I had 100% alibi, says accused killer of Daniel Morcombe
Daniel Morcombe’s accused murderer told undercover police he had a “hundred per cent” alibi for the Sunshine Coast boy’s disappearance.
Brett Peter Cowan also said he changed his name to Shaddo N-unyah Hunter to avoid attention over the schoolboy’s murder.
An audio recording of conversations between Cowan and covert police officers from Western Australia was played to the jury in the 44-year-old’s murder trial on Thursday.
The conversations occurred in August 2011 after undercover police spent months convincing their target they were members of a powerful criminal gang who wanted to recruit Cowan.
The court has been told it was a ruse to extract a confession from the man suspected of abducting and killing 13-year-old Daniel in December 2003.
An officer posing as a corrupt policeman told Cowan he was to be subpoenaed for a coronial inquest into Daniel’s disappearance.
Cowan replied that he had been a suspect because he lived in the area.
“I know I had nothing to do with it … my alibi is a hundred per cent,” Cowan replied.
He was told the gang could “fix” the issue but Cowan had to be honest with them.
“I don’t give a f*** what you’ve done … as long as you do the right thing by us,” one of the undercover policemen said.
Cowan, whose alias at the time was Shaddo N-unyah Hunter, also told undercover police he changed his name because he wanted to be anonymous after being a suspect in the case.
Shaddo was his dog’s name and he liked the name Hunter.
N-unyah stood for “nunya business”, he said.
Cowan has pleaded not guilty to murder, indecent treatment of a child and interfering with a corpse.
The trial in Supreme Court in Brisbane continues.