Man had keys to murdered rider’s motorbike 24 hours after his disappearance: court

The man once charged over the Spear Creek triple murders had the keys to one of the victims’ motorcycles and was riding it 24 hours after the trio disappeared, a court has heard.

Bruce Preston, 69, was charged with the 1978 shooting of Timothy Thomson, his girlfriend, Karen Edwards, and their friend, Gordon Twaddle. The charges were dropped in 2023 by prosecutors.

The trio, who were on a motorbike trip together, were found dead on a bush track at Spear Creek outside Mount Isa in Queensland’s north-west on October 24 that year.

They had been planning to end their trip in Melbourne to spend Christmas with family, but never made it.

They were found with gunshot wounds to the head, believed to be from a .22 calibre rifle. The inquest heard Twaddle’s pockets were turned out, and the trio were found with no belongings.

Thomson’s red BMW motorcycle was a key focus of the police investigation, with Preston pleading guilty to stealing it, the inquest earlier heard. He was fined $300.

On Wednesday during questioning, it was put to Preston that he had the keys to Thomson’s bike 24 hours after the trio were last seen alive at the Moondarra Caravan Park on October 5. Preston confirmed this.

His father and stepmother told police at the time that Preston took their Toyota LandCruiser out on the night of October 5, the court heard. Preston denied this.

He then said he could not recollect, but could remember buying cigarettes earlier in the day.

Counsel assisting John Aberdeen suggested the motorbike was at the caravan park until at least 8pm on October 5 before a Toyota vehicle came in and took the trio’s camp away and at least one of the motorbikes. Preston said no.

Coroner David O’Connell put to Preston that in Mount Isa, there were fewer than 20 LandCruisers of the type that Preston’s father owned at the time.

“Yet one matching your father’s description is seen coming into the Moondarra Caravan Park,” O’Connell said.

Preston replied: “I have nothing to say to that, your honour. I have no knowledge. I stand by my question – how does one person do all that?”

Another witness, Peter Watson, who recalled seeing the trio at the caravan park, told the inquest on Wednesday he saw a Toyota LandCruiser at the site.

He remembered seeing a man from the LandCruiser speaking with the trio, and that they had left the campsite together on multiple nights.

He said he wondered why they left, and if they had gone to the pub in town.

“Then one night I was woken up ... about two or three in the morning, with headlights on my tent. It was just a very quiet night,” Watson said.

He said he saw the man, whom he described as being about 25 years old, dropping the trio off one night during their stay at the park.

It was put to Preston earlier on Wednesday that when he said he found the motorcycle, it was still at Moondarra Caravan Park. Preston answered no.

The following morning, taxi records showed Preston caught a cab from his home in Mount Isa, which Aberdeen suggested was to pick up a bike, the inquest heard.

Preston was repeatedly questioned over his version of events, including his travel from Adelaide, then Alice Springs, and through to his home in Mount Isa in the weeks earlier. Aberdeen put to Preston that he had put an extra day into his chronology to police.

He asked Preston if it was possible he only stayed one night extra in Alice Springs. Preston answered that he could not positively recall.

He denied evidence from his brother, Ian, who told the inquest on Tuesday that he believed Preston was part of the Black Uhlans gang. Preston said he had never been part of a motorcycle gang.

Towards the end of his evidence, the coroner said he would do something “a little unusual”. He closed the court to the public and media for several minutes while Preston remained in the witness box. He was then excused from the inquest.

Preston began Wednesday’s hearing by telling the coroner that after leaving court on Tuesday following his evidence, he experienced great pain and spent the night in hospital until 6.30am.

On Tuesday, Preston admitted he lied at the time about where he found the motorcycle, telling the inquest he panicked.

He had claimed in his police statement that he found it on the outskirts of Mount Isa, then later said he found it in the town’s centre. Under questioning from the coroner, he denied he had moved the location in his police statement to put the bike further away from the Moondarra Caravan Park, where the trio had been staying and were last seen alive on October 5.

The inquest will resume next week, with the loved ones of Twaddle, Thomson and Edwards to give family statements.

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