Policeman, crime figure in frame for drag queen murder

Sam McKeith |

A rumoured affair with a police officer or an underworld reprisal over drugs are among the possible reasons a beloved Sydney drag queen was gunned down in her apartment in 1985.

A special inquiry into gay hate crimes on Friday heard a series of theories about the unsolved murder of Wendy Waine, who was found dead in her Darlinghurst flat.

The fatal shooting of the 36-year-old had the hallmarks of a professional hit.

A coroner previously found Ms Waine was killed by an unknown person, while police strike force Parrabell, which was set up to investigate potential gay-hate deaths, found insufficient evidence of a bias crime.

Ms Waine’s naked body was found next to her bed with multiple gunshot wounds and bruising to the head consistent with blunt-force trauma.

Counsel assisting the inquiry Kathleen Heath said a realistic possibility was the well known performer was the victim of an LGBTQI-targeted homicide.

“However there are other possible reasons why Ms Waine was murdered that are unrelated to LGBTIQ hate,” she said in a submission.

The killing had the appearance of a professional hit, the inquiry was told, due to the lack of ballistic evidence at the scene, which suggested bullets were removed after the shooting.

There was also a “muzzle abrasion” consistent with the use of an automatic pistol.

“It supports an inference that she was killed by a person who had knowledge of the value of ballistic evidence to investigators,” Ms Heath said.

Another potential motive was as retaliation for Ms Waine “flushing” heroin being packaged for sale in the flat by someone else.

An anonymous witness claimed the murder was set up by notorious underworld figure Neddy Smith because Ms Waine “knew too much”.

Someone Ms Waine was in a relationship with could also have been responsible for the killing and several witnesses spoke of her connection to an officer attached to Darlinghurst Police Station.

Alternatively, a security guard from MSS Security, potentially in a relationship with Ms Waine, could have been responsible, with a neighbour seeing a security guard entering the building before the killing.

Ms Waine was last seen with a tattooed young man in a laneway where she would solicit sex work, Ms Heath said.

“Her work as a street-based sex worker exposed her to significant risks of violence generally,” she said in her submission.

Also in the mix was a call made to a Sydney radio station claiming responsibility for the killing on behalf of the “coven of mercy of fate” but Ms Heath labelled that claim as dubious.

The case involved deficiencies in the police investigation that left loose ends and grounds for serious concern about why lines of inquiry were not pursued, she said.

“Regrettably today we are no closer to knowing the identity of Ms Waine’s killer or potentially killers,” Ms Heath said, adding a “multitude of theories” remained.

Ms Waine’s family, some of whom attended the hearing in person, were devastated by the death of their much-loved relative, who was a mainstay at cabaret bar Pete’s Beat on Oxford Street.

“The shows that she produced have been described as highly professional, extremely colourful and lavish,” Ms Heath said.

“Ms Waine’s stage personality was described as dazzling.”

The eighth block of hearings in the inquiry, which has been probing suspected LGBTQI hate crime deaths in NSW between 1970 and 2010, concluded on Friday.

The commissioner, Supreme Court judge John Sackar, is due to deliver a final report to the government in August.

AAP