Whiskey Au Go Go massacre still shrouded in mystery 50 years on

It was one of the most famous photos to emerge from what was then Australia’s worst mass murder. An insurance assessor holding a pair of women’s shoes in the charred Brisbane nightclub where 15 people died. This is the tragic story behind the image.

It was a night like any other at the busy Fortitude Valley nightclub.

The band played Elton John’s Crocodile Rock and Creedence Clearwater Revival and Blood Sweat and Tears blasted from their instruments.

Twenty-three-year-old waitress Donna Phillips delivered cocktails and jugs of beer to the tables of patrons who sat clustered around the stage, talking and laughing, some getting up for a dance.

Many had come for the music. Popular band The Delltones were the headline act and drew a big crowd.

The six-piece band Trinity had also been booked at the last minute after another act cancelled and the young performers were thrilled to be playing their first paying gig.

Insurance assessor Mr M L Rowley with shoes believed to belong to Decima Carroll in the Whiskey Au Go Go crime scene in 1973. Photo: The Courier-Mail archives

Shy and introverted, young married mum-of-two Mrs Phillips didn’t know many of her colleagues but one – barmaid Decima Carroll.

“I was quite taken by her, she looked very cosmopolitan,” Mrs Phillips said.

“She was quite extroverted and vibrant.

“She would stand behind the bar wearing no shoes and I remember thinking she looked so free.”

Decima Carroll. Source: Contributed

Only a few hours into her shift, Mrs Phillips was talking to a patron when she spotted flames erupt through the front entrance stairwell of the first floor club.

Within seconds, the Whiskey Au Go Go nightclub was plunged into darkness.

Flames tore across the thick curtains along the windows, the lights went out and the building filled with thick black smoke as more than 50 staff and patrons desperately tried to escape.

It will be 50 years ago this week that Mrs Phillips last laid eyes on Mrs Carroll outside the nightclub that sat on the corner of Amelia Street and St Paul’s Terrace.

Her body lay covered by a sheet alongside the 14 others who perished in what was then Australia’s largest mass murder.

For more than forty years Mrs Phillips could not shed a single tear over the harrowing events of March 8, 1973 – the traumatic scene too much to confront.

But in 2013, she began to tackle the reality of what happened at the Whiskey Au Go Go, an experience she describes as a “rollercoaster ride through hell”.

“It has been an absolutely wild ride,” she said.

“We’re still learning things now.

“I’m shocked by everything to do with it.”

Donna Phillips. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

It wasn’t until a meeting with Mrs Carroll’s three children Sonya, Kim and Todd in 2015 that the floodgates opened.

“Her beautiful sons and daughter, my heart broke when I first met them,” Mrs Phillips said.

“For more than forty years I couldn’t think about it or cry … and now I’m getting constant flashbacks with the 50th anniversary on my mind.

“I feel myself getting very teary and anxious.”

It’s a feeling shared by Mrs Carroll’s daughter Sonya Lewis who vividly remembers the last time she and her siblings ever saw their mum.

On the evening of March 7, 1973, Mrs Carroll got dinner ready and put her children in the bath.

Nine-year-old Sonya was the eldest, followed by brothers Kim, 8, and Todd, 6.

“She gave us kisses and then said goodnight before she went to her shift at the Whiskey Au Go Go,” Mrs Lewis said.

“This was the last time we saw our mum.”

The following morning, the children were told their mother had died before they were then sent off to school as if it was any other day.

In a tragic twist, Mrs Carroll had taken the job at the nightclub after an idyllic family holiday spent at Rainbow Beach months before.

Her goal was to save up her wages to take the family on another beach vacation, hoping to replicate the happy memories of their days at the beach.

“I still remember that holiday,” Mrs Lewis said.

“I remember collecting the coloured sands, I still have that jar of sand, and dad taking us fishing.

“Back then Rainbow Beach was so small, only one caravan park and one shop.”

It was the last family holiday the Carroll’s ever took.

Whiskey Au Go Go victim Decima Carroll and her family on their last holiday. Source: Contributed

Leonard Caroll never recovered from the loss of his beloved wife, he struggled with depression and alcoholism.

“All the money was in mum’s bank account and no one could help him get it, dad went bankrupt and they took everything,” Mrs Lewis said.

“They took everything from us.

“I was only nine but I learned to cook and to take care of my brothers and make sure they had school lunches and dinners.”

Never-before-seen photos of Whiskey Au Go Go

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Mr Carroll struggled to talk about his wife. But there were a few stories passed down to her children, including Mrs Carroll’s love of going bare foot - even at work.

“She used to never wear shoes,” Mrs Lewis said.

”When she got behind the bar she would take her shoes off.

“I think she found it more comfortable working especially for long hours by taking her shoes off.”

When Mr Carroll was rushed the crime scene, it was his wife’s bare feet that helped identify her.

Lying outside the building covered in a white sheet, a name tag attached to her foot confirmed his worst fears.

Whiskey Au Go Go victim Decima Caroll with her husband Leonard Carroll. Source: Contributed

This Wednesday will mark 50 years since the deadly firebombing of the Fortitude Valley nightclub.

Two men, James Richard Finch and John Andrew Stuart, were convicted of arson and murder months after the fire.

But there is evidence that they did not act alone and a fresh inquest was launched in June 2021 to probe that theory.

For the survivors and loved ones of those lost in the fire, they hope the findings of that inquest will finally deliver some long overdue answers.

Tragically any answers will come far too late for people like Sonya and Todd’s brother Kim who died in December.

“We just want some closure,” Mrs Lewis said.

“We just want a little bit of knowledge of why our mum had to die.”

Whiskey Au Go Go nightclub fire victim's daughter Sonya Lewis. Mrs Lewis still has the jar of sand collected more than 50 years ago at their last family holiday. Picture: Nigel Hallett

Despite the long search for answers, many involved believe the state’s most enduring murder mystery will never be fully solved.

“There are too many liars, too many people not willing to speak the truth,” Mrs Lewis said.

Mrs Carroll agreed, saying five decades on, there were some people who still did not want the truth to come out.

“People are still trying to cover things up,” she said.

“But we just want the truth.”

TOMORROW:

Talented young musicians. A country girl embarking on life in the big city. A heroic big brother adored by his sister. A man on the cusp of engagement. A dad enjoying a rare night with mates. Soldiers, students, travellers, mothers, fathers, sons and daughters.

The 15 men and women who perished in the Whiskey Au Go Go blaze were more than a statistic of a terrible crime.

Read their stories on Tuesday at couriermail.com.au.

This week marks the 50th anniversary since the Whiskey Au Go Go massacre.

Originally published as Whiskey Au Go Go massacre still shrouded in mystery 50 years on