McCulkin murder cold case: Court hears of jailhouse confession risk

Lawyers for the two men accused of the 40-year-old cold case murders of Barbara McCulkin and her two daughters have expressed concerns their clients will be coerced into giving false jailhouse confessions.

Vincent O’Dempsey and Gary Dubois appeared in Brisbane Magistrates Court this morning, charged with three counts of murder, three counts of deprivation of liberty and other serious offences.

O’Dempsey’s lawyer, Terry O’Gorman, warned his client was at risk of being “verballed” in prison by inmates seeking to win favour with police.

“There is a very real risk that they’ll be the subject of a jail verbal or false allegation that in jail he confessed to a prisoner in relation to the subject matter of these charges,” he told the court.

The pair were unable to apply for bail today but both have indicated they will make an application in the Supreme Court as early as possible.

Both O’Dempsey and Dubois have strongly denied any involvement with the killings.

In one of Queensland's most baffling cold cases, Barbara McCulkin, 34, and her daughters, Vicki, 13, and Leanne, 11, vanished from their Brisbane home in January 1974.

The case was reopened in January.