Balaclava killer and rapist: 45 years since unsolved Gold Coast and Tweed Heads crime spree

A man raped multiple women across the Gold Coast and Tweed Heads and murdered a man during a year-long reign of terror before disappearing suddenly. THE TERRIFYING STORY

A married Burleigh Heads couple were at home when they were confronted by a man in a balaclava with a gun.

The couple had no idea who the man was but he moved quickly, tying up the husband and preparing to rape the wife.

The woman pleaded with her attacker, claiming she was pregnant.

The masked man relented at the last moment and escaped into the night, leaving the traumatised couple behind.

An identikit pic of the man, who was never caught or identified.

That horrifying confrontation, which occurred 45 years ago today on January 25, 1980, was the work of a man who has never been identified and remains at large decades later.

He is known today as the infamous Balaclava Rapist and killer, whose Reign of Terror lasted nearly a year between late 1979 and late 1980 before he disappeared.

The special task force formed to find him came up empty-handed.

All that is known about the man was a description – 177cm tall, between 20 and 27, of athletic build, with dark brown hair, bushy eyebrows and blue eyes, the man always hid his face with a balaclava.

A police dummy displayed at the Gold Coast dressed as murderer Picture: Photo File

The first attacks occurred weeks earlier with a trio of incidents around Christmas 1979.

A 30-year-old woman was held up a gunpoint on December 15, 1979 before being put in the boot of her own car, driven to the hinterland where she was raped.

Just 10 days later, on Christmas Day, a couple was ambushed at Cabarita in northern NSW while sitting in their parked car.

The man was restrained by having his hands stuck in the door with the windows wound up while the woman was raped.

Jeffrey Parkinson, who was killed by the man in 1980

Only three days passed before the third attack, at Cudgen, also in northern NSW, where a couple were attacked at that farmhouse.

The woman was forced to tie her partner’s hands up before she was raped as he watched on.

The January 25, 1980 attack followed the same method as the previous attacks but was the only known incident in which the man did not follow through with the sexual assault.

The scene of the Parkinson killing

However, his most infamous attack was still to come.

On the night of February 2, 1980, British man Jeff Parkinson was out on a date with a woman at Twin Towns Services Club when the man leapt into the car with the couple around 1.30am while armed with a rifle and forced them to drive to a remote location at Cobakai Creek.

Detectives from Lismore and Sydney examine the car that was found beside the body of victim Jeffrey Parkinson.

As the man prepared to rape the woman, Mr Parkinson fought back and grappled with the man while his date ran for help.

She heard a gunshot and ran back to find Mr Parkinson dead and the attacker gone.

The last confirmed attack came on October 31, 1980 when a woman – later identified as singer Lynn Rogers – was attacked in her Burleigh Waters unit and raped.

Then-Sgt. Eric Strong holding the normal .22 rifle and the sawn-off used by the killer

The man was last seen driving away on a motorbike. Former assistant police commissioner Eric Strong told the Bulletin in 2016 he still thought of the man, who was never caught despite a $50,000 reward on offer.

“It’s stuck with me for all these years,” he said at the time

“He’s the one that got away. The fella has probably been captured in another state and is serving time there for murders but I don’t have that assurance. I fear that he hasn’t faced up to the justice he deserves.

Sydney police skin divers searching Cobaki Creek for clues.

“He’d have to be in jail because he’d still be attacking. We’d still be hearing about the Balaclava Killer.”

Mr Strong said all victims recalled a chemical smell on the man and his politeness.

“All the victims described him exactly the same, he was well spoken with a soft voice,” he said.

“But everything he did was the opposite. It was cold-blooded and evil.”