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| Janice Teunis |
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| Deb Drummond |
Authors Deb Drummond and Janice Teunis are the grand-daughters of Reginald Brown, convicted of the 1947 murder of his typist Bronia Armstrong in an office above a Brisbane CBD arcade.The aim of their book ‘Lingering Doubts’ is to shed light on the inconsistencies and flaws of the murder investigation and trial, and provide a balanced view on what happened all those years ago. In this, it succeeds admirably.Meticulously researched over an eight year period, the book is extremely well-written, with a structure and flow which carry the reader forward. It becomes patently clear that a great deal of evidence supporting Reg Brown’s story was overlooked or suppressed, as once police had decided he was their man, they focused their investigation on this and excluded any evidence which didn’t fit their theory. At the trial, witnesses whose testimony would have supported Mr Brown were never called, and there were major inadequacies in the defence’s handling of their client’s case.The authors also examine the aftermath of Reg’s conviction and death, and the long-term effects on his family, who were left behind to pick up the pieces. It’s worth noting that the victim of this terrible murder, Bronia Armstrong, and her grieving family, are at all times treated with great respect.I highly recommend ‘Lingering Doubts.’ - Nicholas Bunning
As a young woman Doreen was a visitor to the Wallace Bishop Arcade that Friday afternoon 10 Jan 1947. She said she heard, what she described as, a muffled scream. When she asked the Arcade librarian about the noise, Doreen was informed that the screams had been going on all afternoon; the librarian supposed the rehearsals were taking place across the passageway.The police said the screams came from Bronia Armstrong when our grandfather attacked her in his office. Witnesses told the court they heard between 2 and 100 screams, depending on who was testifying. Our grandfather, Reg Brown, was the only person on record to speak of amateur radio plays and rehearsals .. the police labelled him a liar.
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| Janice, Deb and Jo Booth from Queensland Narrating Service |
Ken Blanch - Review of Lingering Doubts (3 May, 2015)
Lingering Doubts, going inside Brisbane's Arcade Murder provides compelling evidence for the modus operandi of unscrupulous police in mid-20th century Queensland.
What they did in those days was identify a suspect through circumstances and then try to fit the evidence to their suspicions. This led to false conclusions and to the obfuscation of the real facts.
In the old Queensland police force, advancement was very much as a result of success and those seeking it very often were not concerned with how their achievements came about.
Not only did police actively seek evidence that would damage the suspect, they also actively ignored anything that might be in the suspect's favour. This sometimes led to vigorous protection of wrongdoers in the interests of the police and/or politicians.
I have demonstrated this in my recent bookette, Marjorie Norval: the girl a railway station swallowed, about the disappearance of Marjorie Norval in 1938, nine years earlier than Reg Brown's case.
Frank Bischof was involved in investigating that case too. He often boasted to me privately, when I was chief crime reporter for the old Brisbane Telegraph and he headed the CIB during the 1950s, of how he resorted to trickery to disadvantage suspects and even obtain questionably incriminating admissions from them (now known more popularly among police as verballing).
Deb Drummond and Janice Teunis' analysis of likely alternatives for the assumptions police made according to circumstance in their investigation of Bronia Armstrong's death has been thorough and enlightening, and well and truly justifies the title. Congratulations.
