An Air Force veteran and former police officer who disappeared without a trace more than 50 years ago was likely shot to death by his wife’s lover.
Vincent Edward Down, 43, was last seen at his home in the small coastal town of Bridport, Tasmania, on August 7, 1969.
Mr Down was reported missing by his wife Doreen in the early hours of the following morning, sparking a search and investigation.
At the time, police interviewed the couple’s neighbor, Alvin Feuerhammer, then 25 years old, but the overall investigation “ran out of steam” with no body found.
In findings published on Thursday, coroner Simon Cooper ruled that Feuerhammer most likely shot Down and then disposed of her body with his ute.
Feuerhammer committed suicide in 1994 in Queensland after murdering his wife with a .22 caliber rifle.
Down’s disappearance was reported to the coroner in 2020, leading to an inquest that held a public hearing in February.
Vincent Edward Down, 43, was last seen at his home in the small coastal town of Bridport, Tasmania (pictured) on August 7, 1969.
The initial police investigation focused more on Mr. Feuerhammer after it became clear that he may have been the last person to see Mr. Down alive.
Officers also discovered that Mr. Feuerhammer was having an affair with Ms. Down, something she ended shortly before her husband’s disappearance.
Cooper said Mrs Down had told police “something to the effect that he would cause her as much pain as she had caused him”.
Cooper described Feuerhammer’s accounts to police as inconsistent.
Feuerhammer told investigators that he invited Down to his home on the night of August 7, 1969, to repair a television stand, which he said had a bullet hole in it from a previous accident.
He said Mr Down, who was a Royal Australian Air Force truck driver in Japan after World War II, left without repairing the cabinet.
Before a formal police interview on August 18, Mr Feuerhammer visited an officer’s home and said: “I’ve been thinking about (Mr) Down and I might have done something to him.”
He also said: “I still think he may have dragged the back of the ute that night (Mr) Down went missing… but I don’t know if it really happened.”
Cooper said Feuerhammer’s comments did not come up during the formal interview and it was unclear whether the detectives who interviewed him were aware of them.
“(He) made a number of statements… which then, and certainly now, must have raised suspicions that he was responsible for Mr Down’s disappearance,” Cooper said.
Mr. Feuerhammer’s normally muddy van was found “remarkably clean” the day after Mr. Down disappeared.
A witness said that around 9.30pm on August 7 he saw Mr Feuerhammer driving between Scottsdale and Bridport with the ute’s tray cover in place.
Mr. Feuerhammer said he went out driving at 9 p.m. to buy a pack of cigarettes.
Cooper said the police response in 1969 was prompt and thorough by the standards of the time and that reviews had uncovered no new information or a possible grave site.
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