Grisly murders near Brisbane

Press, 22 February 1977, Page 8

Grisly murders near Brisbane

NZPA-Reuter Brisbane A large squad of policemen using tracker dogs was searching the rugged Wolvie area, just east of Gympie, 80km north of Brisbane, last night for a 35-year-old woman wanted for questioning over the brutal killing of four persons. A police spokesman said it was hoped the woman will be able to cast some light on the circumstances behind the killings, in which three voting girls and a teen-age youth were brutally bashed to death with hoes and a mattock. He said a 37-year-old man had been charged with four murders.

The spokesman said the woman being sought was believed to be the mother of two of the girls killed in the grisly incident vesterdav

morning, and might be herself injured, or suffering from deep shock. He said that heavy rain was continuing to hamper search efforts.

The spokesman said postmortem examinations on the bodies of the four murdered victims were complete, but as yet no results could be released.

I The spokesman said detectives were now firmly convinced that drugs were responsible for the killings, as a number of illegal plants were found on the property where the murders occurred, and inside the house itself.

He said a 10-year-old girl who notified neighbours of the incident, was now being looked after bv the neighbours and was deeply distressed by what she had seen.