The inquest into the death of Daniel Morcombe has resumed six years after it began with one former detective claiming he actually stated Brett Cowan was responsible for Daniel’s disappearance but was dismissed.
Daniel Morcombe disappeared from a Sunshine Coast bus stop in December 2003 and his remains were found eight years later following a lengthy police investigation.
Now a former detective says he named Condon a chief suspect from the start.
Dennis Martyn interviewed Brett Cowan after Daniel’s disappearance in 2003 and told his boss, the then head of the Homicide Squad Mike Condon, he believed they had ‘their man’.
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Cowan wasn’t charged for a further eight years and he eventually confessed to the murder.
Martyn claims Condon said: ‘F*** off, you wouldn’t know anything,’ when he told him Cowan was responsible for the 13-year-old’s disappearance.
During the inquest, Assistant Commissioner Condon was asked to step out of the room so Martyn could give evidence ‘without fear of intimidation’.
The inquest also heard from Martyn’s former colleague Kenneth King, who said he had considered Cowan a key suspect, given his criminal history and the 45-minute gap in his alibi.
“Cowan was a very strong suspect. I thought it was odd, given the normal investigation practice,” he said. “No one had ever come back to me to clarify or check details.”
“I was quite adamant, there was no ambiguity,” he added.
Mr King said he and Mr Martyn prepared a written report about Cowan, labelling him a “strong suspect” which included copies of Cowan’s criminal history, along with other information they’d gathered.
Detective Sergeant David Wilkinson, who was the officer in charge of MIR, says he never saw that 2003 report.
More as we get it.
