Murder At The Gorge
This is my story as told to the Victorian Homicide Squad in 2005. At that time I was approached by Detective Sergeant Wayne Newman to recount a story that was disclosed to police at the time of Derek Percy's arrest for the murder of Yvonne Tuohy at Warneet in 1970. The case had gone cold for 30 years and Wayne led the team to try to link other crimes to Percy. My life long friend Bill Hutton and I gave statements to the Homicide Squad about what we witnessed on a warm summers day in December, 1964.
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On that Sunday afternoon, Bill Hutton and myself headed up to the Gorge on the West Kiewa river, as this was our haven for swimming, fun and adventure. We were just two 16 year old mates enjoying the natural surrounds and we were just about to witness the un-natural, that would stay with us for the rest of our lives. Not so much of what we saw but what was not believed of us thereafter, until it was too late for any intervention to prevent what was about to occur over the next 5 treacherous years, for several young girls and boys. The Gorge was well known to locals and was a good 5km walk from the Mt Beauty township.
We head up behind the Chalet and along the SEC race line, meeting up with a fire access track. This leads to the West Kiewa river at the old broken-down bridge site, then the road follows the river upstream, increasing in height to about 100 metres above the south side of the river.The pools below are a crystal clear blue and massive flat and odd shaped rocks line their rugged banks. |
As we neared our favourite Indian Face rock, we noticed a figure down on the rocks at one of the larger swimming holes. It appeared to be a young girl in a petticoat. Bill thought there may have been some girls skinny dipping and we went closer to get a better look. As we crept closer, we realized it was a school mate, Derek Percy, wearing a silky, see-through pink coloured negligee. That's Percy we both retorted. Bill picked up a yonnee and was just about to chuck it, when I said, "Hang on Bill, let's watch and see what he does. This is not very normal". Bill agreed and we lay down on the road embankment and could not believe what was about to unfold. Derek started dancing around in a tribal manner, waving a large knife that he had in one hand and he made strange sounds, as he leapt backwards and forwards. He then transfixed his eyes on the water and stood there suspended in time for quite a while.
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Percy then started slashing the the women's clothing in a violent and aggressive manner, concluding with his stabbing at the crotch of the knickers. His demeanour had changed and we could feel coldly that there was a very sinister and ugly behaviour attached to this boy. Percy then took off the slashed pink petticoat and stood naked at the water's edge.
The photo at right is the actual location at the gorge where Percy was seen acting very weirdly by Kim White and Bill Hutton in 1964. Bill walked up to the location in early 2014 and took many photos. We both agreed that this was the location. Kim's editing of the photo shows where Percy was standing on that day and Kim and Bill in the foreground watching from the road embankment about 70 metres away. Considerable time went by and he again seemed deep in thought. He then squatted down and defecated into the water. He got dressed into his clothes and with the women's clothes under his arm, he rock-hopped down the river. |
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We were not to know that what we had just witnessed, was very relevant to the cases investigated by the Homicide squad, many years later. There was a knife involved, slashing of the bodies in a ritualistic manner, slashing of the clothes, defecating on the bodies and always, the crimes were connected with water. All of these facts were crucial to the linking of the many cases that Percy was thought to have committed.
We then followed Percy back along the track keeping him in view down on the river. He stopped at the old bridge, hid the women's clothes under a rock, took his bike out from behind some bushes and rode off back to Mt Beauty. With him well out of sight, we confirmed that he had hid the women's clothes under the rock and we left them untouched.
We looked at each other in amazement at what we had just witnessed. Then the realisation hit us that he may have killed someone up there on the river where he was thrashing about. Murder at the Gorge! Had we arrived after the event too late to prevent it, or at least witness it. No, it wasn't possible. Not in a quiet town like Mt Beauty! Up we went with our hearts racing, looking around, prepared for a grizzly find. After searching for some time, we concluded that there wasn't a body or else he had hidden it very well. I knelt down to have a drink from the pool and Bill said "Look out Whitey, here comes Percy's floating turd!" That last gulp of water sprayed across the river as I leapt up and yelled and spat.
The next day at school, we were determined to see Percy squirm in front of his peers. So at the first recess on the oval, we had our best chance, as about 12 mates were gathered. I loudly said, "Hey Derek, what were you doing up the gorge yesterday?" Derek had this nervous habit of spitting and he then began to spit to one side as he quickly replied, "I wasn't up the gorge yesterday." "Yes you were, Bill and I saw you. You were dressed in women's clothing!" Derek just kept repeating that he wasn't up there. His answer to detectives right up until he died of cancer in 2013, when asked of his involvement in 9 murders, was "I don't think I was there, I can't remember." Maybe, he really believed that he wasn't up the gorge. We will never know!
The biggest tragedy to come was that when we told the Vice Principal of the school of what we had witnessed, his reply was that we should not be spreading rumours and not to go bringing up things like that. How times change! If Percy's behaviour was alleged to have happened around any school these days, there would be an immediate, serious and thorough investigation. Had that been the case, there is a possibility that 9 young children would be still alive today.
We then followed Percy back along the track keeping him in view down on the river. He stopped at the old bridge, hid the women's clothes under a rock, took his bike out from behind some bushes and rode off back to Mt Beauty. With him well out of sight, we confirmed that he had hid the women's clothes under the rock and we left them untouched.
We looked at each other in amazement at what we had just witnessed. Then the realisation hit us that he may have killed someone up there on the river where he was thrashing about. Murder at the Gorge! Had we arrived after the event too late to prevent it, or at least witness it. No, it wasn't possible. Not in a quiet town like Mt Beauty! Up we went with our hearts racing, looking around, prepared for a grizzly find. After searching for some time, we concluded that there wasn't a body or else he had hidden it very well. I knelt down to have a drink from the pool and Bill said "Look out Whitey, here comes Percy's floating turd!" That last gulp of water sprayed across the river as I leapt up and yelled and spat.
The next day at school, we were determined to see Percy squirm in front of his peers. So at the first recess on the oval, we had our best chance, as about 12 mates were gathered. I loudly said, "Hey Derek, what were you doing up the gorge yesterday?" Derek had this nervous habit of spitting and he then began to spit to one side as he quickly replied, "I wasn't up the gorge yesterday." "Yes you were, Bill and I saw you. You were dressed in women's clothing!" Derek just kept repeating that he wasn't up there. His answer to detectives right up until he died of cancer in 2013, when asked of his involvement in 9 murders, was "I don't think I was there, I can't remember." Maybe, he really believed that he wasn't up the gorge. We will never know!
The biggest tragedy to come was that when we told the Vice Principal of the school of what we had witnessed, his reply was that we should not be spreading rumours and not to go bringing up things like that. How times change! If Percy's behaviour was alleged to have happened around any school these days, there would be an immediate, serious and thorough investigation. Had that been the case, there is a possibility that 9 young children would be still alive today.
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You may ask, why my story is called "Murder At The Gorge." Well, there may not have been a murder at the gorge on that day, but the gorge was where murderous thoughts and actions were played out.
There is little doubt that the several murders occurring after the gorge incident, considered to have been at the hands of Percy, may have been prevented, had there been serious and early intervention into Percy's strange behaviour. Bill and I have lived with this haunting thought ever since. Maybe Bill should have tossed that yonnie and struck Percy between the eyes and dropped him. Then again, knowing Bill and his cricket arm, he would have missed and anything could have resulted! The novel pictured at right, by Alan Whitaker, who interviewed Bill and myself and used our story and photos in his book. It traces the links to other crimes that made them all so eerie and tragic and why it was so important for our story to be told. It is a very good and accurate read and I recommended it to you.
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