Brother of Walsh St accused says he’s guilty of shooting
In a surprise twist in the Walsh Street case, a former police officer and brother of one of the men acquitted of murder says his sibling confessed to his involvement and he’s prepared to testify against him.
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The brother of a man who was charged and acquitted over the Walsh Street shootings says his sibling has made an admission of guilt and is pushing for a coronial inquest.
Former police officer and prison guard Geoff McEvoy told the Sunday Herald Sun he wants to testify against his brother, who he alleges admitted his involvement in the plot.
Constables Steven Tynan, 22, and Damian Eyre, 20, were gunned down in South Yarra on October 12, 1988.
Victor Peirce, Trevor Pettingill, Anthony Leigh Farrell and Peter David McEvoy were charged with murder and later acquitted by a jury in the Supreme Court.
Two other suspects, Jedd Houghton and Gary Abdallah, were shot and killed by Victoria Police before they could be brought to trial.
Now Mr McEvoy says he is seeking justice for the families of the officers who were murdered.
“Brother or not, you have a moral responsibility if you know who did something like this,” Mr McEvoy said.
He is pushing for Victoria to hold a coronial inquest where he wants to give sworn evidence, saying the crime was a “precursor” to many other shootings in the state.
“This is a terrible crime, it was unprecedented,” Mr McEvoy said. “The police were incensed and they rushed the court case.
“They didn’t methodically gather evidence that would stand up.
“If there was to be an inquest, maybe things would change but it can’t be another trial for the sake of another trial. But for now, it is my word against his.
“You feel an element of guilt by being burdened with this knowledge.”
Mr McEvoy said his now estranged brother sent “admissive” text messages to him about the incident about 12 years ago, which he subsequently reported to NSW police.
But the hard copy screenshots of the text messages were lost when a police storage facility in Lismore flooded and Mr McEvoy no longer has access to them.
“A lot of families will form a line of support behind their loved one until their conviction, but with Peter there have been multiple convictions, there has been a whole history of badness. It is a no-brainer for me,” he said.
“I’m not doing this for myself, I’m doing it for the families of the two police officers, who didn’t get to live out their lives.
“We are pushing the snowball from the top of the mountain and we’re going to see how big it gets.”
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Originally published as Brother of Walsh St accused says he’s guilty of shooting