A man with a long history of preying on children was found guilty today of murder and interfering with a corpse in one of Australia's biggest-ever missing person's cases.
Father-of-three Brett Peter Cowan, 44, pleaded not guilty to the charges relating to the killing of Daniel Morcombe, 13, who was last seen waiting for a bus in northern Queensland in 2003.
His disappearance sparked a massive nationwide hunt, followed by years of false leads and dead ends avidly followed by public and press alike.
Cowan faces a life sentence for the murder with a minimum of 15 years without parole. He is expected to be sentenced next week.
The case came to trial after an inquest in 2011 prompted a breakthrough which saw Cowan charged with Morcombe's abduction and murder after being caught in an undercover sting confessing to the killing.
Police began searching the Beerburrum State Forest for the teenager's remains, where they found his bones in 2013.
