Accused moves home after McCulkins vanish

Days after Barbara McCulkin and her two daughters vanished, the man accused of murdering them packed his belongings and vacated his rented home without notice, a court has heard.

Mrs McCulkin, then 34, and her daughters Vicki, 13, and Leanne, 11, were last seen at their Highgate Hill home by neighbours on January 16, 1974.

Vincent O'Dempsey has pleaded not guilty to their murders in a trial which began in the Brisbane Supreme Court this week.

Crown prosecutor David Meredith told the jury O'Dempsey may have been motivated to murder the McCulkins to prevent Barbara implicating him in the 1973 arson of the Whiskey Au Go Go nightclub, which caused the deaths of 15 people.

On Friday, O'Dempsey's former landlord Adrian Burton said he found the accused murderer's flat empty days after the McCulkins disappeared.

In about an hour, three men helped O'Dempsey clear the Rosalie unit of his belongings.

The only things they left were the owner's furniture and some coat hangers, Mr Burton said.

No one has seen or heard from the McCulkins in more than four decades and no remains have been found.

The trial continues on Monday before Justice Peter Applegarth, with witness expected to give evidence for a further two weeks.