Brother of alleged Lucille Butterworth killer says 'good possibility' he murdered her
The brother of Geoffrey Charles Hunt, the main person of interest in the cold case disappearance of Lucille Butterworth, says there is a 'very good possibility' he killed her.
The man, who did not want his first name revealed in the Sunday Night interview described his brother as a 'ticking time-bomb'.
He said: "I thought he was possibly a time-bomb ready to explode and I didn't know which way it would go.
"On the evidence that i have been told, the information that has been passed onto me and my experience of growing up with him in those early years and leading up to that I think i said he was like a time-bomb ready to explode
"So putting it all together I would have to say a very good possibility, possibly yes."
Almost 46 years to the day that she vanished, Lucille Butterworth's brothers and fiance are together again for the inquest they’ve been waiting for for most of their lives.
Police are currently searching for her remains.
Tasmanian model and bride-to-be Lucille was dismissed as a runaway, despite compelling leads and vital clues to the contrary.
Now a coronial investigation has begun and the focus is on Mr Hunt — the main person of interest in the disappearance and presumed murder of Lucille Butterworth.
In 1969 the then 19 year old albino lived with his four brothers and a sister opposite Lucille’s fiancé John in New Norfolk, Tasmania.
His younger brother, who would not reveal his name, spoke exclusively to Sunday Night's Mike Willesee about the allegations.
He said Geoffrey couldn’t put a foot wrong in the eyes of his parents but he saw something 'emotionally wrong with him'.
"I always thought there was something emotionally wrong with him but in those days you know you've got to understand back in the 60s, if someone had a fulltime job, had a car, was saving money, they were probably the ideal son."
"I didn't see it that way."
He confessed to Willesee that he thought there was a 'good possibility' Geoffrey had killed Lucille.
"On the evidence that I've been told and the information that's been passed onto me and my experience of growing up with him … he was like a time bomb ready to explode.
"So putting it all together I'd have to say a very good possibility. Possibly yes."
But all those years ago police didn’t even have him in the frame, despite a catalogue of incidents before and after her murder
In 1969, in the weeks leading up to Lucille’s disappearance, her good friend Jill Wilcox reported being harassed and stalked by a white haired man.
Chillingly it happened on the same stretch of road where police are now digging for Lucille’s remains.
A white haired man then lured local car sales assistant Susan Knight to an isolated road outside Hobart, raped her then bashed her skull with a rock.
Finally Geoffrey was arrested, charged and sent to jail for the term of his natural life. But after a change in sentencing laws was released in 2000. He is on parole until 2020.
When Geoffrey Hunt confessed to Susan Knight’s murder, it’s alleged that he also admitted killing Lucille Butterworth. He explained in detail to two detectives how he had done it. But when they reported this to their senior officer Detective Inspector Aub Canning, he told them they were wrong
Geoffrey Hunt is yet to take the stand at Lucille’s inquest but the Butterworth’s and John Fitzgerald can’t thank today’s police enough for breathing new life into the coldest of cases.
"We're hoping that in some way shape or form, closure can be given to the Butterworth family in relation to Lucille." Det Inspector David Plumpton said.
