<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The only person charged over a brutal outback triple murder admitted riding a victim's motorbike 24 hours after he was last seen alive, a court has been told.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Bruce John Preston, 70, today returned to testify at the two-week inquest into the 1978 murders of Karen Edwards, 23, Tim Thomson, 31, and Gordon Twaddle, 21, in outback Queensland.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The three friends were travelling on motorbikes on their way home to Melbourne for the Christmas holidays.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/gladstone-queensland-house-fire/f767b7b3-0dc0-42af-8a56-de66c3317c65" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Tributes pour in for woman, two young boys killed in house fire</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>They were last seen alive at the Moondarra Caravan Park in Mount Isa on October 5 in the company of a man driving a brown and white Toyota LandCruiser.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The trio's decomposing bodies were discovered in bushland at nearby Spear Creek on October 24.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>All three had been shot in the head and their motorbikes, camping equipment, gear and keys were missing.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/former-suspect-in-cold-case-triplemurder-admits-taking-victims-keys/52c95ffd-9c28-411f-949f-fd89612d1359" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>For almost five decades, the crime has remained unsolved, but Queensland coroner David O'Connell has reopened the inquest in the search for answers.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Cold-case detectives charged Preston with three counts of murder in 2019, only for the Crown to drop the circumstantial case in 2023.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>For 47 years, Preston has remained a person of interest in the investigation after being caught in possession of Thomson's missing red BMW motorbike.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He claimed he bought the bike second-hand in Adelaide but had a forged receipt as proof of ownership and was later convicted of stealing the BMW.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>No keys were found at the murder scene, with the victim's pockets turned out.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/terry-phillips-jailed-for-assaulting-former-partner-deported-from-australia-after-plea-to-home-affairs-minister/3b109840-9dc3-4109-a6df-731c7df3889f" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Violent British national deported from Australia after ex-partner's plea</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Preston told the court the keys were in the BMW when he stole it.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The keys are very important, because it would be foolish to suggest that these gentlemen left their keys in their motorcycles when they left the caravan park," counsel assisting John Aberdeen said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"There was no personal property or belongings on any of these three people when they were found - it follows that whoever had those keys must have gotten them from Tim Thomson's body."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Preston said he stood by his testimony that the keys were in the BMW when he took it.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The court heard Preston had told officers he was riding Thomson's bike on October 6 - 24 hours after the trio disappeared.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He only stopped and hid the vehicle when his father warned him to "put the bike away".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I put it away after my father showed me a newspaper article (about the murders) ... He said to put the bike away, get the bike out of sight," Preston said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I got scared - up until then, I thought I was just guilty of stealing a motorcycle.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"All of a sudden, this is bigger than I could ever imagine."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/bali-shooting-three-australian-men-face-death-penalty/ff2492a8-21ec-46c6-90b9-3499f0268245" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Aussie trio could face firing squad in Bali after murder charges</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Preston's father, now deceased, also admitted his son had borrowed the family's LandCruiser - similar to the vehicle seen at the caravan park when the trio disappeared.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He died convinced his son had committed the murders, the court was told.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It's alleged that a vehicle looking very much like your father's vehicle entered Moondarra Caravan Park during the hours of darkness on October 5 and removed camping gear and the tents that had been left there by Karen, Tim and Gordon," Aberdeen said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Preston could not recall borrowing the car that night and said LandCruisers were in "every second driveway".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I can't deny taking the car, but I can't remember," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He had no answer when told police traced only 20 vehicles matching the same colour, make and model in the mining town at the time of the murders.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Preston has claimed privilege against self-incrimination and has been directed to give evidence by the coroner.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Throughout his testimony, the court has repeatedly questioned the veracity of his evidence, warning Preston he was close to perjury.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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