Taxi driver blamed for Sharon Phillips’ 1986 murder

Pictured: Sharron Phillips, 20, went missing in 1986, and is believed to have been murdered by a taxi driver

After a three-decade investigation, police say they have enough evidence to pin the murder of Ipswich woman Sharron Phillips on a taxi driver. 

Ms Phillips, 20, was last seen making a call from a Wacol payphone, west of Brisbane, after her car ran out of petrol after midnight on May 9, 1986.

Behind the convenience store she stood in front of, was a parked taxi belonging to Raymond Peter Mulvihill, Detective Inspector Damien Hansen told reporters on Friday. 

‘Raymond Peter Mulvihill died in 2002, as a result of the investigation and the evidence we have gathered, if Raymond Peter Mulvihill was alive today he would be arrested for the murder of Sharon Phillips,’ Det Insp Hansen said.

Last year, a man who did not wish to be identified told Nine News he believed his father, a taxi driver, had committed the murder, and he believed his father ‘may be responsible for more than one murder’.

He said not only did he believe his father had killed Ms Phillips, but that her body had been carried in the boot of his car, and had been dumped in a drain at Carole Park.

Pictured: Raymond Peter Mullvihill, who would have been arrested for Sharron Phillips' murder if he were still alive

Pictured: Raymond Peter Mullvihill, who would have been arrested for Sharron Phillips’ murder if he were still alive

Last year, the son of a taxi driver told Nine News he believed his father was behind the woman's disappearance and he had unknowingly carried her body in his car

Last year, the son of a taxi driver told Nine News he believed his father was behind the woman’s disappearance and he had unknowingly carried her body in his car

The man, who remains anonymous, told police he believed the woman's body had been dumped in a drain at Carole Park

The man, who remains anonymous, told police he believed the woman’s body had been dumped in a drain at Carole Park

Police say they are still looking for anyone that may have assisted with the murder, or after the fact

Police say they are still looking for anyone that may have assisted with the murder, or after the fact

Ms Phillips’ remains were not found in the police search of the drain, and police are still investigating their whereabouts.

Det Insp. Hansen said while Mr Mulvihill could not be brought to justice for the murder, it was not certain that nobody would face charges.

‘We will investigate if anyone has assisted Mulvihill during the offence or after the offence,’ he told reporters.

Police are now looking to speak to Mr Mulvihill’s former neighbours on Russell Drive, Redbank, specifically a man named Jim.

Ms Phillips' alleged killer, Raymond Peter Mulvihill, has since died and cannot face charges for the murder

Ms Phillips’ alleged killer, Raymond Peter Mulvihill, has since died and cannot face charges for the murder

A search of the Carole Park area returned to evidence of human remains, and Ms Phillips' remains are still missing

A search of the Carole Park area returned to evidence of human remains, and Ms Phillips’ remains are still missing

Ms Phillips’ siblings earlier cast doubt on the alibi provided by their father, Bob, who died in 2015.

Police now say there is no evidence Mr Phillips had any connection to the murder of his daughter. 

A report is being prepared for the coroner. Following an anonymous tip-off to the Nine Network earlier this year, Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath said there were no plans to reopen the coronial investigation into Ms Phillips’ disappearance. 

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF SHARRON PHILLIPS 

* Sharron Phillips was 20 when she vanished on May 8, 1986, while waiting for her boyfriend after running out of petrol in Wacol in Brisbane’s southwest

* She’d gone to a nearby army barracks to make a phone call but was turned away

* In 2016, some of her siblings questioned the alibi of their father Bob, who died in 2015

* He’d told a reporter he was in NSW picking up a truck on the night his daughter vanished

* Police last year searched council-owned land at Carole Park following a tip-off in June

* But soil taken from two drains failed to find any trace of human remains

* An anonymous man had told the Nine Network he believed his taxi-driver father killed Ms Phillips and dumped her body near the area officers excavated

* In May this year, Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath said there was not enough new evidence to reopen the coronial investigation into the disappearance

* A $250,000 reward remains on offer for anyone who provides information leading to an arrest and conviction.

 

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