Whiskey Au Go Go killer’s sister-in-law thought she’d be next

The sister-in-law of one of two men convicted of the Whiskey Au Go Go arson thought she and her family would be killed too, an inquest has heard.

The sister-in-law of one of two men convicted of the Whiskey Au Go Go arson says she believed she and her family would be killed after she overheard the pair discussing how they’d got away with the deadly attack.

Rosealie Stuart on Thursday gave evidence that in the days after the deadly 1973 fire, she was getting ready for a barbecue to celebrate her birthday when she overheard her brother-in-law John Stuart discussing the blaze with James Finch.

Stuart had been taken in for questioning by police about the fire but was not arrested and returned to Mrs Stuart’s home where he was met by a “dishevelled” Finch who said he’d been “stuck in the bush”.

“I was standing at my mirror and I heard them having an argument about what John had told the police in his interview…” Mrs Stuart told the Brisbane Coroners Court.

“Johnny was trying to assure Finch that nothing had been said to implicate him and the police didn’t know anything about his existence so he just had to stay cool and he’d be safe.

“I heard John say ‘don’t worry everything is fine, they don’t know you exist, they don’t know anything about it, they will never know’.”

The court has previously heard evidence that Finch had flown from England to Australia prior to the arson attack on the nightclub.

“And Finch said something like ‘but your family knows’ and John says ‘well don’t take any notice of that, I’ll take care of them, I’ll make sure nothing happens there’,” Mrs Stuart said.

“Well I got a big fright then because I knew Finch had been in jail for murder before and I just didn’t know how far they would go because this was a big crime at the time.”

John Andrew Stuart was convicted along with James Richard Finch.

Mrs Stuart said she went to her husband Daniel, Stuart’s brother, and asked him to call the police to let them know what she’d overheard.

“I said because I’ve just heard Johnny and Finch and I heard them say they’ve done it and nobody knows Finch exists you have to tell the police he exists, he’s here in our house,” she said.

Mrs Stuart said while her husband was at first hesitant to call the police on his brother, he did so after she warned she would do it herself if he didn’t.

The court heard that police were delayed in arriving at the house after the street numbers were mixed up and Daniel Stuart initiated a “fake fight” with another man at the barbecue in a bid to distract his brother and Finch and stop them from leaving before officers arrived.

Police arrested Stuart when they arrived at the home but Finch escaped and was not arrested until the following day.

Mrs Stuart, now 78, described her brother-in-law Stuart as a “very violent man”, and a “pathological liar” who “did not care who he hurt or robbed”.

She said prior to her overhearing his conversation with Finch, he had confessed to his part in the Whiskey Au Go Go arson but she had not believed him.

She said at one point, Stuart said he should have gone to the funerals for the 15 people who died in the fire because he felt responsible.

“And I told him not to be ridiculous, and then he said to me, ‘well you know Rose I did do it’,” Mrs Stuart said.

“I said John don’t talk rubbish because he was always claiming to be this big criminal.”

Mrs Stuart, who gave evidence at the murder trial for Stuart and Finch, was asked whether she had ever been pressured by police to make certain statements.

“They didn’t have to pressure us,” she said.

“The truth was … I knew they were guilty and I knew I was the one who had heard it and that’s why it was imperative that I let the authorities know because they killed 15 people.”

The Whiskey Au Go Go after the tragedy

Mrs Stuart said her family lived in fear for years after the fire and were under police guard for months by police who had encouraged them to move to Canada for their safety.

She said they received regular death threats from people including Stuart from prison and from members of a group named Friends of Finch, whose members believed Finch was innocent of the crime.

The current inquest into the Whiskey Au Go Go fire was sparked by evidence given at the trials of Vincent O’Dempsey and Garry Dubois who were convicted of murdering Brisbane mother Barbara McCulkin and her two daughters Vicki and Leanne.

It was alleged Mrs McCulkin was murdered to prevent her revealing what she knew about the nightclub fire.

Dubois died in prison in June last year before the inquest began.

His brother Paul was called to give evidence on Thursday and told the court he recalled a conversation between the pair in the late 1980s.

Mr Dubois said his brother claimed that Vincent O’Dempsey and their friend Tommy Hamilton had been involved with the fire and that Stuart and Finch were “just a couple of clowns”.

“He said they were set up long before the fire to take the fall for it,” Mr Dubois said.

“He said they were too stupid to wake up to it

“There was a lot of other people involved he said, and police as well. I never asked any questions, I just listened.”

Nobody other than Finch and Stuart were ever charged over the arson attack.

The inquest continues.