An inquest has heard that a man watched Queensland teenager Annette Mason’s rape and murder from a cupboard in her bedroom in 1989.

November 23, 2018

Annette Mason’s unsolved rape and murder in 1989 was watched from a Toowoomba cupboard, a Queensland inquest has heard.

The 15-year-old was raped and fatally bashed after a night out with friends in 1989, with her body found the next day.

Theresa Flynn has told an inquest into Ms Mason’s death that she had had a sexual fling with Wilson Herbie Speedy, who told her during “pillow talk” that person-of-interest Michael Laine had killed Annette.

“He said that Michael did it – because he (Speedy) 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.

Ms Flynn, who was also Laine’s “casual” girlfriend, says on the morning that Annette’s body was discovered, she had spotted blood on Laine’s blue and white Nike shoes.

“Droplets like a splatter … you could see it was blood,” Ms Flynn said.

Coroner Terry Ryan is investigating Ms Mason’s death with new information, some 27 years after a first inquest failed to find sufficient evidence to pin down her killer.

Counsel assisting Adrian Braithwaite read earlier statements to Ms Flynn to confirm that her recollection of the events was still the same.

She agreed that another of Laine’s girlfriends, Karen Burge, had told her that she and Laine had found Annette’s body wrapped in a blanket on the floor of her bedroom and they had moved it onto her bed.

“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.

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.

He is also a person-of-interest to the inquest and was also seen with blood on his clothes about the time Annette was murdered.

Ms Flynn says that on the night of the murder she was at the speedway and didn’t see Ms Budge or Laine.

But Kym Sandersock, her housemate at the time, said that Ms Flynn came home in a highly agitated state on the night of Annette’s death.

“They f***** up. They took it too far, Kym. They f***** up,” she recalled Ms Flynn saying.

“And I go, ‘who are taking about?’,” Ms Sandersock said.

“And she said: ‘Annette’.”

“I knew she was talking about this little girl”.

Ms Sandersock confirmed that her earlier statement that Ms Flynn had also told her Annette was raped and then murdered was correct.

She also recalled a conversation with Kerry Cross, who she said had seen Annette’s body and had shared what she had seen.

“They must have bashed her in or something. A fence post,” she said.

The inquest continues.