John Victor Bobak: Inside story of violent Surfers Paradise murders of Peter George Wade and Maureen Ambrose

Teeth, shattered dentures, a bullet-riddled door and two bloodied bodies were the sight that greeted Gold Coast police when they entered a Surfers Paradise apartment. The man police say is responsible is still on the run.

TEETH, shattered dentures, a bullet-riddled door and two bloodied bodies were the sight that greeted Gold Coast police when they entered a Surfers Paradise apartment.

It was 7am on December 23, 1991 and police were called to a set of units on Peninsula Drive after a cleaner saw blood smeared over the broken door of the unit.

Inside the room, officers found the bodies of SP bookmaker Peter George Wade and his girlfriend Maureen Ambrose.

John Victor Bobak who is wanted over his believed involvement in the December 1991 murder of Peter George Wade and Maureen Ambrose

The couple, both 53, had been shot and killed in the early hours of that morning.

Two men were spotted fleeing the scene.

One of them - John Victor Bobak - has never been seen again and remains on the run 30 years on.

The murders of Wade and Ambrose remain one of the Gold Coast’s most infamous crimes and one police are still working on.

Peter George Wade

The couple were killed at around 12.15am in the morning after returning home after an evening of drinking at the Chevron Hotel.

Neighbours told police they heard several gunshots.

When police arrived the next morning they found Wade’s body, wearing only a pair of blue shorts, was on the floor while Ambrose’s body was laid face down on top.

Wade had been shot three times, including once through his left temple.

Ambrose was shot in the face at point-blank range.

Maureen Ambrose.

A close friend of the couple told the Bulletin on the day after the murders that “their only crime was to fall in love.”

What surprised detectives was that some of the blood and teeth found at the scene, along with a dental plate, didn’t come from either of the victims.

It was determined that a third person had been shot, with blood found trailing into the street from the unit.

A fingerprint found at the scene was determined to be career criminal Ronald Henry Thomas, who had previously been convicted of the murder of a nightwatchman during an armed robbery in 1967 and had spent much of his life behind bars.

The Delray waterfront resort, the scene of murder of Peter Wade and Maureen Ambrose.

Police arrested Thomas who refused to reveal who his accomplice was, though he did confirm that he had been in the room at the time and had been shot.

“I believe that, if I tell you his name, something similar would happen to me or my family. He told me that I could never tell anyone what happened or give his name, even to my own mother,” Thomas said at the time.

But detectives were well aware that he and Bobak knew each other, having met in the 1970s while serving prison sentences together.

A mugshot of John Victor Bobak

How police believed Bobak may have looked circa 2013.

Police charged Thomas with two counts of murder and the prosecution’s case was that he and Bobak had each been paid $50,000 for the contract killings of Wade over illegal bookmaking.

Thomas attempted to spin a different story while on trial, admitting he had been present at the time of the crime and knew the couple but had not pulled the trigger.

He claimed he had met Wade and Ambrose on the afternoon of December 22, 1991 and spent the eventing drinking with them.

He then claimed Wade had invited him to sleep it off at his unit after deciding he was too drunk to drive.

Thomas claimed he took Wade up on the offer and fell asleep on his lounge.

“The next thing, I distinctly heard one shot coming through the door,” he told the court.

“I got to my feet and, at the same time, someone’s foot started coming through the ceiling, then two legs appeared and a man dropped from the ceiling to the floor.”

Thomas said the man from the ceiling jumped to his feet.

Bobak circa the late 1980s.

Bobak’s tattoos were considered quite unusual.

“He raised both hands, he had a gun and he shot me.”

Thomas claimed one of two gunmen in the house recognised him and they spared his life.

Following a four-week trial in front of Justice Kevin Ryan, a jury took about eight hours to find the then-43-year-old guilty of the callous shooting.

“This is not a bad sentence for something I didn’t do,” he told the Court at the time.

Thomas remains behind bars today.

How the Bulletin covered the case at the time.

Bobak’s fate remains unknown, having never been seen again after the night of the killing.

If alive today, he would be 71 years old.

Police hold out hope of a result, having long had a $250,000 reward out for any information which will lead to Bobak’s arrest and conviction in the case.

They most recently issued an appeal in 2013 and unveiled an altered artist impression showing what he would look like as an old man.

Detective Superintendent Steve Holahan said at the time that police believed Bobak was alive.

“For some time there was a theory Mr Bobak may be deceased, however we believe this not to be the case,” he said.

Nearly a decade later, nobody has come forward.

If you have any information, call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333.

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