Could the 1978 Spear Creek slayings be linked to other outback murders

ON a lonely bush track, three travellers were left dead from gunshot wounds to their heads. And their killer may have struck before — many times.

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THEIR killer didn’t even try to cover-up his crime.

After he’d shot the three victims in the head with a .22 calibre rifle and stripped them of their identification, their pockets turned inside out, he left the three young travellers to decompose in the searing outback sun.

Karen Edwards, Gordon Twaddle and Timothy Thomson were found near a bush track at Spear Creek, near Mt Isa, in October 1978 by a couple who were walking their greyhounds.

They were all clothed and, strangely, Ms Edwards was partly covered by a piece of tin. By all accounts the trio didn’t see the attack that claimed their lives coming. They were found amid camping equipment and personal belongings which either suggest the killer crept up on them and opened fire or was living with them in the temporary setup.

Decades later — and despite the offer of a $250,000 reward money — the killer has never been brought to justice.

One man who thinks he may have answers is Mark Jones. His own family have experienced, first hand, the trauma of a violent death with the disappearance of Mark’s brother Tony Jones in November 1982.

Karen Leslie Edwards.

Police believe Tony was murdered and Mark has always believed there was a possibility that whoever was behind the Spear Creek slayings may be know something about his brother’s death.

Police have already drawn links between the triple murder and another unsolved case, John Tzelaidis, 42, who was killed a month later in Western Australia.

Information between the two homicide inquiries was shared but despite a decades-long hunt the killer or killers have never been found.

Mark Jones told news.com.au he was going to write to the Queensland Police Commissioner hoping he reviews the Spear Creek case. He hopes a fresh pair of eyes could help bring closure — and justice.

“I believe that he can still be found [and] it’s my mission to do exactly that — or to at least put a name to him,” Mr Jones said.

Gordon Twaddle.

Tim Thompson.

He has collected a lot of information on the murders in the past year and believes the Queensland police failed in this case because they portrayed it as a domestic situation.

“I think it was a man travelling extensively through northern parts of the country and killing opportunistically.”

The suspect was of Greek or Middle Eastern appearance, in their mid-30s, 180cm tall and stocky build. He was described as being a “snappy dresser”, despite the humid Northern Australia climate, and was seen with Mr Thomson in Alice Springs as well as in the company of Mr Tzelaidis in WA before his murder.

The suspect was tracked by police across the continent but he always stayed one step ahead of them.

Mr Jones said the mystery figure had to have been seen by more people and hoped there were still witnesses who could recall a “strange travelling gambling Greek man”.

Initial reports said the Spear Creek victims knew the person who had been seen with them, and he may have been from Victoria.

“If you know someone that you’d encountered up there or sounded bit like the bloke they’re after and thought: ‘well he’s not from Victoria’, you wouldn’t have even called police would you?”

He believed it was a case of the states not talking to each other and he was worried the killer slipped through the cracks as a result.

“He wasn’t just your run-of-the-mill bloke, he’s very distinctive. I just wonder how many people saw him.”

Cold case: The Spear Creek murders.

Originally published as Could the 1978 Spear Creek slayings be linked to other outback murders