A MEMBER of a Warwick drug syndicate linked to the McCulkin family murders has walked free, despite pleading guilty to two counts of drug trafficking.
Warren Peter McDonald, 45, was placed on suspended sentence for his role as caretaker of marijuana crops on the Southern Downs.
He is one of three people arrested on drug charges following police raids to reopen the cold case investigation into the murders of Brisbane women Barbara McCulkin and her daughters Vicki, 13, and Leanne, 11, in 1974.
The murders sparked one of the state’s most enduring mysteries after they vanished from their Highgate Hill home on the night of 16 January 1974.
Their bodies have never been found.
Police raided properties in Yangan and Emu Vale in October.
McDonald, Vincent O’Dempsey and Keith Patrick McVeigh were charged with drugs offences.
O’Dempsey has also been been charged with murder, deprivation of liberty and other charges relating to the deaths.
O’Dempsey and McVeigh had their drugs matters mentioned in the Warwick Magistrates’ Court last week and have been scheduled to reappear later this month.
