Shirley Finn

Shirley Finn
Born Shirley June Shewring
1941
Perth, Western Australia
Died June 23, 1975(1975-06-23) (33 years old)[1]
South Perth, Western Australia
Cause of death Murder
Body discovered Royal Perth Golf Club.
Resting place Karrakatta Cemetery, Perth
Nationality Australian
Known for Unsolved murder
Spouse(s) Desmond (Des) Finn (Divorced)(Died 2009)[2]
Partner(s) Rosalie Dean (aka Black)[2]
Children 3

Shirley June Finn, née Shewring (1941 – 23 June 1975) was a prostitute and, at the time of her murder, a brothel keeper of Perth, Western Australia. She was shot dead with four bullets in the head at about midnight on 22-23 June 1975. Her body, dressed in an elaborate ball gown and expensive jewellery, was found at dawn in her car which was parked on a golf course next to a busy freeway.[1] The murder is notable because of Finn's close relationship with police detectives who, in that era, controlled and regulated Perth's prostitution and gambling activities. As of October 2016, the crime remained unsolved despite the fact that Finn was recorded in the company of police officers at a police station less than one hour before her murder.[3]:ch12

Early life and career

A wartime baby, Finn was the eldest child of a bomber pilot, and of necessity was brought up by her mother during her early years. After the war, the family lived in comfortable surroundings in the affluent riverside suburb of Mt Pleasant, where she became a teenager before the birth of her three younger siblings. Though successful at her schoolwork, she was sexually active by age 14, which caused her parents to place her in a notoriously cruel Catholic Church welfare home and eventually to totally disown her.[3]:ch2

Her biographer Juliet Wills recounts that Finn left school at 15 and found work at a city frock shop, where she met her husband-to-be Des Finn, a 22-year-old air-force mechanic. They married in Perth and went to live in Melbourne, where he continued with the RAAF and she worked as a sales assistant at Buckley & Nunn. Her sons Steven and Shane were born in 1959 and 1960 respectively. They transferred back to Perth, where daughter Bridget was born in 1961.[3]:ch1 (Bridget later adopted her mother's maiden name of Shewring).[4] When the husband suffered a serious injury and subsequent mental instability, Shirley Finn was aged 21 and chose sex-oriented activities as a means of supporting her three children, including strip-dancing and body-painting. She also joined a witchcraft coven which conducted "black magic and sex" activities in Kings Park.[3]:ch2 From this she advanced to a career of topless dancing and body painting in association with a travelling fairground boxing troupe. In 1969 Finn was conducting an escort agency which was raided by police, and she was charged and convicted with "keeping premises for the purpose of prostitution."[3]:ch2

Murder

Finn's body was found in her parked car near the 9th fairway of the Royal Perth Golf Club, South Perth.[1][5]

At the time, various rumours regarding the murder attributed it to specific issues relating to prostitution and the way it was being handled by police and government in Perth, but no evidence of this was discovered.[6][7][8]

The murder, and the implied connections with issues relating to policing of the sex industry, resulted in a Royal Commission being held.[9]

Continued interest in Finn's murder, and the lack of evidence, led to periodic speculation as to the murderer's identity, and has been the subject of numerous articles and television pieces and two books - Juliet Wills' 'Dirty Girl' and David Whish-Wilson's crime novel 'Line of Sight'.[10]

On the thirtieth anniversary of the murder—23 June 2005—a cold-case review of the case was announced.[11] An opinion was canvassed that no solution of the case was likely.[12]

Over time, a range of interpretations as to who the murderer was have been speculated upon.[13][14]

In 2014, another cold-case review was launched by WA Police. The following year, the Corruption and Crime Commission confirmed it had received new information about the murder.[15] News reports said a former policeman had spoken about seeing Shirley Finn with detectives in the bar of the old central police station, in East Perth, on the night she was killed.[16] [17]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Wills, Juliet. Finn murder The state sanctioned murder of Shirley Finn
  2. 1 2 Exit the Queen of Vice 1975, Page 117-124, By Alan Sharpe, Vivien Encel, Murder!: 25 True Australian Crimes, Kingsclear Books Pty Ltd, 1997, ISBN 9780908272471
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Wills, Juliet "Dirty Girl: The State Sanctioned Murder of Brothel Madam Shirley Finn", Alto Books, 2015, ISBN 9781921526282
  4. ↑ Shewring, Bridget. "Please tell us the truth!" Plea from Shirley Finn's Daughter, at thestarfish.com.au, 1 June 2015. Accessed 8 April 2016
  5. ↑ "Shirley Finn - found shot dead" The West Australian, 24 June 1975, p.1,5
  6. ↑ Gregory, Jenny (2003) City of light : a history of Perth since the 1950s Perth, W.A. : City of Perth. ISBN 0-9594632-4-0 p.243-249, re containment and issues surrounding prostitution at the time
  7. ↑ Whish-Wilson, David. Shirley Finn at davidwhish-wilson.com
  8. ↑ Adshead, Gary. Cover Story: Shirley Finn - Death of a madam, West Weekend Magazine 17 January 2009, pp.10-15, at davidwhish-wilson.com
  9. ↑ Norris, John Gerald (Commissioner) (1976). Report of the Royal Commission into matters surrounding the administration of the law relating to prostitution. Perth: Government of Western Australia
  10. ↑ "Shirley Finn—police still have not found her killer", Daily News (Perth, W.A.), 23 June 1988 and 24 June 1988, p. 11
  11. ↑ Ambrose, Melanie.(2006) "Cold case." Author Juliet Wills discusses the murder of Finn. Sunday Times (Perth, W.A.), 23 April 2006, STM section, p.10-12
  12. ↑ Kelly, Jim. (2005) "Lawyer Ron Cannon doubtful Shirley Finn's murderer will be found". Sunday Times (Perth, W.A.), 26 June 2005, p.29
  13. ↑ Whish-Wilson, David (interviewee) (8 September 2010), Who killed Shirley Finn?, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Radio National programme "Life Matters", retrieved 18 June 2016 (Listen to full interview audio)
  14. ↑ Foster, Brendan."Perth brothel madam Shirley Finn murder: Royal commission missed 'golden opportunity" Sydney Morning Herald/WA Today, 25 May 2015, at Pandora Archive, National Library of Australia
  15. ↑ Powell, Graeme (21 May 2015). "Shirley Finn death: CCC weighs probe into killing of Perth brothel madam". ABC News. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  16. ↑ "Shirley Finn cold case: Former cop reveals new details about 1975 murder of brothel madam". PerthNow (Sunday Times). 21 May 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  17. ↑ Maumill, Bob (22 May 2015). "Shirley Finn murder: more cops open up". WAtoday [Fairfax Digital]. Retrieved 24 October 2016.

Further reading

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