Sharron Phillips inquest: Prime suspect’s daughter questions deathbed confession claim

The daughter of the prime suspect in the 1986 disappearance of Sharron Phillips has told an inquest she does not believe her brother’s claims that her father murdered her.

The daughter of the prime suspect in the 1986 disappearance of Sharron Phillips has told an inquest she does not believe her brother’s claims that her father murdered her.

Shelley Robb, the daughter of late taxi driver Raymond Mulvihill, said her brother Ian Seeley had a history of telling stories to get attention and she was concerned about his mental health.

Ms Phillips, then 20, disappeared in the early hours of May 9, 1986, after her car ran out of petrol on Ipswich Rd, Wacol, and she has never been found.

A Homicide Cold Case Unit investigation began in 2016, after Ian Seeley said his father, Raymond Mulvihill, made a deathbed confession implicating himself in Ms Phillip’s disappearance. Nobody has ever been charged.

A 1988 inquest into Ms Phillips’s disappearance reopened this week.

Retired detective Bob Dallow told the inquest Mr Seeley told him in 2016 that Mulvihill was Sharron’s murderer.

Sharron Phillps disappeared in the early hours of May 9, 1986.

Mr Dallow said Mr Seeley also told him that in 1986 he had helped his father move a bleeding Ms Phillips from a taxi boot to his own car boot, but Mr Seeley later denied it.

Mr Seeley will give evidence at the Brisbane inquest today.

Ms Robb said years ago, at a shopping centre, Mr Seeley told her he had visited his father before he died and he told her the truth had to come out and said: “He did it”.

When asked at the inquest what Mr Seeley meant by “ he did it”, Ms Robb said: “Killed Sharron”.

She said Mr Seeley later told her he had told police their father was responsible for Sharron Phillips’s death.

“I was in total shock,” Ms Robb said.

Taxi driver Raymond Peter Mulvihill.

She said Ian told her he had met Mulvihill and while they were driving he heard noises and Ian said “Dad pulled a knife and said ‘keep driving’.

When asked if she believed her brother’s allegations, Ms Robb said: “I don’t believe it at all.”

Ian Seeley, the key witness in the Sharron Phillips inquest gave evidence at the Magistrates Court on Wednesday, March 24. Picture: David Clark

Ms Robb said Mulvihill was a “great Dad”, but she also agreed that he had been physically abusive towards her mother, herself and Ian Seeley, who was not his biological child.

She said her father was “a big guy with a big belly, with dark hair and mutton chops, referring to his sideburns.

Graeme Brown, who knew Mulvihill when he drove one of Mr Brown’s taxis in the 1980s, described him as a very confident, kind, affable man who wanted to be the centre of attention.

Raymond Mulvihill's taxi.

“His attitude towards women was quite misogenistic and he was very much a domineering type of character,” Mr Brown said.

He said the way Mulvihill spoke to people was “borderline offensive at best”.

Mr Brown said one night in 1987 he heard a tense, heated exchange between Mulvihill and his son, Ian Seeley.

He said Ian was very agitated and Melville was trying to pacify him.

Mr Brown said he heard Mr Seeley say to his father: “No, you’ve done something” and “That girl you had in the boot” and refer to some items, perhaps a handbag and shoes.

He said Mulvihill said to Ian “Forget about that” or “Mind your own business”.

Mr Brown said Mulvihill and Mr Seeley had a volatile relationship and Ian saw him as a neglectful father.

Homicide Detective Sergeant Scott Chapman told the inquest police still believed Sharron Phillips went missing on May 8 or 9, 1986, under suspicious circumstances.

“However, we believe Raymond Mulvihill played a significant role in her disappearance and Ian Seeley potentially played a role as well,” Sgt Chapman said.

The inquest has been adjourned to a date to be fixed.