Spear Creek murders: Four things police need to solve cold case

Police reviewing Queensland’s Wolf Creek murders are confident it can be solved — but need the public’s help. Listen to the podcast

POLICE reviewing Queensland’s Wolf Creek murders are confident it can be solved — but need the public’s help.

More than 40 years after the bodies of Karen Edwards, Tim Thomson and Gordon Twaddle were found in bushland near Mount Isa, detectives from the Homicide Investigation Unit’s cold case team believe they are close to a conclusion.

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The three friends were on a trip of a lifetime — a journey that would take them from Alice Springs, through Mount Isa to Cairns, and down the east coast, finishing in Melbourne in time for Christmas.

But just days into the adventure, they are believed to have been lured into the bush and gunned down by a man thought to have befriended them on the road.

No-one has ever been charged over their murders.

If you can help police, call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

1. DID YOU SEE KAREN, TIM AND GORDON BETWEEN ALICE SPRINGS AND MOUNT ISA BETWEEN OCTOBER 2-4 1978?

The three friends left Alice Springs on two motorbikes on October 2. Tim and Gordon were both motorbike enthusiasts and were travelling on distinctive bikes. Tim’s was a red 1977 BMW R100S with South Australian registration. He had added a homemade sidecar to the bike, with a map of Australia painted on the side. Karen, his girlfriend of 16 months, rode as his pillion passenger. The sidecar held all their camping equipment and Tim’s Doberman puppy, Tristie, sat on top.

Gordon was on a blue 1977 Suzuki GS750 with Victorian registration.

“It is believed they stopped at Wauchope, Devils Marbles, The Threeways and Frewena before camping overnight at Barry Caves in the Northern Territory on the night of Tuesday, October 3, 1978,” Detective Senior Sergeant Tara Kentwell said.

Police believe that somewhere around the Threeways Roadhouse and the Frewena Roadhouse, the group was befriended by another man on a motorbike.

They believe the man camped with Karen, Tim and Gordon at Barry Caves and travelled with them to Mount Isa.

“We are seeking anyone who may have seen the group travelling from Alice Springs to Mount Isa between October 2 and October 4, 1978, particularly the motorcyclist who joined them for the last part of their journey from Frewena into Mount Isa, to please contact police,” Sen Sgt Kentwell said.

The group left the Moondarra Caravan Park, near Mount Isa, on October 4, 1978.

2. DO YOU KNOW THE OWNER OF A TWO-TONE BROWN AND WHITE TOYOTA LANDCRUISER, SEEN AT MOUNT ISA ON OCTOBER 4-5

Karen, Tim and Gordon arrived at Mount Isa on the afternoon of October 4 and booked into the Moondarra Caravan Park for two nights.

They set up their tents and were joined that evening by a man in a brown and white long wheel base Toyota LandCruiser. Police believe this is the same man who had travelled into town with the group on a motorbike.

The man spent the evening socialising with Karen, Tim and Gordon around the campfire and is believed to have returned the following morning to take them out for the day.

Tim’s Doberman pup Tristie was left tied up at the campsite.

Later that evening, the man returned in the LandCruiser alone and dismantled the camp. He was heard to call out to Tristie. Police believe that by October 6, everything had been cleared from their campsite at the Moondarra Caravan Park but the sidecar.

The morning of October 5 was the last time Karen, Tim and Gordon were seen alive. Their bodies were not discovered until October 24, when a couple walking their greyhounds made a terrible discovery in bushland, 12km north of Mount Isa.

At 6.30am, Tristie was found abandoned at the Mount Isa tip. She was taken to the pound but nobody came to collect her. Sadly, she was put down.

On October 30, Karen, Tim and Gordon’s helmets, gloves, jackets, tents and some other belongings were discovered hidden in barrels at the tip.

Some police believe Tristie had stayed with her owner’s belongings.

Tim Thomson’s 1977 BMW R100S motorcycle with homemade sidecar was recovered two weeks after their bodies were discovered.

3. DID YOU SEE TIM OR GORDON’S MOTORBIKES AROUND MOUNT ISA IN THE DAYS FOLLOWING THE MURDERS?

Both motorbikes were taken from the Moondarra Caravan Park into the Mount Isa CBD.

The red BMW motorbike was seen at the Kmart shopping centre on October 5 and 6 and police believe it was being ridden around town up until November 13 — without its sidecar.

The blue Suzuki motorbike was found near the Golden Fleece Service Station on October 16. Police believe it had been there since the day of the murders.

4. DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT A MAN CHARGED OVER THE THEFT OF TIM’S BMW MOTORBIKE?

Media reports at the time named 22-year-old Bruce John Preston as appearing in court, charged with the theft of Tim’s motorbike.

The unemployed diesel mechanic gave several versions of how he came to be in possession of the bike to police, initially claiming he had bought it from a man in Adelaide.

Karen Edwards

Tim Thomson

Later, the court was told, he claimed he had seen two men attempting to start the bike in a vacant lot off Camooweal St while on his way home from a restaurant.

“Preston told police he thought the men were trying to steal the machine, so he told them he knew the owner,” The Courier-Mail reported at the time.

“He said the men left the bike in the lot and drove off in a Volkswagon Kombi van.”

Preston told police he wheeled the bike to Kmart but decided he wanted it, so returned the next day and took it back to his home on Mensa St.

He was charged with theft and fined $300.

Preston came to police attention after a neighbour recognised the distinctive red bike in media reports. When police raided Preston’s home, they also took away a Toyota LandCruiser for forensic examination.

Police at the time emphasised the discovery of the motorbike at Preston’s Mount Isa home did not necessarily “advance the hunt” for the killer.

Originally published as Spear Creek murders: Four things police need to solve cold case