DUNCAN Hales spent most of his 37 years as a police officer running the Port Campbell
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station. One of the cases that haunts him is the horrific murder of Theresa Crawford and
her three young children. Now 92, and retired for 32 years, Mr Hales remembers the Crawford case like it was yesterday. He told ANDREW THOMSON the untold story of the Crawford murders.
FORMER Port Campbell police First Constable Duncan Hales believes bad luck and a lot of information coming late to police attention helped Elmer Crawford avoid Homicide Squad detectives.
On July 3, 1970, Therese Crawford, 35, and her three children - Catherine, 13, James, 8, and Karen, 6 - were found dead on a ledge above the Blowhole, near Port Campbell.
The family members had been given electric shocks, suffocated, bashed and mutilated. A hose leading into their car had been attached to the exhaust, apparently to give the impression of a murder/suicide.
It was only after a re-enactment of the car going over the cliff a month later that a truck driver recalled picking up Mr Crawford and giving him a ride back to Geelong, Mr Hales
said.
''By the time we chased up the truck and the log book, it was in Queensland. There were many things like that that just didn't help the police investigation," Mr Hales said.
Homicide Squad detectives took over the case early in the investigation.
''There were not many leads. An air force bloke from Sale brought the news that there was a car over the cliff,'' Mr Hales said.
''It originally looked like a suicide.''
On the afternoon the car was found - but before it was known there were bodies inside - Mr Hales phoned Melbourne after getting the car's registration number.
In such circumstances, police usually sent an unmarked car to the address to which the car was registered.
But in the Crawford case, a police paddy wagon was sent to the Crawfords' Glenroy house and nobody answered the door.
''Homicide Squad detectives believe that Mr Crawford was out the back of the house,'' Mr Hales said.
''When it was found there were bodies in the car and it looked suspicious, police went back to the house. The floor was still very wet, where someone had been trying to wash off the blood.''
Later blood stains were found throughout the house.
A neighbour also saw Mr Crawford at his home after the bodies of his family members were found, Mr Hales said.
''A young lady saw him at his home after it became apparent there had been a murder. She didn't know Mr Crawford by name, but she knew he was the man that lived at that house and the description was spot on.''
Because police didn't get any of those early breaks, Mr Hales said Crawford had a window of opportunity to escape.
''He had a handy headstart on us,'' Mr Hales said.
''Mr Crawford had lived and worked in Queensland, so he had a few options. We simply don't know where he went.''
The former police officer said that having insufficient good information early in the investigation stalled inquiries.
''Police are not magicians. We couldn't pick things out of the air. It was evident that the murderer was very prepared,'' Mr Hales said.
''He wasn't going to get pulled over and have his car examined. The car contained two batteries and extra cans of fuel. Whoever was driving the car wasn't taking any chances on a
flat battery or having to get fuel anywhere.''
It was highly unlikely the vehicle's driver went over the cliff edge with the car, Mr Hales said.
''The person we believe to be the murderer had built a bridge of stones over a gutter to get to the cliff edge.
''The steering wheel was roped to the back of the car. It was secured so when the car moved it could only go forward in a straight line and not veer off. It was impractical to suggest someone had jumped in the car among the ropes to steer it.''
Mr Hales said there were many rumours about Crawford who had worked at the Flemington racecourse as an electrician.
One had Mr Crawford jumping on a ship and travelling back to Ireland. ''He was fighting against the IRA was one strong rumour,'' he said.
Crawford was originally from Ireland and came to Australia in 1954 while his wife was from Queensland.
Mr Hales said Crawford was the chief suspect in the murder investigation.
''He was certainly the one person we thought could have thrown a lot of light on what happened. Port Campbell can be a pretty dramatic sort of place and the Crawford case is one thing that sticks out after working there a long time,'' he said.
