In the early hours of 22 March 1964 the Fire Brigade and Police were called to a fire at a shop with a residence at the rear of 190-192 Cavendish Road, Coorparoo, only 40 yards from the heart of the Coorparoo Junction shopping centre. On arrival they found three victims, one on the rear patio and two sets of charred remains inside the house, all female. In an attempt to destroy forensic evidence, the perpetrator set the house on fire.
Fire-gutted the brick living quarters at the rear of a Coorparoo shop. Scanned clip from The Courier Mail, March 1964.
The three victims were later identified as Mrs Rosina Wood (76), Grace Glennie Wood (48) and, Grace’s sister Meta Marie (54). The three women resisted their assailant. Meta Marie Wood sustained six gunshot and three stab wounds but survived the vicious attack. She was rushed to the Princess Alexandra Hospital, where the following day she regained consciousness and was able to give detailed description of the perpetrator’s clothes to the police, who was wearing a stocking over his head at the time of the assault.
Killer started shop fire to dispose of bodies. Scanned headline from The Courier Mail, 23 March 1964.
Extensive field work and investigation followed in an effort to identity the offender and only 2 days later on 24 March he was caught. James Whiteford (18), a trainee industrial chemist employed at the Brisbane Abattoir, Murarrie, was charged on four counts, two of wilful murder, one attempted murder and of breaking and entering. He admitted the offences when interviewed and was later found guilty and sentenced for life.
‘Youth Sent to Gaol for Life’, article from The Canberra Times, 23 June 1964.
Over the course of the investigation and a subsequent committal, the case served to set a number of precedents in the Queensland judicature. Whiteford pleaded guilty to both charges, murder and attempted murder, a first guilty plea accepted to a wilful murder charge in the Queensland’s judicial history. Prior his indictment, Whiteford confessed the murder to the police, which was recorded and due to the diligence of the Detective Sergeant Anthony Murphy who was leading the case, the record of interview was later accepted and served as critical evidence during the trial. Consequently, the Coorparoo Junction Murder case served to establish the practise in Criminal Investigations of a “Record of Interview” and subsequent admission of this interview as evidence in Criminal Trials. Up to the time of this trial the Police were struggling to have “Records of Interview” accepted as evidence in Queensland Courts. Had Detective Sergeant Murphy, who conducted the interview, not been as thorough and meticulous as he was, the interview may not have been admitted as evidence. In hindsight, this interview record was the key piece of evidence that solidified the case against Whiteford, seeing as before the presiding Justice Stanley refused to rule Whiteford’s confession to the police inadmissible, the defendant was maintaining a not guilty plea.
In his interview, Whiteford disclosed particulars of his preparations. The defendant admitted on record that he purposefully used prescription drugs to prepare himself for committing the crime, which gave him a false sense of complete confidence and disregard of the consequences. Following the brutal attack, he returned to the crime scene after disposing of his rifle in the river and having a swim, only to discover that the fire did not catch. He then proceeded to pour two tins of lighter fluid about the room and put a match to it. Seeing that he finally succeeded he went home.
Whiteford’s actions were deliberate and as the interview record went to show, remorseless.
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This information has been supplied by the Queensland Police Museum from the best resources available. The article was written by Museum Volunteer and Crime and Policing Historian Dr Anastasia Dukova.
The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Friday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane. Contact: E: museum@police.qld.gov.au
“FROM the VAULT – The Coorparoo Junction Murders” by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence.
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