Vincent O'Dempsey and Garry Dubois have been handed life sentences for murdering Brisbane mother Barbara McCulkin and her two daughters 43 years ago.
The pair took Mrs McCulkin, 34, and her daughters Vicki, 13, and Leanne, 11, from their Highgate Hill home on the night of January 16, 1974 before killing them in nearby bushland.
Shortly before being handed the life sentence, O'Dempsey, now 78, broke his silence claiming he was innocent of the crimes.
'I never had the slightest reason to harm the three McCulkins in any way,' O'Dempsey said.
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But Justice Peter Applegarth said he was 'completely unconvinced' by the protest of innocence.
When Dubois, also sentenced to life, asked to address the court he was told by the judge to 'shut up'.
'The last hours of the lives of these three defenceless women must have been terrifying,' Justice Applegarth said.
'(Dubois) like a coward did what you were told and raped the other girl. (O'Dempsey) you are beyond redemption.'
The bodies of Mrs McCulkin and her two daughters have never been found.
