A violent self-styled gangster who carries knives, deals and uses illegal drugs, and attacks men and women in the sugar and mining town looms into serious view for homicide cops. William Daniel is a young man with a long criminal record who calls himself ‘The Black Prince’ and ‘Willy D’ and has become a public menace in Mackay’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. He denies involvement in Shandee’s murder – but his friend Levii Blackman discloses that William said he’d done it. Levii later said it was probably a joke while police suspected it was a ‘throwaway line’ by a show-off – but his use of knives and other factors make him a major target in a police investigation still locked on John Peros.

To contact Hedley Thomas anonymously with any information on Shandee’s Story email here – Shandee@theaustralian.com.au