Mount Isa inquest Hears Testimony from Man Linked to 1978 Tourist Murders
Mount Isa, Queensland – An inquest into the deaths of three tourists shot dead north of Mount isa in 1978 resumed Tuesday, with Bruce Preston, a man previously accused in connection with the murders, giving evidence. preston was warned by Coroner David O’Connell that he could be charged with perjury if he was found to be lying.
“I think you need to have a very good think about your evidence overnight, come back in the morning and answer things with a lot more conviction as to what is truthful,” Coroner O’Connell told the court.
the inquest heard evidence that Preston’s now-deceased father, Arthur Preston, confided in a friend in 1978 about the murders. Counsel assisting the coroner, Mr. Aberdeen, questioned Ian Preston, Bruce’s older brother, about a statement allegedly made by Arthur Preston: “The little bastard done it. But he’s a tough little bastard. They can’t break him.”
Mr. Aberdeen also asked Ian Preston if his father instructed him to tell police that Bruce had called from Adelaide to say he bought a red BMW bike that was being transported to Mount Isa in 1978. Ian Preston responded, “The sequence of events is very cloudy to me. I did go to police … I don’t recall having a conversation with my father with him directing me to.”
Merril Anderson, a neighbor of the Preston family in 1978, testified that she recalled seeing the red BMW motorbike in the Preston’s shed during the police inquiry. She also recounted Arthur Preston offering to help search a nearby lake for evidence, suggesting he might have been attempting to run “interference” in the investigation.
“I thoght it was strange that a man who knew motorbikes didn’t say he had one in his shed,” Anderson told the court.
The inquest continues on Wednesday.
[Image of a 1977 BMW motorcycle belonging to Tim Thomson who was found shot dead north of Mount Isa in 1978. (Supplied: Queensland Police)]
