Final arguments in murder trial

Vincent O'Dempsey.

By Jeremy Sollars

Summing up of the prosecution and defence cases has begun today, Monday 22 March, in the murder trial of Warwick man Vincent O’Dempsey.
O’Dempsey, 79, pleaded not guilty on the first day of the trial on Tuesday 2 May to all charges relating to the disappearance of Brisbane mum Barbara McCulkin and her daughters Vicki and Leanne 43 years ago.
O’Dempsey is facing three charges of murder and one of deprivation of liberty in the trial which began in the Brisbane Supreme Court on Tuesday, after the jury in the case was empanelled.
Barbara McCulkin was aged 34 when she disappeared, Vicki was 13 and Leanne 11. The McCulkins were last seen alive on January 16, 1974 at their Highgate Hill home in inner Brisbane.
It has been alleged the McCulkins were killed because of what the mother knew about a Brisbane nightclub firebombing.
Crown Prosecutor David Meredith today urged the jury in the trial to give weight to evidence from three witnesses who told the court O’Dempsey confessed the murders to them.
They include O’Dempsey associate Warren McDonald, O’Dempsey’s former fiancee Kerri Scully and a third individual O’Dempsey met while in prison.
The jury could begin its deliberations as early as Wednesday of this week, depending on the length of the defence’s summing up and that of the trial judge, Justice Applegarth.