Ninety-seven years ago, two notorious murderers were seen in public where they should not have been. I told a version of this story on West Bremer Radio.

The Ipswich Show in Queensland is on this weekend. It has had a number of concerning events over its one hundred and fifty-one years. In 1951 a man died while watching the ring events; in 1948 police were called to investigate stolen champion chickens; in 1940 a monkey escaped and terrorised women; in 1939 a nurse was flung from the Chair-o-plane ride; and in 1936 a champion Clydesdale was murdered.

But go back a bit further for an incredible sighting. It was at the 1927 Ipswich Show that began almost a century ago on the 18th of May 1927.

The highlight of the day was easily the splendid performance in the grand champion home milking competition by Queenie. She was owned by Mr. Wilhelm Martin Krause of Brooklyn Farm, Lanefield. Wilhelm was a councillor on the Rosewood Shire Council, but it was his cow Queenie who was the star. Queenie’s yield in twenty-four hours was seventy pounds of milk, that’s over seven-and-a-half gallons or thirty-four litres, to set an amazing new record.

But there was a more macabre presence seen at the Ipswich Show that year.

It was the appearance of Phillip Treffene and William Coulter. If those names don’t mean anything to you, then it’s probably a good thing.

They were discovered illegally processing gold in the Western Australian bush outside of Kalgoorlie. They were surprised by two police officers, and so they shot both policemen dead, mutilated and burned the bodies, and dumped them down a disused mineshaft.

This is still considered today the worst murders ever committed against police officers in Australia, and at the time it received world-wide attention.

The policemen they murdered were John Walsh and Alexander Pitman. Just a fortnight ago a new memorial was unveiled in Western Australia honouring the two of them.

With the help of Aboriginal trackers, the murderers Treffene and Coulter would eventually be captured, convicted and executed. They also had an accomplice who helped dispose of the bodies, but he turned King’s evidence and avoided justice, which was much to the disgust of the jury hearing the case.

But at the Ipswich Show, their appearance was quite bizarre and a bit off. Coulter was seen holding a gun, while Treffene held a blood-stained axe. Everyone who saw it was horrified.

But the thing is, spookily, both Coulter and Treffene had actually been executed in Western Australia six months earlier in 1926. It should be noted that capital punishment didn’t exist for Ipswich in Queensland anymore. Queensland’s last hanging had been in 1913 and in 1922 it became the first state in Australia to abolish the death penalty. In Western Australia hanging was still going strong well into the 1960s, while New South Wales was the last state to get rid of the death penalty as recently as 1985.

But what was seen at the Ipswich Show in 1927 was weird. It was the notorious murder scene recreated with dumbies.

Two wax figures of the murderers were there, one sitting and one standing. Between them laid their victims, and the scene was complete with a blood-stained saw.

One man who had personally known both the murderers, said that the wax figures weren’t even close to true likenesses. The only thing that looked like Treffene was his moustache. And the only thing that looked like Coulter was the fact that he did not have a moustache.

Still the public at the Ipswich Show that year didn’t care about detail, because they got to see the infamous executed murderers while the news was still fresh.

These wax figures toured shows across Australia for a number of years, and so you never know what you might find at the show.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO A VERSION OF THIS STORY TOLD LIVE ON WEST BREMER RADIO.

Photo credits:
Detectives Will Not Give Up Hope headlines – Mirror, Perth, 22nd May 1926, page 1.
Wilhelm Krause centre, Lanefield farm, 1925 – State Library of Queensland.
William Charles Coulter and Phillip John Treffene – Mirror, Perth, 12th June 1926, page 1.
Inspector Walsh and Sergeant Pitman – Western Australia Police Historical Society, Facebook page, 2024.
Treffene and Coulter Done in Wax headlines – Truth, Perth, 13th October 1929, page 6.