Walsh St police shooting: 30 years on, murdered policeman’s family calls for inquest

THIRTY years after two young police officers were brutally gunned down on the job, the family of one of the men is calling for an inquest, so they can finally “close the door”.

EXCLUSIVE

THIRTY years after Victoria’s Walsh Street police shooting, the family of one of the murdered officers wants a coronial inquest.

Constable Damian Eyre, 20, and Constable Steven Tynan, 22, were gunned down in the early hours of the morning of 12 October, 1988, after responding to a routine call about an abandoned car in Walsh Street, South Yarra in Melbourne.

Their murders are believed to have been organised by a gang of Melbourne bank robbers as police “payback” for the death of gangster Graeme Jenson, who was fatally shot by police 13 hours earlier. Eyre and Tynan were not involved in Jenson’s death.

Cops won't forget Walsh St killers Police officers Damian Eyre and Steven Tynan, murdered in Walsh St, South Yarra.

Three decades later, no one has been held responsible.

Constable Eyre’s sister, Julie, 52, said an inquest is needed so the officers’ deaths can be marked on the public record.

“We want a closed door, an official one,” said Ms Eyre, of Victoria.

“We want an inquest because everyone deserves that, not just because they’re police officers but (because) every citizen (deserves one). They’ve been treated worse than everyday citizens for some reason.”

Not long out of the academy, the fresh-faced officers picked up the job by default because another unit was unavailable.

As Tynan and Eyre examined the vehicle, they were ambushed.

Tynan was shot dead in his car seat while Eyre was shot in the shoulder, wrestling his attackers until he was finally killed by a revolver shot to the head.

Damian Eyre (inset, bottom left) and Steven Tynan (inset, top left) after responding to a call about a stolen car. Picture: HWT Image Library

Four men, Victor Peirce, Trevor Pettingill, Anthony Leigh Farrell and Peter David McEvoy, were charged with the murders but were acquitted in the Supreme Court of Victoria in 1991 when chief witness, Victor’s wife, Wendy, retracted her statement, testifying against her husband.

Shortly after the acquittal, Wendy Peirce was charged with perjury and sentenced to 18 months.
Three years after, Victor Peirce was killed in a drive-by shooting, Mrs Peirce admitted to The Age newspaper that her husband organised the murders.

Julie Eyre still remembers the moment her father, Frank Eyre, also a policeman, phoned to tell her Damian had been shot.

“I’ve got bad news,” Ms Eyre recalled him saying.

In an instant, she knew it was Damian.

Victor Peirce, one of four to be cleared on charges of the Walsh St murders, leaves the remand centre with his defacto wife, Wendy Peirce. Picture: Craig Borrow

“They said Damian had been shot but he was alive — and then within half an hour they said he had passed away. We actually spoke to the paramedics: they said Steven didn’t have a chance, they shot him the back of the head. But Damian — they shot him in the shoulder, then they shot him in the back of the head — but they still thought he was savable,” she said.

Ms Eyre’s last memory of her brother was from three days earlier when he visited the family home in Shepparton, Victoria, to help celebrate her 23rd birthday.

The murder sent shockwaves through the nation and captured international headlines for its unjustness.

Ambulance officers at the scene of the Walsh Street shooting. Picture: News Limited

Victoria Police launched the biggest and longest-running investigation they had ever undertaken. But the families never got closure.

“Losing someone in that way, you never get over it. You try and put one foot in front of the other, like obviously I’ve maintained employment and raised kids but I’m hyper-vigilant,” said Ms Eyre, a mother-of-three.

Her youngest son, Lachlan, 22, is a “dead ringer” for Constable Eyre and the family is often stopped by people to remark on the similarity — which they find comforting.

Other than that, Constable Eyre’s memory is kept alive in family photos, scattered around Ms Eyre’s home, and in a few cherished possessions.

Damian Eyre’e father, Frank Eyre, with Steven Tynan’s parents, Wendy and Kevin Tynan, attend the 10th anniversary commemoration service. Picture: News Limited

His big sister keeps his Casio watch on the kitchen shelf and Lachlan — who never got to meet his late uncle — has his belt.

”I’ve tried to live my life the way my brother would have lived his life,” she said.

“Surround yourself with good people, enjoy your life, and live each day like it might be your last, ‘cos that’s exactly what it can be.”

Crimes That Shook Australia, an investigation into the deaths of Steven Tynan and Damian Eyre, airs 7.30pm tonight on Foxtel’s Crime + Investigation.