Brett Peter Cowan guilty of murdering Daniel Morcombe
Brett Peter Cowan is a father-of-three. At one stage he was married, and there was a period in his life when he turned to God.
But from the time he was in primary school, he was also a sexual predator who grew into a man who raped young boys.
Now his perverted life story also carries the tag of murderer, after a jury found he abducted and killed 13-year-old Queensland schoolboy Daniel Morcombe just over a decade ago.
The verdict means Australians can now know about his life as a sex offender, which began when Cowan was still a child.
At the 2011 inquest into Daniel's disappearance, Cowan - who until now could only be identified as P7 - said he was still in primary school when he started sexually abusing young children at a community swimming pool.
He went on to commit horrific sexual attacks on two young boys.
In 1987, while completing ordered community service at a supervised playground in Brisbane, the then 18-year-old Cowan lured a seven-year-old boy into the toilets and molested him.
A few years later, when he was 24 and living at a Darwin caravan park, Cowan was approached by a six-year-old boy who was asking for help to find his sister.
Instead of helping the boy, Cowan led the child into bushland and brutally sexually assaulted him on the rusted wreck of a car.
The assault left the child in intensive care with terrible injuries including a collapsed and punctured lung, blackened eyes, large cuts caused by the rusty wreck, and injuries to his neck that suggested "an asphyxial element".
Cowan spent time in jail for his crimes in Queensland and the Northern Territory and while he was there he completed sexual offending courses that were meant to rehabilitate him. They didn't.
During Cowan's murder trial, jurors heard his chilling confession, explaining how he'd abducted Daniel from the side of a busy road and taken him to a remote bushland site so he could indulge his sexual perversions with the boy.
But he claimed he didn't get the chance to molest Daniel, and described how he broke the boy's neck as he tried to stop him from getting away.
"When he ... struggled ... I thought he was going to run and rah rah rah and yeah and grabbed him back in the house and choked him out," Cowan said in a confession secretly recorded by undercover police.
"I probably would have been caught in the end if I'd ... let him go."
Daniel's family in tears as verdict read out
Daniel Morcombe's father has told his son's killer he picked the wrong family during a raw victim impact statement read out during Brett Peter Cowan's sentencing.
Cowan will be sentenced tomorrow.
Bruce Morcombe told the Brisbane Supreme Court Cowan's actions had ripped his family apart and he was haunted by thoughts of the "unspeakable" things he had done.
He said Cowan had robbed Daniel, a child who would never hurt a fly, of 70 years of life.
"You made one monumental mistake that day," he told Cowan.
"You picked on the wrong family. Our collective determination to find Daniel and expose a child killer was always going to win."
Crown prosecutor Michael Byrne read out Denise Morcombe's victim impact statement.
She wrote about the love for her son Daniel, an innocent boy who loved animals and wouldn't have hurt a soul.
Ms Morcombe still had nightmares and was haunted by images of her son lying in "dark eerie bushland being destroyed by wild animals".
"I made a vow to Daniel I would find out where he is and justice will be done," she said in her victim impact statement.
"I have lived and breathed each day to find the answers."
She said Cowan was a "sexual freak" who had no respect for human life.
"This day hasn't brought closure, but the streets are safer without you walking them and looking for your next target to destroy."
Wearing a grey suit, Cowan stared straight ahead and showed no emotion when the verdicts were handed down.
Asked whether he had anything to say as to why sentence shouldn't be passed on him, Cowan replied: "No".
The jury had deliberated for more than seven hours before finding Cown guilty on all three charges.
Justice Roslyn Atkinson thanked jurors before dismissing them.
"You've brought an end to this terrible case, you've considered all the evidence, you considered your verdict very carefully," she said.
"I have noted throughout the trial the careful attention you have given to all of the evidence.
"You have been a truly magnificent jury and I thank you very, very much for what you've done and I excuse you from further jury service."
Bruce and Denise Morcombe, Daniel's parents, will not be speaking to media until after sentencing.
But a statement from Denise and Bruce Morecombe, posted on the Daniel Morcombe Foundation Page read:
'Compelling Evidence has proven beyond reasonable doubt Cowan's guilt. Thanks largely to the Covert Police involved and SES searchers plus scientific experts, a child killer has been exposed.
'On behalf of our entire family we thank everyone who has contributed to finding the answers and especially for never forgetting Daniel. Please support Daniel's legacy of Keeping Kids Safe through the initiatives of the Daniel Morcombe Foundation.'
You can make a donation HERE.
Denise also tweeted out 'justice from my boy finally'.
Queensland Police did make a statement after the verdict, saying they were 'very pleased with the guilty verdict, this has been a protracted investigation'.
Daniel was abducted while waiting for a bus at Woombye on December 7, 2003.
His disappearance became one of the most high profile missing persons cases in the country.
More than 100 witnesses including Daniel's parents Bruce and Denise Morcombe testified during Cowan's four-and-a-half-week trial.
More than 200 items of evidence were submitted, including video and audio recordings of Cowan confessing to undercover police that he killed Daniel.
Cowan was arrested in August 2011 following a lengthy police investigation and undercover operation.
Covert police officers posing as criminal gang members tricked Cowan into confessing to the murder and revealing where he dumped Daniel's body.
The schoolboy's remains were discovered in bushland at the Glass House mountains, in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, close to where Cowan said they would be.
THE STING THAT CAUGHT DANIEL'S KILLER
Queensland police knew who was responsible for Daniel Morcombe's murder but they just needed two things - a confession and a body.
The 13-year-old's disappearance in 2003 had baffled police for seven years even though the investigation would become their largest ever.
But a coronial inquest in 2010 and 2011 put convicted child molester Brett Peter Cowan firmly in the spotlight.
Cowan, now 44, had been a suspect almost from day one, but had been essentially excluded after police concluded he had only half an hour to have committed the offence.
However, the former truck driver's alibi fell apart at the inquest when his drug dealer and her partner said they couldn't recall him visiting them the afternoon of Daniel's disappearance.
Meanwhile counsel assisting the coroner Peter Johns pointed out that Cowan had abducted and raped boys within half-an-hour twice before.
By the time Cowan had finished testifying, police bosses had given the green light to an undercover police operation so elaborate it could have come straight from the pages of a crime novel.
On his April 2011 flight back to his new home town of Perth the suspect got talking to a friendly and likeable young man in the next seat.
He and "Joe" exchanged phone numbers and met several times over the next few weeks.
Joe was actually an undercover police officer.
"At this stage I was still just building rapport and trying to build a relationship with Mr Cowan," the officer would later tell Cowan's trial.
Joe had some friends - "Fitzy" and "Jeff" - who portrayed themselves as members of a powerful criminal gang whose mantra was "loyalty, honesty and respect".
Cowan was given $150 to help Joe stake out the arrivals gate at Perth Airport for a man the crime gang was interested in.
In the following months he was involved in 23 more crime scenarios including bribing a customs officer and trafficking weapons, illegal crayfish and even blood diamonds from Africa.
The unemployed drifter told his new friends the easy money and mateship were what "dreams are made of".
"I found the job that I've been waiting for all these years," Cowan said, unaware the conversation was being recorded.
Cowan was told he could earn $100,000 on a big job but there was a catch - the gang had learned he would be subpoenaed for another probe into Daniel Morcombe's disappearance.
In a plush Perth hotel room, the gang's "big boss" suggested Cowan would be "dropped like a hot potato" unless he confessed.
The syndicate needed to know details so it could "fix" any evidence Cowan may have left behind.
"Yeah, ok, you know, yeah, I did it," Cowan said before matter-of-factly describing how he'd lured Daniel into his car, driven him to an isolated spot, pulled his pants down and choked him.
Cowan's detailed and chilling confession was recorded on a hidden camera and the video was played at his trial almost three years later.
Audio recorded when Cowan showed undercover police the bushland site where he dumped Daniel's body was also used as evidence against him.
The teen's remains were found almost exactly where the killer said they would be.
The 44-year-old was on Thursday found guilty of indecently dealing with Daniel Morcombe, murdering him and interfering with his corpse.
RECENT HISTORY OF EVENTS
November 26, 2012: Timeline: The Case of Daniel Morcombe
November 27, 2012: Forensic experts testify at Morcombe hearing
November 28, 2012: No sign of trauma on Morcombe bones
November 29, 2012: Lawyers consent to release Morcombe remains to family
November 30, 2012: Morcombe family prepares for Daniel's funeral
December 4, 2012: Thousands predicted to attend Daniel's funeral
December 7, 2012: Community farewells Daniel Morcombe 9 years after disappearance
December 6, 2012: 'Scruffy-looking man' seen approaching Morcombe
February 2, 2013: Witness in Morcombe case has hazy memory
February 5, 2013: Daniel Morcombe not molested, court told
May 14, 2013: Morcombe accused to face trial 'this year'
September 5, 2013: Brett Peter Cowan's trial set for February start
November 5, 2013: Reporting restricted on Morcombe trial
February 9, 2014: Morcombe-accused's murder trial set to start
February 10, 2014: Bruce and Denise Morcombe face Daniel's accused killer
February 11, 2014: Morcombe dead within an hour of disappearance: prosecution
February 12, 2014: Perth sting led to Morcombe confession
February 13, 2014: SES volunteers, police divers tell of finding Morcombe remains, clothing
February 17, 2014: 'Gaunt' man linked to Morcombe murder
February 18, 2014: Blue car linked to murder of Daniel Morcombe
February 19, 2014: Bus driver denies passenger asked him to stop to pick up Morcombe
February 20, 2014: Morcombe accused 'returned to crime scene'
February 24, 2014: 'Crucial gap in time' for Morcombe accused
February 25, 2014: Pedophile says he didn't kill Daniel Morcombe
February 26, 2014: Covert officers posed as criminals in Morcombe operation
February 27, 2014: Court hears Morcombe-accused's confession
March 3, 2014: Morcombe's final moments told to jury
March 4, 2014: Morcombe jury visits crime scene
March 7, 2014: Prosecution closes case against Morcombe's accused killer
March 10, 2014: Morcombe jury told to focus on confession
March 11, 2014: Morcombe trial wraps up with warning
March12, 2014: Jury out on Morcombe's accused killer
