Brett Peter Cowan

Brett Peter Cowan (born 18 September 1969) is an Australian murderer and child rapist.

Cowan was born on 18 September 1969 in Bunbury, Western Australia, to Marlene, a homemaker and RSL worker, and Peter Cowan, an Australian Army Major and Vietnam veteran.

He was the third of four boys.

The Cowans headed a strict household and gave their children a Catholic upbringing, and were, by many accounts, a "good family".

Cowan's father was often absent due to his Army responsibilities, and suffered from PTSD.

In the early 1970s, the family relocated to Brisbane, Queensland, eventually settling in the suburb of Everton Park.

Cowan and his three brothers attended Marcellin College, now known as Mt Maria College, an independent Catholic high school in Mitchelton in northside Brisbane.

Cowan's year nine English teacher claimed that Cowan was something of a bully who taunted other students, who would proudly parade around with erections and was "despised by his peers".

Conversely, other students at his school remembered him as being an "ordinary guy" with few hobbies or social interests who "seemed alright".

Cowan dropped out of school in year ten and began working odd jobs throughout his late teens, never holding down employment in one position for longer than a few months.

Cowan also struggled to come to terms with his bisexuality.

He proved difficult for his mother, who said he was a "handful" as a child, becoming a difficult teenager, occasionally stealing from her.

His problems escalated as he became involved in petty crime; his first criminal conviction came at the age of 17.

By that time, he regularly used LSD, cocaine, and methamphetamines.

He later stated of his drug use: "They do fuck your inhibitions up … you know, your boundaries."

He was in the Boys Brigade.

Cowan's theft and drug offences with the law had resulted in him performing community service duties at a public park in Brisbane.

Cowan had two previous convictions for sexually abusing children, the earliest dating back to 1987.

The investigation into Morcombe's disappearance became the highest profile crime case in Queensland's history.

On 5 December 1987, during one of these community service sessions, when Cowan was 18 years old, he took a 7-year-old child from the park into a toilet cubicle and raped him.

Cowan's demeanour subsequent to the attack was casual, as he proceeded to watch television inside the childcare centre where he was performing maintenance duties.

A background check conducted by the officers also revealed his former molestation conviction in 1987.

Police contacted him once again with the evidence, and he quickly confessed to the rape.

Cowan was sentenced to two years' jail in 1989, but only served half of that sentence.

In September 1993, while living at a Darwin caravan park with his 18-year-old girlfriend Tracey Haneveld, Cowan lured a 6-year-old boy into an abandoned car yard and raped him.

The boy was left in an abandoned car in the bush with a punctured lung due to the force of the act and several cuts.

The boy stumbled into a petrol station, dazed and distraught, and the police were called immediately.

They initially assumed the boy had been hit by a car because of the extent of his injuries.

Cowan initially denied his involvement, going to considerable length to portray his innocence by stating to the police, "I hope you catch the bastard".

However, the officers quickly discovered that Cowan was the only man in the caravan park not to offer up a DNA sample after semen was found on the boy's discarded underwear.

Cowan was sentenced in 1994 in the Northern Territory Supreme Court to serve seven years in jail for various charges: grievous harm, deprivation of liberty, and gross indecency; however, more severe charges, such as attempted murder, were dropped prior to the trial.

He was then only required to serve 3.5 years.

Psychological assessments followed, and Cowan was deemed as a pathological liar who lived a "parasitic existence", relying mostly on his parents to support him.

The psychologist also discovered a gross lack of awareness on behalf of Cowan, who believed that his victim "would not report the case" because he "probably enjoyed" the experience.

Haneveld confronted Cowan in prison and asked if he was involved.

He was convicted of the Murder of Daniel Morcombe, a 13-year-old boy who disappeared from the Sunshine Coast on 7 December 2003.

His abduction led to an eight-year investigation involving various suspects.

As a result of these investigations, Cowan led undercover police to a potential burial site.

He was charged with the murder that same month, and Morcombe's remains were discovered days later on 17 August.

Cowan was sentenced to life imprisonment, (being eligible for parole in 2031) on 13 March 2014 in a trial that attracted worldwide attention.