of Barbara McCulkin and daughters Vicki and Leanne.

State Coroner Terry Ryan will set a date for the Whiskey Au Go Go inquest when police complete investigations, a spokesman said.

“There is legislation currently before the Queensland parliament that will permit the inquest to be conducted under the Coroners Act 2003 instead of the Coroners Act 1958,” he said “It would be preferable to await passage of that legislation before the inquest is commenced.”

Coroner David O’Connell recommended the legal overhaul in his December 2018 findings on the unsolved 1987 murder of Bryan Hodgkinson.

Mr O’Connell had been unable to compel a key witness to give evidence due to the age of the case. “Such a change may well assist to resolve some of the most lingering mysterious cases which still exist in Queensland,” he said in his findings.

He cited the Whiskey Au Go Go investigation as another case that could benefit. “I wonder aloud whether anything meaningful will be achieved unless persons are compelled to give evidence,” Mr O’Connell said of the Whiskey Au Go Go inquest

“By now, most next-of-kin are well past the position of prosecution as their goal, they merely wish to ascertain the truth, as does the public.”

The bill will allow cases heard under old laws to be reopened.