Coroner finds Geoffrey Charles Hunt strangled Lucille Butterworth in 47-year-old Hobart cold case
A coroner has named Tasmanian man Geoffrey Charles Hunt as a killer but it will be up to prosecutors to decide whether to lay charges.
After an inquest spanning several months, coroner Simon Cooper on Monday said Hunt was responsible for the August 1969 disappearance from a suburban bus stop of aspiring Hobart model Lucille Gaye Butterworth, 20.
Lucille Gaye Butterworth disappeared in 1969. Source: Sunday Night
Geoffrey Charles Hunt. Photo: Sunday Night
Living across the road from Ms Butterworth's boyfriend at the time, Hunt offered the blonde typist a lift and killed her a short time later, Mr Cooper said.
"On the journey ... Mr Hunt stopped the (car), strangled Miss Butterworth in the vehicle and thereafter disposed of her body on the southern bank of the Derwent River.
Geoffrey Hunt's brother told Sunday Night there was a 'good possibility' his brother killed Lucille Butterworth. Photo: Sunday Night
"I am unable to make any finding as to whether Miss Butterworth was alive or dead when Mr hunt disposed of her body."
Her remains have never been found in a case that has baffled investigators, intrigued the community and broken a family.
Lucille Butterworth's remains were never found. Source: Missing Persons
"In the absence of any medical evidence I am unable to find the precise cause of death," Mr Cooper said.
Hunt, who has previously served jail time for the early 1970s murder of Hobart car saleswoman Susan Knight, gave evidence at the inquest.
The dig site
He told the court he had nothing to do with Ms Butterworth's disappearance and the first he heard of it was in the news.
It will be up to Tasmania's Director of Public Prosecutions to assess Mr Cooper's findings and decide whether to charge Hunt.
The coroner also found that the initial police case, which was treated as that of a runaway, was lacking in effort.
"There is no doubt in my mind that had the matter been investigated properly perhaps in 1969 and 1970 ... then the grief and anxiety experienced by Miss Butterworth's family may well have been lessened," he said.
However, he added that subsequent investigations have been thorough.
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