A woman has told the inquest into the execution-style murder of Perth brothel madam Shirley Finn that she claimed she was being followed two days before her 1975 killing, saying a detective had threatened her.
The WA Coroner’s Court heard on Tuesday the mother of three was agitated and pacing when she visited the Mt Hawthorn house Paule Jacqueline De Gaye shared with bookmaker and nightclub owner Don Mack on June 20, 1975.
‘She was very jumpy, very fidgety,’ Ms De Gaye said.
Shirley Finn was found dead in her car in June 1975, wearing a $3,000 ballgown. She had been shot four times
Ms Finn was found in her car (pictured) which was parked near the Royal Perth Golf Club
She said Ms Finn arrived in a taxi because she feared her distinctive American car was being followed.
Ms De Gaye said Finn was also carrying a pleated, beige satin dress wrapped in drycleaner’s plastic she later recognised in media reports about the murder.
Ms De Gaye said the 33-year-old seemed to be visiting because she needed help and had previously sought tips from Mr Mack on setting up her own nightclub.
According to Ms De Gaye, who secretly listened in on their conversation by turning the volume down on headphones she was wearing, Ms Finn said: ‘Donnie, I’m in deep trouble. It’s serious. I’ve got to talk to you. I think I’m gone, Don.’
Finn’s daughter Bridget Shewring has long campaigned for an inquest into her mother’s unsolved murder
She said she had threatened detective Owen Leitch – who three months later became the commissioner of police – that she had a meeting with the tax office about a large bill and would ‘name names.’
‘If I go down, so will you and your boys,’ Ms Finn told him, according to Ms De Gaye.
Ms Finn said he told her to shut her mouth then suggested she would be shot if she did not keep quiet by making a gun gesture with her hand and pointing it at her head.
Mr Mack gave Ms Finn an envelope, presumably containing cash, and she also sought his opinion about the dress, which she had carefully selected for a meeting with an ‘important’ person, Ms De Gaye said.
Mr Mack gave Ms Finn (pictured) an envelope, presumably containing cash, and she also sought his opinion about the dress, which she had carefully selected for a meeting with an ‘important’ person, Ms De Gaye said
That was scheduled for the night of June 22, which turned out to be her last.
Mr Leitch had allegedly told her, ‘Don’t look trashy – dress to impress’, and Mr Mack approved of the gown, telling her it looked ‘very jazzy’.
On the morning of June 23, when news of the killing broke, Ms De Gaye ran into the bathroom to inform her de facto.
She said he replied: ‘The bastards got her.’
David Leigh, counsel representing police, said it made no sense Ms Finn (pictured) would seek help from Mr Mack given he had opposed a liquor licence application for her Northbridge club Strip-O-Rama two years earlier and paid for a private investigator to dig dirt on her
David Leigh, counsel representing police, said it made no sense Ms Finn would seek help from Mr Mack given he had opposed a liquor licence application for her Northbridge club Strip-O-Rama two years earlier and paid for a private investigator to dig dirt on her.
‘He’s essentially trying to sabotage her business,’ Mr Leigh said.
But Ms De Gaye said her account was truthful.
‘This is what I heard. I don’t make up anything.’
The inquest continues.