Source : Perth Now news
Two men may have been involved in the death of a mother who went missing while hitchhiking almost 30 years ago, a coroner has heard.
Anonymous tip-offs have “pointed the finger” at the unnamed duo who are set to give evidence at a second inquest probing Joanne Butterfield’s 1998 disappearance, the court was told.
Ms Butterfield, 37, left the far north Queensland home she shared with one of her four children intending to hitch her way to Camden, NSW.
Her daughter begged her not to leave their Mossman residence, counsel assisting Patrick Ah Gee said in Brisbane on Tuesday.
“It became the catalyst for what was to become quite a vocal argument between a teenage daughter and a mother in a difficult personal position,” he told coroner Stephanie Williams.
Ms Butterfield left her daughter crying on the doorstep on June 24, 1998, he said.
It was the last time she saw her mother alive.
Days later, Ms Butterfield’s bag was recovered more than 160km away near a sugar cane railway at Innisfail surrounded by broken glass.
Mr Ah Gee said it was so obviously concerning that members of the public reported the items to both Innisfail and South Johnston police, with some handed in personally to officers.
More than a week later Ms Butterfield’s daughter received an envelope addressed in what she believed to be her mother’s handwriting, containing a number of personal effects.
A 2014 inquest into Ms Butterfield’s disappearance and suspected death found it was unlikely she had taken her life and had probably met with foul play.
It concluded she had been murdered by a person or persons unknown.
New evidence has prompted a second inquest to be held in August.
“Fresh information has been received from Crime Stoppers anonymously which pointed the finger at two men who may have been involved in her death,” Mr Ah Gee said.
“Out of fairness to them at the present moment I won’t name them but they will be called on during the inquest.”
Alleged police failures in the initial investigation into Ms Butterfield’s disappearance would also be examined during the inquest, he said.
Police had failed to adequately follow up Ms Butterfield’s disappearance, the coroner was told.
She last seen alive in Mossman, north of Cairns on June 25, 1998.
“They called Ms Butterfield’s home a couple of times in the days that followed,” Mr Ah Gee said of the police’s response.
“And that’s all they did. That’s the extent of pro-active policing that the brief of evidence portrays.”
He said no further action was taken until July 7, when Ms Butterfield’s daughter called police to ask about her mother’s whereabouts.
The following day, she received the mysterious envelope.
Ms Williams addressed two of Ms Butterfield’s children who were listening to Tuesday’s pre-inquest conference via a live stream.
She acknowledged their grief had been compounded by discrepancies in the findings of the 2014 inquest and subsequent police findings.
“I can’t guarantee that this inquest will answer your questions [but] we’ll do our best to find those answers,” she said.
