QLD:Morcombe confessor not to be believed

AAP General News (Australia)
12-15-2010
QLD:Morcombe confessor not to be believed

By Christine Flatley

BRISBANE, Dec 15 AAP - A man who is expected to make a courtroom confession this week
to abducting and murdering Daniel Morcombe has concocted a story out of revenge and should
not be believed, a detective says.

Detective Senior Constable Virginia Gray told the Brisbane Coroners Court on Wednesday
that a person of interest (POI) in the case - known as P33 - had given police a "disturbingly
detailed account" of how he and his older male lover, P32, had snatched the 13-year-old
from a Sunshine Coast bus stop on December 7, 2003.

The inquest into the teenager's disappearance heard P33 first contacted police in 2004,
where he implicated only P32 in the abduction, claiming P32 had sexually assaulted Daniel
before dumping his body.

However, Det Gray said P33 had gradually expanded his story over the years to implicate himself.

P33 is due to give evidence at the inquest on Thursday.

The latest contact from P33 came in October this year, when he wrote to state coroner
Michael Barnes to confirm his involvement in the crime and give further details about
how it occurred.

Det Gray said P33 gave new details about identifying marks on Daniel's body and the
location of where he claimed the body was buried.

She said both leads had been followed up but had proven unfruitful.

Det Gray said investigations into P33's allegations a police officer had also been
involved had also come to nothing.

Det Gray said he had never been charged with the offence because his stories always
had numerous inconsistencies.

"His admissions don't hold any credibility," she said.

Det Gray told the court she believed he had concocted the story in order to have revenge
on P32, who had reported him to police for possessing child pornography and sexually abusing
his young daughter.

"You see it as being the strong motive to seek revenge on (P32) by implicating him
in this crime?" asked Alan MacSporran SC, who is representing the Queensland Police Service.

"That's correct," Det Gray replied.

P32 told the court on Wednesday afternoon that he shared Det Gray's theory.

"That's all this is about - revenge," he said.

"It's a pack of lies ... it's a load of bull. It's wrong."

He said he didn't believe P33 had anything to do with Daniel's abduction either.

"The only thing I can say is that he wasn't there at the time," P32 said.

Det Gray told the court she believed P33 would make the courtroom confession on Thursday
to gain notoriety.

"I personally believe he just loves the attention," she said.

"He's quite convincing."

"And that's the context that we should judge the evidence we're going to hear tomorrow?"

Mr MacSporran asked.

"That's correct," Det Gray replied.

The inquest will continue on Thursday.

AAP cf/crh/jl/nb

KEYWORD: MORCOMBE WRAP

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