Ex-cop missing, likely killed by wife's lover

An Air Force veteran and former police officer who disappeared without a trace more than 50 years ago was likely shot and killed 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 early the next morning, sparking a search and investigation.

Police at the time questioned the couple's neighbor, Alvin Feuerhammer, then 25, but the overall investigation “ended” with no bodies found.

In his findings released on Thursday, coroner Simon Cooper ruled that Mr Feuerhammer had most likely shot Mr Down and then disposed of his body using his utility vehicle.

Mr Feuerhammer committed suicide in 1994 in Queensland after murdering his wife with a .22 rifle.

Mr Down's disappearance was reported to the coroner in 2020, sparking an inquest which held a public hearing in February.

The initial police investigation focused “sharply” on Mr Feuerhammer after it became apparent 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, a relationship which she ended shortly before her husband's disappearance.

Mr Cooper said Ms Down told police “something to the effect that he would cause her as much pain as she had caused him”.

Mr. Cooper called Mr. Feuerhammer's accounts to police inconsistent.

Mr. Feuerhammer told investigators that he invited Mr. Down to his home on the night of Aug. 7, 1969, to repair a television stand that he said had a bullet hole from an earlier accident.

He said Mr Down, who was a truck driver with the Royal Australian Air Force in Japan after World War II, left without repairing the furniture.

Before a formal police interview on August 18, Mr Feuerhammer went to a police officer's home and said: “I thought about (Mr) Down and maybe I would have done something to him thing”.

He also said: “I still think I may have washed the back of the ute that night (Mr.) Down went missing…but I don't know if that really happened”.

Mr. Cooper said Mr. Feuerhammer's comments were not discussed during the formal interview and it was unclear whether the detectives interviewing him knew about them.

“(He) made a number of statements… which must have, at the time and certainly today, raised suspicion that he was responsible for Mr Down's disappearance,” Mr Down said. Cooper.

Mr Feuerhammer's usually muddy ute was found “remarkably clean” the day after Mr Down went missing.

A witness said that at 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 to drive at 9pm to collect a pack of cigarettes.

Mr Cooper said the police response in 1969 was quick and thorough by the standards of the time and examinations revealed no new information or a potential grave site.

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