Not more than 100m from the main beach at Surfers Paradise you can find the Beachcomber Resort. Situated down Hanlan Street, the Beachcomber is a somewhat dated 31-storey building that today is surrounded by innumerable shiny, glass laden five-star high rises. It’s a property that’s endured a number of refurbishments, as well as owners, over the years. Still, it retains that classic 1980’s feel – one that most holidayer’s associate with the Gold Coast. The hotel’s reputation has mostly been built on its location – a moderately priced place to stay that sits in the middle of Surfers – only a short walk to Cavill Mall and the Paradise Centre. But to some it remains a building with a dark past. Four decades ago, the Surfers Beachcomber was the scene of a gruesome killing. One that had locals deeply concerned and speaking in hushed tones.
True crime researcher Greg Fox recalls the tragic unsolved murder and renewed hopes a killer can finally be identified through advancements in DNA technologies.
Resort cleaners make a shocking find
Making their morning cleaning rounds on Monday 31st May 1982, room service attendants entered Room 2707. What they would witness before them would remain etched in their memories, a nightmarish scene. A middle-aged man, later to be identified as Owen Edward Crabbe aged 57, lifeless on the floor, face down. Naked except for a pair of trousers wrapped around his neck. Violently beaten with multiple stab wounds including a fatal cut to the throat region. His other injuries included a broken nose, a fractured cheekbone and broken jaw. The victim appeared to be wearing a toupee.
The apartment appeared as if a life and death struggle had occurred inside it. Blood pooled on the carpet near to the victim (and soaked through the underlay to the concrete floor) and splattered onto a wall and a chair. The bed was upended, furniture knocked over and cushions tossed about. Police were taken aback by the ferocity of the killing as more than 30 police including Brisbane homicide squad detectives, and forensic technicians, descended on central Surfers Paradise.
Investigators confirmed within a matter of days that blood from the offender was found on the victim and on surfaces from inside the room. Was this an indication that the offender suffered any injury in the fatal assault? The murder weapon, likely a long-bladed knife, could not be located at the crime scene or anywhere in the building. A search of the landscaped gardens and high-rise rooftops proved fruitless as the Surfers Beachcomber remained in lockdown.
The victim: Who was Owen Crabbe?
Crabbe was known to friends and family as “Eddie”. He lived in Paddington in Brisbane and was employed as a storeman. One report stated that he lived in Surfers Paradise in the mid to late 1960’s with his wife and managed the Plantation Restaurant. Eddie had been separated from his family since 1969, one year after his son Tracey, his only child, was born. By 1982, the boy and his mother were living in Melbourne.
Eddie begun identifying as homosexual from the time he split from his wife. Most knew him to be a personable fellow, quite jovial in his disposition and a smart dresser.
The artist’s sketch
The actual crime scene was depicted in a police illustration which appeared in The Courier Mail, a few weeks after the killing (see below). There’s something off- putting about the artist’s sketch. Maybe it’s the simplicity of the drawing. This style of illustration would perhaps be more suitable located in the comic strip section at the back of a newspaper.
The details in the sketch appear vivid and ring true for the early 1980s. What it shows is a man (Eddie Crabbe) lying prone with their right arm twisted or positioned unnaturally behind his back. The victim’s left arm is straight out, above their head.
We are told in the report that this sketch depicts the lounge room floor of the apartment. The body of Crabbe is laying between what looks to be a coffee table or table of some sort and a two-seater couch. The couch appears as if the cushions are missing. Items displayed on the coffee table include: Hotel room key 272 707, packets of cigarettes – likely Winfield brand, an ashtray, a glass, a bottle of alcohol spirits and what looks like a 1.25 litre glass bottle of Coca-Cola.
Of note – a wallet and documents pouch of the victim were found in the hallway on the 27th floor the day the body was discovered. Crabbe’s dress coat was also missing as well as cash and his keys. The trousers that were allegedly wrapped around the victim’s neck when he was found by the cleaners are not visible in the police sketch. Questions about the trousers continued to puzzle investigators – had they been used in the killing in some strangulation-type scenario? Or was it possible that the pants were placed in that manner to stem the flow of blood from the cut to the victim’s neck – a remorseful gesture, if you will?
Crabbe’s known movements on the coast
This is what we know – based on available media reports:
Crabbe arrived in Surfers Paradise on Friday 28th May and was seen drinking at the Birdwatchers Bar around 1.30pm. He then checked into Surfers Beachcomber, managed by the Quality Inn Group, at 2.30pm and was given the keys to Room 2707 on Level 27. Crabbe had indicated to the front desk staff that two adults would be staying in the room.
The Beachcomber had only been officially opened in March 1982. Crabbe had only stayed at the Beachcomber a fortnight earlier. He was returning to the hotel after being offered $40 a night rate for guests who stay more than 2 nights. Prior to departing Brisbane, he had withdrawn $665 from his building society account. Crabbe had told a friend he was meeting a man on the coast named “Michael”, for a weekend getaway.
Eyewitness reports of Crabbe in the company of a man on the Friday evening inside the reception area of the hotel were credible. The unknown person was described as about 20 years of age, of average height, medium build with an olive complexion and shoulder length hair, light brown in colour and unkempt. The young man was wearing a dark blue shirt with short sleeves and white flared jeans.
Eyewitnesses then placed Crabbe at Flashez Nightclub on the corner of Hamilton Avenue and Gold Coast Highway, after 9.30pm. The following day he was sighted near to the Day and Night Pharmacy on the Gold Coast Highway. Late on that Saturday evening, Crabbe was seen inside Connexions Nightclub in Surfers Paradise. Then at around 12.30am he departed the club and returned to his hotel in the company of a younger man. Police say it is likely the men consumed alcohol in the hotel room before the fatal attack transpired.
The police investigation
Did the sexuality of the victim tarnish the investigation? It’s certainly possible. The early 1980’s was “pre-Fitzgerald Inquiry Queensland”. Police may have been not fully invested to pursue what they could have viewed as an unseemly matter – a brutal murder of a homosexual inside a hotel room on the tourist strip. Were police reluctant to invest resources into the case? They would say no. Higher-ups in law enforcement swiftly promoted their extensive investigation into Crabbe’s killing, stating that over 70 persons had been interviewed early on.
The Gold Coast Bulletin’s coverage focused somewhat overtly on the victim’s sexuality and the local gay scene. That Crabbe was on the Gold Coast for a weekend away, attending nightclubs and socialising with men, may have discouraged eyewitnesses to come forward to police. Similarities were drawn to the May 1979 murder of Sydney driving instructor Vincent Stanley Rix, 50, at the Kinkabool Apartments on Hanlan Street. Both murders occurred in May, inside of high-rises on the same street. Both victims were thought to be middle-aged gay men.
Even forty years later police can’t be certain what may have transpired in the prelude to the killing inside the Beachcomber apartments. Had this been a personal interaction or sexual encounter that turned violent? Or a robbery of sorts, where the offender used deadly force? The Gold Coast Bulletin sensationally claimed that the local gay community was deeply concerned they were being targeted by a crazed “anti-gay” killer. A local homosexual who sat on the committee of the “Gold Coast Gay Community Group” told the newspaper that many of his friends were now being cautious when meeting new people.
“Everyone’s being very careful and certainly thinking twice about who they mix with”, the unidentified man said (he asked to remain anonymous for fear of “reprisal”).
“When you go out and someone friendly approaches you and accepts you for what you are, you tend to trust them”.
Police worked a line of inquiry that had the offender as possibly a martial arts expert. Crabbe’s injuries to the head and face were so extensive that investigators thought he had been kicked with great force. Detective Sergeant Gary Morgan of the Brisbane Homicide Squad speculated to the media the victim may have been attacked with feet (with kicks or stomps) instead of fists, as first thought.
Do you know this man?
Recently technological advances have allowed further analysis of the offender’s blood from Room 2707. At the press conference in 2022, Detective Senior Sergeant Tara Kentwell of the Homicide Cold Case Investigation Team spoke to the public with an update in the case. She confirmed new technologies have allowed a full DNA profile of the offender to be created. Kentwell advised that the updated genetic profile of the offender has yet to be matched to any person on law enforcement or public genealogy databases – within Australia or overseas.
The detective added that an innovative investigative tool “DNA phenotyping” was utilised through external forensic specialists. This tool enables the creation of a digitally enhanced facial image of the individual whom police are seeking. The molecular photofitting used by Parabon Nanolab’s Snapshot Forensic DNA Phenotyping System (their program predicts the persons genetic ancestry and five key facial characteristics – eye colour, hair colour, skin colour, freckling and face morphology) was derived from the unknown blood sample left at the Beachcomber crime scene. This is the first time in Queensland history this technology has been used by law enforcement. In the Crabbe case, the technology highlighted the person of interest as being of Northern European ancestry, with green / blue eyes and light brown or blond hair (see the above image).
After 40 years, time is running out to find Owen Crabbe’s killer. Still, Detective Sergeant Kentwell remained reasonably optimistic about identifying this person.
“We know that there are people out there who can provide crucial information regarding Eddie’s (Crabbe’s) activities and movements around the time of his death” Kentwell implored.
“It’s never too late to come forward, relationships and loyalty change. People who were scared may no longer be and we would encourage those people to come forward.”
Son makes emotional plea
Mr Crabbe’s son Tracey told the media in 2022 that he was still hopeful in achieving closure in his father’s case. The younger Crabbe thought that his dad was likely killed by a random individual he met while socialising that fateful weekend. Tracey Crabbe, who was only 13 at the time of his father’s passing in 1982, added:
“I think by fate he’s met someone who’s obviously got issues … and he’s flipped. To do that to someone, someone who’s a good person, whether they be homosexual or not … to bash someone like that and stab them in the neck, especially back in those days in Queensland, it isn’t a common occurrence.”
Tracey Crabbe became emotional as he asked the public for their assistance in finding the killer.
“Whether you were at one of the clubs that night [or] you saw my father or someone who was a bit not quite right, please come forward”, said Crabbe.
The still grieving son remembered his father as a man of many good personal qualities – not just a victim of a senseless murder.
“He was a very generous person … gave everybody a chance. He was very patient with me and took interest in everything I did.”
A reward of $500,000 is being offered by the Minister of Police and Corrective Services & the Minister of Fire & Emergency Services for information leading to the identification and conviction of the person/s responsible for the murder of Owen Edward Crabbe, aged 57 years, at Surfers Paradise on or about 30 May 1982 – phone Crimestoppers to provide any relevant information related to this matter: 1300 333 000