Adelaide Oval abduction key suspect Errol George Radan died of natural causes in Qld jail, coroner rules

A child sex offender and key suspect in the Adelaide Oval abduction case of 1973 which involved two young girls, died of natural causes at a Queensland prison, a coroner has ruled.

Errol George Radan died of a stroke in October 2022 after spending 39 years behind bars at Wolston Correctional Centre. Picture: David Clark

A prolific child sex offender, who was a key suspect in the Adelaide Oval abduction case, died of natural causes at a Queensland prison, a coroner has ruled.

Errol George Radan died of a stroke in October 2022 after spending 39 years behind bars at Wolston Correctional Centre, a coronial inquest into his death has heard.

Radan, 83 at the time of his death, had been a key suspect in the abduction case of Joanne Ratcliffe, 11, and Kirste Gordon, 4.

The girls were abducted from a football match at Adelaide Oval in 1973 and were last seen heading towards the toilet during the third quarter.

South Australian police travelled to visit Radan at a Queensland jail in 2019 to conduct inquiries about his potential involvement.

However, Radan declined to be interviewed and died before he could be incriminated or eliminated from the investigation.

SA missing person Joanne Ratcliffe, 11, who disappeared from Adelaide Oval in 1973.

Kirste Gordon, 4, who disappeared from Adelaide Oval in 1973.

At an inquest into his death on Tuesday, counsel assisting Danielle Palmer submitted to State Coroner Terry Ryan that Radan had died of natural causes.

“On the morning of 19th of October 2022, correctional centre nursing staff located Mr Radan on the floor of his cell, unable to get up,” she said.

“He was transported to the Princess Alexandra Hospital where it was identified that he had suffered a stroke.

“On the 26th of October 2022, Mr Radan died of natural causes as a result of left middle cerebral artery cerebrovascular accident.”

A police investigation into the death had concluded there were no suspicious circumstances.

Ms Palmer said Radan’s repeated refusal to take his prescribed medications and other medical treatment in the years prior to his death was found to have likely contributed significantly to his death.

Radan had been warned of the potential deadly consequences of his refusal to take the medication but had remained steadfast in his choice, Ms Palmer said.

The inquest heard Radan had been born in Adelaide in 1939 and had a lengthy custodial history in multiple states – predominantly relating to the sexual assault of young girls.

“He had multiple convictions for offences including gross indecency, indecent assault, indecent interference, assault with intent to rape, indecent dealing, abduction, and carnal knowledge,” she said.

The inquest heard he had also used a number of aliases including David Adams and Alan West.

Parents of Kirste, Mr and Mrs Greg Gordon.

Ms Palmer said Radan had been detained indefinitely in 1984 for seven counts of indecent dealing with a girl under 14 years and one count of carnal knowledge against the order of nature.

A later attempt to appeal his indefinite detainment was dismissed by the High Court of Australia in 2014.

The last of his unsuccessful parole bids was denied in May 2022 due to him still being considered an unacceptable risk to the community.

Ms Palmer said investigations had not successfully identified any next of kin, with Radan not receiving any visits or phone calls for more than 20 years prior to his death.

Mr Ryan said he was satisfied Radan had died of natural causes and that he would publish his findings by the end of the day.

The Adelaide Oval abduction remains one of South Australia’s infamous cold cases, with no one ever charged despite a $1 million reward announced in 2014.

A renewed investigation commenced earlier this year, more than 50 years after the girls’ disappearance.

The search, undertaken by private investigators, will focus on two sites described in a handwritten letter by convicted pedophile Mark Trevor Marshall, who accused his father Stanley Arthur Hart of the girls’ abduction and murder.

According to the latest Channel 9 reports, a piece of bone was found during investigations of a property in South Australia in June this year.

It is believed by experts to have potentially belonged to a human child, however, investigations into the case are still continuing.

Originally published as Adelaide Oval abduction key suspect Errol George Radan died of natural causes in Qld jail, coroner rules