A Queensland woman says she always suspected her former lover was involved in teenager Annette Mason’s brutal murder 29 years ago.

November 23, 2018

The former lover of a Queensland man who is a person-of-interest in the Annette Mason murder investigation always suspected he was involved, an inquest has heard.

Annette was raped and brutally bashed after a night out in Toowoomba with friends in 1989. The 15-year-old’s body was found the following day.

Theresa Flynn recalled how 29 years ago she was told her “casual” boyfriend, Michael Laine, and another of his girlfriends, Karen Burge, discovered Annette’s body on the floor.

The couple had gone to Ms Mason’s home to “sort out something that happened the night before,” she said that she’d been told at the time.

Ms Flynn agreed that in earlier statements about that night she’d said Ms Burge had told her that when she and Laine entered the bedroom they found Annette wrapped in a blanket.

“There were flies around her face. Her head was smashed in and she had no face and there was blood everywhere,” counsel assisting Adrian Braithwaite said, reading her statement.

Coroner Terry Ryan is investigating her death 27 years after a first inquest failed to find sufficient evidence to pin down her killer.

At least five witnesses, including police, have already told the coroner that Allan McQueen, who is also known as Allan Gill, made a series of admissions regarding Annette’s abuse and her death.

Laine is the other person-of-interest to the inquest.

Ms Flynn says that while helping Ms Burge unload her car that same morning she spotted a fence post in the boot and one of Laine’s shoes covered in blood.

“It was the same style of shoe that Michael used to wear. He always had good shoes like Nikes,” she said.

During a fling with Wilson Herbie Speedy, she said he told her during “pillow talk” that Laine had killed Annette.

“He said that Michael did it – because he was hiding in the cupboard that night. He said Michael and another person did it, and he was in the cupboard watching it,” she said.

“He never said who the other person was.”

Ms Flynn says despite Laine’s repeated denials in the months following the murder, she always suspected he was involved.

“I remember him grabbing me and saying he would do to me what he did to her … he was shaking me” she said.

“He was so scared, he said if he went to jail, he’d rather neck himself.”

The inquest continues.