On 6 October 2017 Queensland Police made a stunning announcement.
Homicide Detective Inspector Damien Hansen was quoted as saying: “Raymond Peter Mulvihill died in 2002. As a result of the investigation (and) the evidence that we have gathered, if Raymond Peter Mulvihill was alive today, he would be arrested for the murder of Sharron Phillips.
Inspector Hansen said police had looked into allegations that Mr Mulvihill might have murdered other women, Julie-Ann Gallon, who went missing from Ipswich Road in August 1990, and Leanne Holland, whose body was found at Redbank Plains in September 1992. He dismissed suggestions Mr Mulvihill was a serial killer”.
The Queensland Attorney General immediately referred the matter to the coroner.
Mulvihill’s son Ian, told The Courier-Mail he had tried for years to convince people his father was responsible for the infamous murder. He claimed he called Crime Stoppers on six occasions claiming his father was a serial killer but no one took him seriously until 2016.
Ian said his father asked him to go to police about the murder shortly before his death from bowel cancer in 2002.
He said his father claimed to have murdered others.
“On his death bed he said, you need to come forward and tell them about these girls,” Ian said.
He said his father told him: “We’ve got to give the girls back.”
In 1985 Sharron Phillips went missing on Ipswich Road Wacol, about 5 klms from Goodna. Her body has never been recovered. At the time Mulvihill, a taxi driver, was living in Redbank Plains.
In 1990 Julie-Ann Gallon went missing on Ipswich Road Riverview, about 7 klms from Goodna. Her body has never been recovered. These disappearances are covered in the book “Who killed Leanne Holland”.
In 1991 Leanne Holland went missing in Goodna and her body was recovered in Redbank Plains.
There are a number of other women who have disappeared in South East Queensland and who have never been seen since, in particular three women on the sunshine coast in the 1990’s.
Curiously, no local media has followed up on Ian Mulvihill’s claims that his father was a serial killer. An email to Kate Kyricou, chief crime reporter with the Courier Mail on that topic went unanswered. Kyricou has written articles on the Holland case.
Am I the only one who finds it bizarre that Raymond Mulvhill confesses to murder on his deathbed but then lies about it and exaggerates the number of murders he committed? I would have thought an investigative journalist would be all over that.
What if it is shown that Mulvihill or someone else killed Leanne Holland? As well as being very inconvenient for Queensland Police I suggest several serving and former members of the service would be looking at lengthy prison sentences. It would also reflect poorly on the Queensland Government who have repeatedly rejected calls, by many people, for a coronial inquest into the murder of Leanne Holland.
So will there be forces at work to ensure no matters, other than those pertaining to the murder of Sharron Phillips, are raised at her inquest? This issue concerns me but we shall have to wait and see.
Graham Stafford is seeking legal advice as to whether he can be represented at the coroner’s inquest into Sharron Phillips, to ensure any evidence regarding Mulvihill being a serial killer or being involved in the murder of Leanne Holland is tabled.
In the meantime we await a ruling by QCAT as to whether the police review will ever be made public. A review the Queensland Police Service and DPP are desperately trying to keep secret. For those who are not aware, the review was conducted by Queensland Police into their original investigation. The review found police were satisfied with the original investigation and the outcome. As the review has never been released, we do not know if the numerous concerns raised in the book “Who killed Leanne Holland” and by others were addressed.