Mystery 14 hours form critical part of the police investigation into Peter Hillier’s alleged murder

How two travellers ended up in a remote West Coast town where one allegedly bashed the other to death is part of a crucial police investigation – which will focus on a critical 14 hours.

A mystery 14-hour period will form a key part of the police investigation into an allegedly brutal murder, that has drawn together two starkly different towns 70km apart on the state’s West Coast.

Adam Troy Bennett, 43, is accused of bashing his travel companion Peter Hillier, 64, ultimately leading to his death sometime between 7.30pm on Sunday and 10am on Monday.

Major Crime detectives are starting to piece together what happened after several calls to Crime Stoppers led them to the remote grain-belt town of Poochera, about 70km inland from the popular coastal tourist town of Venus Bay.

These two small communities have been left shocked by Mr Hillier’s death, details of which started to come to light after Mr Bennett made a 000 call from a payphone in Venus Bay just after 10am on Monday.

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The victim, Peter Hillier, at age 52. Picture: Luke Zanker

But it was on Tuesday when detectives descended on the rear of an art gallery in Poochera, which is where they say Mr Hillier was fatally bashed.

Now home to around 45 residents, Poochera was a bustling farming community throughout the 20th century.

If you visit the remote community today, you will find an operating grain silo, but beyond that is a place that appears somewhat deserted.

It is only the Poochera Hotel that appears to have maintained its identity during the town’s decline.

And then there’s the art gallery, a small building owned by a local resident that has now become the centre of investigations.

Jeff Brown, who bought the Poochera Hotel around eight years ago, said this was the last thing the town wanted to land on its doorstep.

“We moved from Sydney to get away from this sort of crap that goes on,” he said.

“It’s a nice little place to live. Of course there’s some difficult people around sometimes, but most of the difficult people don’t come back.”

Poochera Hotel Publican Jeff Brown. Picture: Todd Lewis

He said he had around three to four patrons that come in daily and a dozen that come in on a weekly basis.

“It’s just the way I like it. It’s a fun little business to operate,” he said.

Mr Brown said Poochera used to be a proper township.

“There were electrical stores, there was a supermarket, there were fabulous cottages with the railway line running through,” he said.

“As time goes on, the farms get bigger as they are bought out and the families then get smaller as people move on.”

A bowling club sits at the north of the town with weeds and overgrown grass on its greens.

Mr Brown said the building was still used to host darts.

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“Over the last seven years the bowls essentially dropped off because all the residents just got older,” he said.

“They have the darts on Tuesday nights and that’s pretty much all that goes on up there.”

Poochera is still home to a deteriorated golf course with its flags and rakes screwed to the ground.

“You’ll get a couple of young ones every now and then go and belt a ball around,” Mr Brown said.

Poochera Golf Course. Picture: Todd Lewis

The memorial hall has its blinds closed and looks like it is only used on the rarest of occasions.

A local museum in the centre of town tries to paint a picture of what Poochera used to be many years ago.

Around 1km down the road there’s a local football oval, which has outstanding facilities despite the fact it is scheduled to host only one match in 2022.

Poochera Football Oval. Picture: Todd Lewis

“I reckon they would have spent around a million dollars on that complex, but they broke the leagues up recently,” Mr Brown said.

“So they’ve spent all that money for one or two games a year.”

So with very little happening in the town, why did the two travellers from NSW come to Poochera at all?

The Advertiser understands Mr Hillier and Bennett were in negotiations to buy the art gallery and adjoining land.

Mr Brown said some people were of the view the town would have a revival thanks to a halloysite-kaolin mine project set to start just down the road.

“There’s this belief among some that if you buy property here you can sell it at a profit when the mine starts up,” he said.

“All the locals know it’s bulls--t because they’re not going to buy property in Poochera, they’re going to buy in Streaky Bay because it’s a nicer place to live.

“The mine owners have already bought accommodation in Streaky Bay.”

It is understood the two men were at the Poochera art gallery, having travelled from their recent base in Venus Bay in a motorhome, from 4.30pm on Sunday.

Police said both were drunk on Sunday evening in the town.

They said Mr Bennett went to the gallery sometime between 7.30pm and 8.30pm. It was there that he allegedly bashed Mr Hillier.

What happened in the hours after remain a critical part of the police investigation.

Police are still trying to determine when and where Mr Hillier died.

At some point, Mr Bennett and Mr Hillier returned to Venus Bay.

In the middle of winter, Venus Bay is home to around 40 permanent residents and a small number of fishing enthusiast tourists.

It is in stark contrast to summer where the town is a hive of activity welcoming thousands of people each year.

Mr Bennett and Mr Hillier had rented several properties in the town since May 5, but it was in a home on Sandham St on Monday where paramedics found the 64-year-old and declared him deceased.

Police were called and an investigation quickly ensued, with officers arresting and charging Bennett with murder at 8pm on Monday night.

Police said he told them Mr Hillier had fallen from the motorhome on the Flinders Hwy while intoxicated the night before, and that Mr Hillier had later fallen asleep on the couch in the Sandham St home but had been unresponsive the following morning.

Superintendent Des Bray said detectives had drawn the conclusion that account was false.

“He suffered significant injuries to his body and we don’t believe they are consistent with falling from a vehicle,” he said.

The next stage of the investigation led them to Poochera.

Something its town’s residents had wished to avoid, as daily pub patron ‘Gaz’ expressed.

“Perhaps it could happen somewhere else next time,” he said.