A 40-year murder mystery has taken another dramatic twist with sensational new claims the victim 's husband confessed to the triple killing on his deathbed . Queensland Police are investigating whether Bill McCulkin admitted shortly before he died in 2011 to killing his wife , Barbara , 34 , and their two daughters , Vicki , 13 , and Leanne , 11 . Mrs McCulkin and her daughters disappeared from their Brisbane home in January 1974 , and have not been seen since . Scroll down for video . Barbara McCulkin ( right ) , 34 , and their two daughters , Vicki , 13 , and Leanne , 11 , disappeared in January 1974 . The case has become one of Australia 's most enduring cold-case mysteries . But a major break may have come in the case recenty , when a witness to McCulkin 's alleged confession gave a statement to police . Police are trying to reconcile inconsistencies between the supposed confession and the other clues in the investigation and the conclusions detectives have reached previously . McCulkin , a petty gangster , reportedly took up with another woman just two months before his former partner and her girls disappeared . He was initially a suspect , but was later cleared of being involved in the crime . Vicki McCulkin , 13 , Barbara McCulkin , 34 , and her sister Barbara , 11 , in 1974 . Vince O'Dempsey ( left ) leaves Southport watchhouse in December 1989 , and Billy McCulkin ( right ) outside court in 1980 . Leanne McCulkin ( left ) and Barbara McCulkin befor etheir disappearance and murder . The court was told the motive for the killings was allegedly that Barbara McCulkin knew too much about the gang ’ s involvement in the Torino ’ s Nightclub fire , according to the Courier Mail . Crown prosecutor David Meredith argued Barbara ’ s loose lips were proof of motive for murder . Dubois and O'Dempsey face three counts of murder and deprivation of liberty . They are due back in court later this month . Vincent O'Dempsey on his farming property before his arrest . Gary Dubois ( left ) was charged with the murders along with O'Dempsey ( right ) Dubois and O'Dempsey are believed to be linked to the The Whiskey Au Go Go Nightclub fire through their involvement with the Clockwork Orange Gang . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article .
Victim 's husband allegedly confessed to murders on his deathbed . Leanne McCulkin had been cleared by police of killing wife and children . Barbara , 34 , Vicki , 13 , and Bill McCulkin , 11 , disappeared in 1974 . Gary Reginald Dubois and Vincent O'Dempsey charged in last year . McCulkin 's alleged confessors does not match with police investigation . Dubois and O'Dempsey were not granted bail by Brisbane court this week .