Daniel Morcombe inquest: Police did not pay enough attention to Cowan as suspect

The State Coroner has found more could have been done to focus on serial pedophile Brett Cowan in the early stages of the Daniel Morcombe investigation.

THE State Coroner has found more could have been done to focus on serial pedophile Brett Cowan in the early stages of the Daniel Morcombe investigation.

At the conclusion of a long-running inquest - that began nine years ago - Coroner Terry Ryan made no specific recommendations in relation to the police investigation that eventually resulted in Cowan charged and convicted of the 13-year-old’s murder.

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But he called for changes to police procedures in that unsolved high risk homicides or missing persons cases be independently reviewed after 12 months and that changes are made to the Criminal Code allowing for human remains to be returned to families in a more timely manner.

Daniel disappeared in 2003 from the side of the Nambour Connection Road while waiting for a bus that would take him to the Sunshine Plaza.

Daniel Morcombe disappeared while waiting for a bus at Nambour in 2003.

But when the bus broke down, Cowan, an opportunistic offender, pulled into a nearby church and joined Daniel on the roadside.

He lured Daniel into his car, offering to take him to the shopping centre where the schoolboy had planned to get a haircut and buy Christmas presents for his family.

Cowan hit the police radar two weeks into the investigation when he was included on a list of known child sex offenders.

Bruce and Denise Morcombe arrive at the Brisbane Coroners Court this morning. Picture: Darren England/AAP

Detectives sought out pedophiles known to frequent the area and asked them for their whereabouts on the day Daniel disappeared - December 7.

Cowan admitted to having driven past the scene of Daniel’s disappearance but police at the time believed he would not have had time to abduct a child and hide his body.

An inquest into Daniel’s disappearance began in 2010 but was halted when police began an ambitious covert operation that would eventually lead to Cowan confessing to officers he believed were part of a criminal gang.

The hearing resumed in 2016 following Cowan’s trial and conviction.

“Having regard to the fact that it is over 15 years since Daniel disappeared, and over five years since Mr Cowan was convicted, I do not consider that it is necessary or helpful to retrospectively evaluate every element of the Queensland Police Service investigation,” Coroner Ryan said.

“It is clear that the QPS devoted very significant resources to the investigation. At times there were over 100 police officers dedicated solely to finding Daniel.

Brett Peter Cowan is serving a life sentence for Daniel’s murder. e

“Investigators attached to the Major Incident Room were required to make judgments in relation to thousands of pieces of information flowing in from the community, and investigators in the field following up specific lines of inquiry.”

He said there were 30 persons of interest, including multiple people who had confessed to abducting and killing Daniel.

Coroner Ryan said the focus on a blue car - described by many witnesses - was “justified”, although it was later found to have not been involved.

In relation to claims made by two detectives, Kenneth King and Dennis Martyn, that they asked for Cowan to be more thoroughly investigated, Coroner Ryan said there was insufficient evidence that they provided the Major Incident Room with anything more than an three-page report after visiting the serial pedophile at his home.

He said tape lifts taken from Cowan’s car two weeks after Daniel’s disappearance should have been tested earlier. They were not tested for many years.

“I consider that those items should have been prioritised and the subject of much earlier examination,” Coroner Ryan said.

“Mr Cowan was an accomplished liar and his alibi, although not strong, could not be rebutted.

Coroner Ryan said information provided to the family court in 2006 led to police being able to re-examine Cowan’s alibi.

“It is clear from the evidence provided by the QPS that Mr Cowan remained a person of interest throughout the investigation,” he said.

However, Mr Ryan said it was a review conducted by Detective Senior Constable Grant Linwood that showed Cowan’s drug dealer was at a local RSL at a time when he claimed to be visiting her.

“It is speculative to suggest this evidence might have been obtained sooner by pressing Mr Cowan for a more precise account of his movements on December 7, 2003, before the inquest commenced,” he said.

Coroner Ryan found that Daniel was murdered by way of “asphyxiation as a consequence of neck compression”.

He said many changes to police procedures had been made since Daniel disappeared, many of them due to “the advocacy and work of Mr and Mrs Morcombe and the Daniel Morcombe Foundation”.

He paid tribute to the Morcombes, saying they had been “relentless” in their pursuit for justice for their son.

Mr Ryan’s two recommendations:

* I recommend that the Queensland Police Service’s Operational Procedures Manual be amended to mandate an independent review in circumstances of a homicide or suspicious high risk missing person investigation remaining unsolved for a period of 12 months after the commencement of the investigation.

* I recommend that the Queensland Government amend the Criminal Code to ensure a time limit is imposed on the testing of human remains in circumstances where the prosecution and defence fail to reach agreement on the identity of the deceased.

Outside court, Bruce Morcombe said the Coroner’s findings were “very powerful” and identified some areas in which the police could have “done better”.

“His findings were very powerful in identifying a couple of areas where the Morcombe family had considered that Queensland Police, in hindsight, could have done better,” he said.

“In particular, we refer to the initial report at Maroochydore police station. And he also identified that the tape lifts, the initial tape lifts from Cowan’s car, were never forensically checked until the trial some years later.

Bruce and Denise Morcombe speak to the media after Coroner Terry Ryan handed down his findings. Picture: Darren England/AAP

“There are two recommendations that the coroner has handed down. The first one is dealing with the police and certainly recommends very strongly that a review, a thorough review, of missing person and suspected murder cases being conducted on or about the 12 month mark. The Morcombe family consider that an excellent decision and agree with it 100 per cent.”

Denise said the second recommendation, that would speed up the return of human remains to grieving families, was also a positive.

“The coroner recommended that the Queensland Government change the law to release the remains to the family,” she said.

“We had to wait for many, many months after Daniel’s remains were found. The Coroner recommends that this be changed to make it a lot quicker, a lot easier.”