New Evidence In Infamous Bowraville Murders Points to Alleged Sexual Motive

The disappearances of three Indigenous Australian children from the town of Bowraville, NSW who went missing in the early 90’s have been revisited via a new hearing which began yesterday at the NSW Supreme CourtColleen Walker, 16, Evelyn Greenup, 4, and Clinton Speedy-Duroux, 16 -all disappeared within a period of 5 months in the early 90’s, and the new hearing will determine if there is enough evidence for a retrial of the man accused of the deaths.

Colleen Walker, Clinton Speedy-Duroux and Evelyn Greenup. Source: The Australian.

The non-Indigenous man cannot be named for legal reasons, but he was acquitted over the deaths of Clinton and Evelyn in two separate trials. No one has ever been charged over the death of Colleen, whose body was never found (although her clothes were fished out of the Nambucca River, and she was declared dead at a coronial inquest in 2004).

The disappearances were the subject of The Australian‘s podcast, Bowravillewhich saw crime reporter Dan Box visit the town and interview family members and people connected to the victims.

Colleen was the first to go missing, followed by 4-year-old Evelyn, who went missing following a party. The accused man having been seen standing in a hallway outside a bedroom where she was sleeping with her mother. The following morning, Evelyn’s mother woke to find her pants had been pulled down and her daughter was missing.

Clinton disappeared on February 1, 1991 after sleeping in the accused man’s caravan with his girlfriend Kelly after a party. Kelly woke to find the man, who had also been in the van, and her boyfriend absent. Her pants and underwear had been removed.

Clinton Speedy-Duroux. Source: AAP

This hearing will determine if there’s enough fresh evidence to overturn the man’s acquittals and order a retrial, where all three deaths are heard together.

The first day of the hearing, which was yesterday, focused in part on Colleen’s disappearance and the evidence surrounding it, and it was the first time the circumstances surrounding her death had been heard in court. The court was told that Colleen had been at a party the night before she disappeared, and that she was last seen in a laneway that ran behind a house with the accused man walking behind her.

The court was also told that several weeks earlier, Colleen had gone to a caravan with a friend, and after a period of drinking together the two girls went to sleep in the same bed. When they woke up the next day, the accused man was in the bed too, and Colleen told her friend he had “mauled her” during the night, and she kept having to pull up her pants.

Colleen Walker. Source: AAP

Crown barrister Wendy Abraham, QC, told the court there are “similarities between the three murders and circumstances — they are in fact murders — which is important because Colleen was never found. They were committed by one person.”

Family members of the three victims attended the hearing, including Leonie Duroux, sister-in-law of Clinton Speedy-Duroux.

Leonie Duroux, outside the Supreme Court yesterday. Source: AAP

“This is what we’ve been waiting for,” she said. “This is what we’ve been fighting for, a chance to have all these cases heard together. We hope we get the best outcome, otherwise we’re not going away.”

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