The inmate who attacked Daniel Morcombes killer, Brett Cowan,is today a free man after gaining release on parole.
Adam Davidson attacked Cowan last year after watching his movements for a month to work out the best way to harm him.
Davidson waited until Cowan was playing cards with other prisoners and poured a mop bucket of boiling water over his head then beat him with it.
Davidson claimed it was a vigilante attack when he appeared in court, telling investigators he attacked Cowan for “a little bit of retribution” and he wanted him “to feel the pain like somebody like Daniel Morcombe has felt.”
Judge Ian Dearden sentenced Davidson to three years’ jail for the attack but with time already served and parole, Davidson is now free on early release.
Brett Cowan. Source: 7 News.
13-year-old son Daniel Morcombe disappeared from a bus stop near his Palmwoods home on December 7 2003.
It would take almost a decade for the Morcombes to find out what happened to their son.
Paedophile Cowan was charged with Daniel’s abduction and murder in 2011 and in 2014, was found guilty of murder and was sentenced to life in prison. He will not be eligible for parole until 2031.
Post continues after video: Daniel Morcombe’s twin baby joy
Catching Brett Cowan
Daniel disappeared in 2003 but it wasn’t until August 2011 that an elaborate police sting operation finally managed to uncover enough information to charge former Sunshine Coast resident Brett Cowan with Daniel’s abduction and murder.
It took eight years and an enormous commitment of both staff and resources, but Queensland detectives, working closely with WA police, were finally able to get Cowan to confess to Daniel’s murder by disguising themselves as stand-over men, loan sharks, and brothel madams.
Together, they managed to convince Cowan that they were all members of the same criminal gang.
In 2011, they invited Cowan to join their fake criminal enterprise, and paid him small amounts of money to stand over prostitutes (who were in fact undercover officers) and to pay fake bribes to fake customs officers.
After several months, they invited him to take part in a major operation worth $100,000 but said they were worried about how closely police were watching him, because Cowan – a known pedophile – had long been a suspect in Daniel’s disappearance.
They promised to buy Cowan an alibi and help him clean up whatever remained of the crime scene, so other members of the fake gang wouldn’t feel the “heat” from having him around.
Cowan confessed that he’d snapped Daniel’s neck after picking him up from the bus stop, and offering to drive him to a local shopping centre.
In the taped confession, he said he wanted to molest Daniel, not kill him, but panicked when Daniel tried to flee. He then dragged Daniel’s body into the bush, where he covered it up with branches and leaves.
Police were able to use the information that Cowan provided to locate the remains of Daniel’s body – just 17 bone fragments – and his Globe skate shoes, and a pair of Bonds underpants. DNA tests confirmed decomposed bones and clothing found in bushland were those belonging to Daniel.
Cowan didn’t testify in his own defence. He changed his name to Shaddo N-unyah Hunter after becoming a suspect in Daniel’s murder and was living in WA at the time of the police sting.
He was charged in 2011 but it took more than two years for the case to come to court. In 2014 Cowan was found guilty of murder and was sentenced to life in prison.
