Daniel Morcombe coroner has file on

Daniel Morcombe coroner has file on William Tyrrell case
Michael McKenna
Dan Box
THE AUSTRALIAN
SEPTEMBER 19, 2015 12:00AM
Morcombe coroner has William file
William Tyrrell vanished on September 12 last year.

The disappearance of William Tyrrell has been officially ­referred as a “suspected death’’ to NSW Coroner Michael Barnes­, who helped solve the murder of Queensland schoolboy Daniel Morcombe.

A coroner’s file into the case of the three-year-old, last seen a year ago playing with his sister in their grandmother’s garden on the NSW mid-north coast, was opened in February, paving the way for a possible inquest into the suspected abduction.

Widely known as “Cold Case Barnes”, the then Queensland coroner’s decision to hold a public inquest into the 2003 ­abduction of 13-year-old Daniel was seen as instrumental in ident­ifying his killer, who had eluded police for years.

With a NSW police strike force actively investigating William’s disappearance, however, an inquest into what took place is not ­expected to happen soon.


The strike force, codenamed ­Rosann, would normally be ­expected to exhaust its inquiries before submitting a brief of evidence for Mr Barnes to then formally consider whether an inquest should be held.

Any such decision by the coroner would typically be made after consultation with the homicide squad detectives leading the investigation, as well as William’s family.

Authorities have stressed the referral to Mr Barnes is a procedural step, and it is understood police still hold out hope the boy may be alive.

A spokesman for the NSW Coroner’s Court yesterday confirmed that the matter was referred by police on January 30. “There has been no formal request for an inquest and the coroner has been advised that the police investigation into the disappearance of William Tyrrell is ongoing,’’ the spokesman said.

NSW police declined to ­answer questions about the referral, issuing a statement saying ­“detectives have been inundated with information in the past week, with hundreds of reports made to Crime Stoppers’’.

“They are now reviewing and assessing that information. Police thank the community for all their assistance to date, and encourage any person who has information and has not yet made a report to come forward.”

William disappeared from his grandmother’s home in Kendall, on the NSW mid-north coast, at about 10.30am on September 12 last year. Despite an intensive search of the surrounding area, involvi­ng several hundred people, as well as the ongoing police invest­igation, he has not been found. Earlier this month, marking the anniversary of his dis­appearance, police released details of four cars seen on the road in Kendall near where William was playing with his sister.

William’s parents also made an appeal for help in the invest­igation, with his mother saying she prays her son “wasn’t scared, that somebody was loving him”.

Police have identified several “persons of interest” to the invest­igation, including former truck driver Anthony Jones, who was arrested over the indecent assault of an 11-year-old girl near Kendall in October last year.

Local whitegoods repairman Bill Spedding has also been identified as a “person of interest” to police, although neither he nor Jones have been charged over William’s disappearance. Mr Spedding used a YouTube video last week to deny he had any ­involvement in what took place.

Mr Barnes’s 2010-11 coronial inquest into the 2003 abduction of 13-year-old Daniel provided the breakthrough in the case that, at that stage, had a list of 33 “persons of interest’’.

Frustrated with the progress of the investigation, parents Bruce and Denise Morcombe made a formal request for an inquest in the face of opposition from some senior police, who feared it could damage the investigation.

After police handed over the file, Mr Barnes and his team began to find flaws in the investigation, including the failure to delve deep into the past of Daniel’s now convicte­d killer Brett Peter Cowan — who was known by police, but ruled out as a suspect — and to test alibis. Cowan was eventually forced to appear before the inquest and, after giving evidence­, police launched a sting operation that led to the discovery of Daniel’s remains. He was convicted in March last year.




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