Breakthrough

A WARWICK man charged with the murder of a mother and her two daughters 40 years ago has been remanded in custody until his bail application on 24 November.
Vincent O’Dempsey, 76, faced a preliminary hearing at Brisbane’s Magistrate’s Court on Monday morning alongside his co-accused Torbanlea man Garry Debois, 67.
The pair is accused of killing Barbara McCulkin, 34, and her two daughters, Vicki, 13, and Leanne, 11, who vanished from their Highgate Hill, Brisbane home on 16 January 1974.
Police collared the men on Saturday, O’Dempsey reportedly at a pay phone in Warwick and Debois in Brisbane, following a protracted probe that was reignited earlier this year.
They were charged with three counts of murder, three counts of deprivation of liberty and two counts of rape.
Detective Superintendent Steve Holahan of the Homicide Group said the arrests were “extremely pleasing” but reinforced it was only the first step in the prosecution stage.
“The renewed investigation and use of coercive powers has gathered significant evidence without which the arrest would not have been possible,” Supt Holahan said.
Numerous witnesses believed to have information related to the suspected murders were called to Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) hearings where they were compelled to give evidence.
Outside court, O’Dempsey’s lawyer Terry O’Gorman said his client “declares his innocence” and warned inmates against making false confession allegations to further their chances of parole.
“If police seek to encourage a prisoner to talk to my client, if they do so without that discussion being electronically recorded, then it will be on the police’s head,” Mr O’Gorman said.
A coronial inquest in 1980 found O’Dempsey and Debois responsible for the murders, but the charges were later dropped due to lack of evidence.
Theories surrounding the motives have widened since the cold case reopened, with police identifying sexual crimes as another possible link.
It had long been rumoured Barbara had damning evidence stemming from the firebombing of the Whiskey Au Go Go nightclub in inner Brisbane on 8 March 1973, which killed 15 people.
James Finch and John Andrew Stuart were convicted over the fire, but it did little to quell the innuendo that Clockwork Orange Gang members O’Dempsey, Dobois and Barbara’s estranged husband Billy McCulkin may have been involved.
In August, police raided a number of properties in and around Warwick in the hunt for clues surrounding the mystery, and they uncovered a significant amount of cannabis and cash.
The State Crime Command’s Homicide Cold Case Unit, with the assistance of the CCC, began reinvestigating the case following a plea from the family on the 40th anniversary of their disappearance.
The bodies of Barbara, Vicki and Leanne have never been found.