Networked Knowledge - Media Report

[This edited version of the report has been prepared by Dr Robert N Moles]

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On 29 August 2007 Mark Buttler of the Herald Sun reported “Police set to revisit 30-year-old case”

He said:

Claim man "finished off" after hit by police car / Remains to be exhumed and examined / Scrutiny on serving, former Vic Police members.

A man's remains will be dug up today amid claims he was beaten to death after being hit by a police car. A 30-year-old tragedy once written off as the hit-run death of Colac man Hugh Wilson on a dark, wet country road may now become a murder probe. Police internal investigators on Victoria's oldest cold case are believed to be investigating whether Mr Wilson was finished off with a blow or blows to the head after being hit by a police car on September 11, 1976. A former police officer who has been cleared as a suspect but endured decades of rumour about his involvement believes the dead man's head injuries were not caused by a car. Mr Wilson's remains will be exhumed from Colac Cemetery for forensic examination after the granting of a special court order - three decades after he was buried.

Cover-up suspected

Suspicion has lingered for decades in the area that police were involved in the tragedy and a subsequent cover-up in which a police vehicle was repaired by a local panel-beater on the night of Mr Wilson's death. Serving and former Victoria Police members are under scrutiny. Police have recently received new information in the investigation but believe there are people who were living in Colac in 1976 who know how Mr Wilson died and the vehicle involved. Exhumations as part of criminal investigations are rare in Victoria. Among notable examples were the dig for the remains of Jennifer Tanner in 1996 and the exhumation last year of suspected murder victim Patrick Plumbe at Wangaratta. The Colac exhumation is expected to run for two days, taking the shape of a delicate archaeological dig because the coffin will have rotted away and police do not want to disturb the bones.

Initial investigation incomplete

The body of Mr Wilson, who was known as "Old Timer", was found beside the Colac-Gellibrand Rd at Barongarook, near Colac. An initial police investigation was unable to identify the vehicle or people involved in the collision, which happened at 7pm, as Mr Wilson walked to his bush shack. The findings of a 1977 inquest were recently set aside after an application by police to the Supreme Court. The Herald Sun reported in February that ethical standards department detectives had been re-examining the case. The investigation has been led by acting Det Sen-Sgt Ron Perrett of ESD, an experienced road accident investigator. He said Mr Wilson's family deserved to have the case thoroughly examined. "They would like to see some answers," acting Det Sen-Sgt Perrett said.

Head injuries 'not car-inflicted'

Former Colac policeman Peter Goonan, who was dogged for decades by rumours he was involved in Mr Wilson's death, has been cleared as a suspect. Mr Goonan, the first night-shift officer on the scene, told the Herald Sun he believed the head injuries were not inflicted by a car. "There were suspicious injuries to his head that I raised 30 years ago," he said. Mr Goonan, who was awarded two Chief Commissioner's commendations before retiring because of ill-health in 1979, has been interviewed as a witness. The 53-year-old, who lives in Queensland, believes there are people still in Colac who have information that could help investigators. "Some people know some of the key bits. Some people know precisely what happened," he said. "They will be brought to justice."

Dead man 'deserves justice'

Mr Goonan knew Mr Wilson and said the fact he'd lived an unusual life did not disqualify him from deserving justice. "This man deserved the rights of anybody else. "It (the death) can't be excused on the lines he was a lesser human being," Mr Goonan said. "He was all right. He wasn't doing anyone any harm." Little evidence was left at the death scene, and there are no witnesses to the impact. White paint chips, chrome metal paint, body-filler and a rear-vision mirror led police to check whether a car had been hastily repaired in Colac, but failed to turn up anything. A 1977 inquest found Mr Wilson died from injuries suffered when he was hit by a car. A pathologist concluded he was flung 22m by the impact. The report stated it appeared he had been struck by a car that was travelling on the wrong side of the road after swinging wide to negotiate a bend. A witness told police she saw Mr Wilson in his grey overcoat walking south on the wrong side of the road, motioning for a lift.

Anyone with information on the death of Mr Wilson can contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Source: 29 August 2007 Mark Buttler Herald Sun “Police set to revisit 30-year-old case”

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