Spear Creek murders: Melbourne couple and friend’s deaths could still be solved
This Wolf Creek-style triple murder in the outback has long been forgotten by most: A young Melbourne couple and their friend lured into the bush and executed, a mystery man never identified. But cold case police have now given their families hope.
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It’s the 40-year-old Wolf Creek-style triple murder in the outback that has long been forgotten by most. A young Melbourne couple and their friend lured into the bush and executed, a mystery man never identified. But cold case police have now given their families hope.
The trio were on the second day of their outback adventure when the mystery man appeared.
He, like them, was a motorcycle enthusiast.
It was the 1970s and touring the outback by motorcycle was a popular pastime. And for Melbourne couple Karen Edwards, 23, and Timothy Thomson, 31, and his friend Gordon Twaddle, 21, from New Zealand, it was going to be an adventure of a lifetime.
They met in Alice Springs on September 30 and packed a homemade sidecar with camping equipment that Tim would attach to his red 1977 BMW R100S motorcycle.
They left on October 2, heading north and camping the first night at Ti Tree.
Tim had Karen as his pillion passenger and his nine-month-old Doberman pup Tristie rode on top of the sidecar. Gordon — who came from a family of motorbike enthusiasts — rode a blue 1977 Suzuki GS750.
Their plan was to travel from Alice Springs, through the Northern Territory outback and across to Mount Isa, then to Cairns and down the east coast of Australia, arriving in Melbourne in time for Christmas.
But three days into their journey, Karen, Tim and Gordon were lured into the bush at Spear Creek, north of Mount Isa, and shot.
Their bodies were discovered three weeks later.
All three had been shot in the head with a .22 rifle. One of the men had tried to run, his body found nearly 100m from the others. They had been stripped of identification and had their jewellery removed.
Karen and Tim were travelling on a valuable and eye-catching BMW motorbike with a homemade sidecar that carried camping gear and Tim’s doberman pup Tristie.
Gordon, a family friend of Tim’s from New Zealand — also a motorbike enthusiast.
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The three friends met in Alice Springs on September 30, 1978, and set off on October 2 for an “adventure of a lifetime” around Australia.
They were last seen on October 5 at Mount Isa’s Lake Moondarra Caravan Park before their badly decomposed bodies were discovered in bushland at nearby Spear Creek on October 24.
Days later, police were badly hurt in a helicopter crash as they surveyed the crime scene from the air.
But soon, witnesses emerged with descriptions of a bearded man who joined the trio on their travels.
It is believed the man, who possibly had a motorbike and a Toyota LandCruiser, lured Karen, Tim and Gordon into the bush, perhaps with an offer to show them around.
The man has never been identified and police want him to come forward.
Detectives believe the man was with the three friends when they arrived at the Frewena Roadhouse and camped with them at Barry Caves on the night of October 3.
“It is believed the trio met up with a further male motorcyclist between the Three Ways and Frewena and this person travelled with them from Frewena to Barry Caves, camping with the group overnight,” Homicide Detective Senior Sergeant Tara Kentwell said.
The Courier-Mail has spoken to Harry Griffiths — the man who ran the Frewena Roadhouse in 1978 — who remembers the group passing through.
He has distinct memories of the fourth mystery man travelling with them.
The group left the Moondarra Caravan Park, near Mount Isa, on October 4, 1978.
“We were at the roadhouse and a motorbike pulled in — a BMW with a sidecar on it — which was very unusual for up in that country,” Mr Griffiths said.
“And there was a bloke and a sheila and a little dog on it. They filled up with fuel and pulled out of the way of the bowser and the girl went and got the dog a drink of water and they came into the roadhouse and had some drinks.
“And then within a couple of minutes another bike pulled in and it filled up and moved over out of the way of the bowser.
“And then a third bike came in and it did the same and they were all in the bar and they had drinks together and they played pool together and then they left together.
“One was a tall bloke, the other two blokes were probably medium and the girl was a little sort of a girl.”
The four travellers interacted as though they were friends, Mr Griffiths said.
“As though they were all travelling together,” he said. “And that they all knew each other.”
The mystery man on the motorbike is believed to have travelled with Karen, Tim and Gordon all the way to Mount Isa.
The three friends booked into the Moondarra Caravan Park that night, paying for a two night stay.
That night, on October 4, the group was joined by a man driving at Toyota LandCruiser at the caravan park. He socialised with them for the evening before returning again the next morning.
All four were seen leaving in the LandCruiser. It was the last time Karen, Tim and Gordon were seen alive.
It is believed the man on the motorbike and the man in the LandCruiser were likely the same person.
Tim’s Doberman puppy Tristie was found abandoned the following day at the Mount Isa tip and was sadly put down.
Two weeks into the investigation, police arrested Bruce John Preston, 22, and charged him with the theft of Tim’s BMW motorbike.
Preston was fined $300 after telling detectives he spotted two men trying to start the bike and told them he knew the owner. He wheeled it home, altered its appearance and hid it away.
“It is definitely solvable,” homicide detective Senior Sergeant Kentwell said.
“The Cold Case Investigation Team and Mount Isa Criminal Investigation Branch are working collaboratively to achieve this.”
Police identified the bodies after finding a watch in thick spinifex near where Karen’s body was left.
Photographs of the watch and some of the victims’ clothing were circulated to the media. Karen’s father Jack, at his home in the Melbourne suburb of Dandenong, spotted his daughter’s watch in the newspaper and contacted police.
All three victims’ families remain hopeful of an arrest after so many years, although sadly the parents of the victims are no longer alive to see justice done.
“I think my parents would have liked to know who did it,” Tim’s brother, Dr Ken Thomson, said.
“It’s not going to bring him back. But the thought that someone who’s done this terrible deed is still out there and possibly doing it again, they should be removed from society in some form.
“Just knowing (who did it) brings a certain closure to it. Otherwise, it’s just open.”
Ken described his brother Tim — a schoolteacher from a family of doctors and engineers — as a “lovely, kind, generous, outgoing” man who loved his dog and liked to collect and restore old motorbikes and cars.
Originally from NZ, he spent time in Adelaide and Melbourne before moving to Alice Springs.
He worked at the Hermannsburg Mission for two school terms teaching English to Aboriginal children to save for his fateful trip.
Tim was a friend of Gordon’s older brother John. John, who ran a motorbike repair shop in South Dunedin, NZ, met Tim when he brought him a Harley-Davidson racing bike to fix.
They became firm friends and would go on rallies and to race meets together, as well as doing lots of motorbike touring.
When Tim talked about doing a trip around Australia on his bike, John suggested his brother Gordon might be interested.
John described Gordon as a “cheeky young guy” who worked as a pastry cook. He was generous and funny.
John planned to meet them on the Gold Coast when the trio made their way to southeast Queensland.
Instead, he made the trip to Australia for a funeral.
“(An arrest) would be a relief,” he said.
“You always think, golly, was it someone that you might have known? Someone that might have been from here that was over there (in Australia) at the time?
“It’s something my brother and myself talk about every now and again … shall we go to Australia and try and do something about this?”
Karen was the eldest of five children — a feisty, independent and athletic woman who was studying in the hope of becoming a medical laboratory technician.
Her brother Barry said Karen still had a massive presence within their family.
“I think the experience is just as terrible as most people imagine,” he said of his sister’s murder. “The person who did it should come forward himself. I mean, I wonder what sort of life he must be leading.
“To have that with you for all these years. Must be terrible.”
Anyone with information on the murders should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Originally published as Spear Creek murders: Melbourne couple and friend’s deaths could still be solved