Sunday History Talks: Spear Creek Murders

Australia’s outback is a drawcard for young travellers from around the globe and an essential part of their trip of a lifetime. But it can also be deadly and keep its secrets well hidden. It’s a place where the fiction of Wolf Creek can become reality. For over 40 years (since October 1978) the execution-style killings of three young people - Tim Thomson, Karen Edwards and Gordon Twaddle at Spear Creek, a desolate spot on the Barkly Highway about 12 kilometres from the mining town of Mount Isa in Queensland, remained the coldest of cases. They were on their way home for Christmas. There have been suspects including Ivan Milat and Reginald (Regina) Arthurell, but the case remained cold until 2019 when Bruce Preston, a recently retired senior officer at Goulburn’s supermax, was arrested. He maintains his innocence.Though a judge later had some misgivings about the evidence, a trial was…