McCulkin hearings take another twist

Leanne, Vicki and Barbara McCulkin disappeared from their Highgate Hill home 40 years ago and have never been seen since.

By DANE LILLINGSTONE

The McCulkin murder case took another turn in Brisbane’s Magistrates’ Court last week when parts of evidence from the case were said to be “unsearchable.”
Arresting officer Detective Sergeant Virginia Gray was ordered by the court to appear on Friday to explain why a deadline was not met.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions failed to hand the evidence over to the defence team for 77-year-old Warwick man Vincent O’Dempsey and 67-year old Maryborough man Garry Reginald Dubois.
The two men face court for eight offences including murder and deprivation of liberty.
The court heard on Friday that Mr O’Dempsey’s lawyer, Terry O’Gorman, had requested more than 160 pieces of information related to the case.
Mr O’Gorman questioned Sergeant Gray as to why there was a hold-up in delivering the evidence.
The court heard that parts of the evidence, some dating back to the 1970s, had been impossible to locate, “unsearchable” or no longer existed.
Police notebooks had been destroyed and microfiche could not be located.
One key piece of evidence, a statement from a witness claiming Mr O’Dempsey admitted to the murders, had never been signed.
Mr O’Gorman told the court that police in the 1970s had forced confessions out of suspects by handing them unsigned statements and “verballing” them.
The case has been adjourned until August.