Vincent Raymond ALLEN

COLD CASE: $250,000 reward in Warwick man's murder

A $250,000 reward has been offered for information into the 1964 suspected murder of Vincent Raymond Allen.

July 9, 2019 - 1:22PM
Chronicle

 

A $250,000 reward has been offered for information into the 1964 suspected murder of Vincent Raymond Allen.

Mr Allen, 22, was last seen alive in the Warwick area on April 18, that year.

He had been employed as a labourer and had worked on the construction of the Leslie Dam.

Despite an extensive police investigation, Mr Allen's body has never been located and in 1980 the State Coroner declared Mr Allen to be deceased and likely to have been murdered in or around the Warwick area.

Homicide Group Detective Inspector Damien Hansen said: "I would hope the passing of well over 50 years would give anyone who has information relating to this crime and has kept it to themselves the incentive to come forward.

"However, if time is not enough then the offer of this significant reward may help.

"Quite often when we announce a reward the focus is on the monetary value of the offer.

"I feel it important to stress this reward also comes with the opportunity for indemnity from prosecution.

"This means that anyone who was an accomplice to the crime (and did not commit the act of murder) and comes forward to police first, could qualify for the indemnity."

Phone Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Vincent Raymond Allen cold case murder under investigation, $250,000 reward offered

By Kate McKenna
Posted 

A $250,000 reward has been offered for information on the 1964 suspected murder of Queensland man Vincent Raymond Allen in a renewed push to solve the enduring cold case.

Mr Allen — an associate of convicted killer Vincent O'Dempsey — was 22-years-old when he was last seen in a Holden sedan on Grafton Street at Warwick, a town in southern Queensland, on the afternoon of April 18, 1964.

Detective Inspector Damien Hansen of the Homicide Group said police believed Mr Allen was murdered and had identified a person of interest in the case, which he said was "solvable" after 55 years, but would not provide details.

He said Mr Allen was supposed to play a game with the Eastern Suburbs rugby league team on April 19, 1964, but never turned up.

Detective Inspector Hansen said police wanted to hear from a member of the public who had a conversation with one of Mr Allen's teammates in the dressing sheds that day.

"That conversation concerned what we believe is the murder of Mr Allen and we ask anyone who has that knowledge of that conversation or was present to make contact with us," he said.

He said Mr Allen had been assisting police over "two significant break and enters" of jewellery stores in the Warwick area before his disappearance.

"Two offenders were arrested for that, [but] as a result of Mr Allen's suspected murder he was unable to give evidence and those charges were dropped," he said.

Police Minister Mark Ryan said the State Government was offering a $250,000 reward for information leading to a conviction.

"Today we ask for help from the community, from people who might know.

"We ask those people to come forward, to do what's right, to let justice be done," he said.

"We want to catch the person or people who were involved in the murder of Mr Allen.

Detective Inspector Hansen said the reward also provided indemnity "for any person who may have assisted in any way".

"It's a situation — and we see this in cold cases — that passage of time. People aren't as loyal to people, people aren't as fearful as they once were in coming forward," he said.

"We'd certainly be asking that anyone who has the information to come forward."

Mr Allen would have turned 77 this year.

 

 

 

Claim Angel of Death said missing man ‘wouldn’t be talking to anybody any more’

Thomas Chamberlin, Matthew Condon
July 10, 2019 - 00:00AM
The Courier-Mail

A MAN claimed triple murderer Vince O’Dempsey once declared that a man who ratted him out to police “wouldn’t be talking to anybody any more” after the young worker vanished.

In an extraordinary move, the State Government on Tuesday offered a $250,000 reward for information to help solve the murder of Raymond Vincent “Tommy” Allen who vanished 55 years ago.

 

In the early 1960s, O’Dempsey – who has been dubbed the Angel of Death – worked on the construction of the Leslie Dam near Warwick where he befriended co-worker Mr Allen.

Mr Allen would later assist police in relation to the robbery of two jewellery stores near Warwick.

Police questioned him in 1964 and he agreed to give evidence against O’Dempsey in court.

But he disappeared and the charges against O’Dempsey were dropped.

Mr Allen, 22, was working as a railway labourer at Karara, near Warwick, when he vanished on April 18, 1964.

He was last seen in Grafton St, Warwick, getting into a maroon Holden vehicle with a white roof.

Mr Allen was due to play for Eastern Suburbs Rugby League team the next day.

Homicide squad Detective Inspector Damien Hansen yesterday said police wanted to speak to a member of the public who spoke to a football team player in the dressing room on Sunday, April 19, 1964.

“That conversation concerned what we believe is the murder of Mr Allen,” he said.

“And we ask that anyone who has any knowledge of that conversation or was present that day to make contact with us.”

Det Insp Hansen said police had a person of interest but declined to reveal who it was.

In 2017 O’Dempsey was jailed for life for murdering Highgate Hill mother Barbara McCulkin, 34, and her daughters Vicki, 13, and Leanne, 11, in January, 1974.

During his trial the jury was told the mother might have been killed because she knew information about the Whiskey Au Go Go firebombing which killed 15 people in 1973.

In 1980 a joint inquest was held into the disappearance of the McCulkins, Mr Allen and prostitute Margaret Ward.

Mrs McCulkin’s husband Billy McCulkin spoke at the inquest about a conversation he claimed to have had with O’Dempsey over a drink in a hotel in 1974 when the gangland figure talked about putting people in a dam at Warwick.

“He made a statement to me that there was a person in Warwick or near Warwick … that wouldn’t be talking to the police any more,” Mr McCulkin told the inquest.

“I asked what he meant by that and his reply was, ‘old Vince (Tommy Allen) won’t be talking to anybody any more’.”

The coroner was unable to find how or where Mr Allen died.

“The cause of his disappearance would seem to be directly linked to the fact that he was required to give evidence against Vincent O’Dempsey in a criminal proceeding, and there is ample evidence of a motive for his death,’’ the coroner said at the time.

At the time of his disappearance Mr Allen was described as being a flamboyant man who wore “loud shirts” and leopard skin pants.

He was described as a member of the “bodgie cult” who talked tough.

He was said to be about 160cm tall, with fair hair and blue eyes, large, protruding ears and a nose slightly bent to the left.

Mr Allen had a scar between his eyes, above his nose.

He had a tattoo on his right arm of a girl’s head in a heart with an arrow.

Police Minister Mark Ryan said cold case detectives would never give up and appealed for people to come forward and “let justice be done” for Allen, his family and friends.

The reward also offers an indemnity from prosecution for any accomplice who did not commit the crime.

Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000

 

Cold case breakthrough: Man, 80, charged over 1964 murder of Vincent Raymond Allen

Starts at 60 Writers
Aug 20, 2019

 

Queensland Police have made a breakthrough with a 55-year-cold case, today charging an 80-year-old man – named by multiple reports as Vincent O’Dempsey – for the murder of Vincent Raymond Allen in 1964.

The Wacol resident is set to appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Tuesday in relation to the murder in the Queensland town of Warwick over five decades ago.  Vincent was last seen in a Holden sedan on Grafton Street in Warwick in April of 1964. He never showed up to a game with the Eastern Suburbs rugby league team.

Speaking about the ground-breaking discovery in a media conference on Tuesday afternoon Detective Senior Sergeant Tara Kentwell said they believe it could be the oldest cold case to be solved in Australia’s history. The detective could not provided further details on the 80-year-old man charged but commended police for their hard work in reaching this point in the case.

“I would caution any person out there responsible for a cold case murders to take no solace in the passage of time.  This arrest is an example of our unwavering commitment to review and investigate Queensland’s unsolved homicides and to bring offenders to justice. Even after 55 years, murders can be solved,” she said.

The charge comes months after the Minister for Police and Corrective Services confirmed a $250,000 reward for information relating to the murder of Vincent. It formed an important component of the cold case review being conducted by investigators from the Homicide Cold Case Investigation Team and Brisbane region.

Vincent was last seen alive in a vehicle driven by a known associated man at around 5pm on April 18, 1964. He was never seen again and sadly despite a thorough investigation, his body was never located.

“A coronial hearing in February 1980 supported the police view and on April 2, 198o the State Coroner declared Allen to be deceased and that his death had likely occurred in the Warwick area,” Queensland Police confirmed in a statement on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, a $250,000 reward still remains on offer for further information which leads to the apprehension and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the murder of Vincent. In addition, Queensland Police have promised an appropriate indemnity from prosecution will be recommended for any accomplice, not being the person who actually committed the crime, who gives such information.

“I am more than confident there are still people out there who hold information relating to this crime or those persons involved. I strongly urge them to come forward to us and provide that information,” Kentwell added.