The retired carpenter charged with the murder of the Mackay sisters confessed to an apprentice in 1975 that he had killed the girls, Townsville Supreme Court heard yesterday.
John Hill, 40, a building manager of the Sunshine Coast, told the court he worked as Arthur Stanley Brown's apprentice for about 18 months in the mid-1970s.
Mr Brown, 87, has pleaded not guilty to charges of murdering Susan Mackay, 5, and her sister Judith, 7, sexually assaulting them and depriving them of their liberty in August 1970.
Mr Hill said that one day in 1975, when he was a 16-year-old apprentice working with Mr Brown, they were driving past the Townsville police station and saw an FJ Holden parked outside it.
The car jogged Mr Hill's memory as he recalled that police investigating the Mackay sisters murders had been searching for an FJ Holden.
Mr Hill said he remarked to Mr Brown that police had still not solved the murders and probably never would.
He said Mr Brown replied: "I know all about that. I did it."
He said Mr Brown was not the kind of person to tell jokes, but he did not believe the confession because it was totally out of character.
It was for this reason that he did not tell anybody about the confession until December last year, when he contacted police after hearing that Mr Brown had been arrested and charged with the murders.
The trial continues.
Further articles from The Australian and The Weekend Australian: