The Tiki Coffee Lounge murder, Wollongong 1971

From Brothel to Barittos - Murder in the 'Gong!

Illawarra Mercury, 27 July 1971.

Contents

1. Introduction
2. Players
3. Tiki Coffee Lounge
4. Murder
5. Trial
6. Aftermath
7. References

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1. Introduction

The Illawarra region during the 1960s and 1970s was not generally known as a centre of criminal activity. Such a tag was usually associated with the dark alleys of Kings Cross, Darlinghurst, The Rocks, and the nearby dockyards of Sydney, Australia. However, the brutal, cold-blooded murder of Charles Berry at the Tiki Coffee Lounge, Keira Street, Wollongong, early in January 1971 by 'Big John' McHannigan brought local criminal activity to public attention like never before. The brutal mutilation slaying of Wilhelmina Kruger at Wollongong's Piccadilly shopping centre in January 1966 had shocked the nation, but the Berry murder was right out of a 1930s Hollywood gangster movie, with allegations of police corruption and a local police sergeant later resigning over the matter. 

The Tiki Coffee Lounge murder story was both sensational and tragic, with the media revelling in its more salacious details as they were slowly made public. In association with the subsequent murder trial, banner headlines such as Woman Tells of Body Under Tree and Man Jumped on Corpse, Dancer Claims appeared within the local Illawarra Mercury between May and July 1971, pointing to the sad fate of victim Charles Berry. Adding to the scandal was the fact that a prominent local businessman was involved and initially charged with complicity in the murder.

The Tiki case had all the elements of a local criminal underbelly: murder, payoffs, police corruption, prostitution, illegal gambling and stand-over tactics. McHannigan the murderer - if we are to believe reports in the media - was a brutal and callous man. Though he was only 22 at the time, the crime was cold-blooded and premeditated. The subsequent placement of the victim's body in a ceiling cavity of the Tiki Coffee Lounge by 'Big John' and his accomplice Peter Soffe was the most bizarre aspect of the whole affair, bringing to it widespread notoriety.

Perhaps it should be asked - was this incident a mere aberration in the history of Wollongong, an industrial town located to the south of Sydney, or a sign of deep-seated corruption and vice in this third largest city of New South Wales? Brothels, gambling, and even payoffs to police have long existed in Illawarra, however in 1971 such a callous murder was a rare event. In the annals of Illawarra's recent history only two other local slayings have had such an impact on the collective consciousness of the region, these being the Kim Barry murder by Graham Potter in 1981, wherein the victim's head was decapitated; and the brutal murder of cleaner Wilhelmina Kruger in Piccadilly Lane during 1966. The later revenge killing of former lord mayor Frank Harkel was also noteworthy.

The Tiki Coffee Lounge is no more, though brothels continue to operate in the Wollongong district. Today the site of the old brothel is occupied by Amigos Mexican Restaurant, in operation since 1973, whilst the upstairs rooms - once decorated in leopard-skin wallpaper and a gaudy colour scheme meant to enhance the wanton passions of Illawarra clients - are now devoid of such goings-on and accommodate tables and chairs where families can savour Mexican fare. National The smell of cheap perfume and sweaty bodies once filled the air. All is now still, apart from the hum of the restaurant patrons and the aromas of hot cheese and chili. But what of the ghost of Charlie Berry? Does it still haunt the ceiling space where it was so callously placed after the murder, and subsequently extricated with much difficulty? Despite some murmurings in upstairs rooms from time to time, it appears that Charlie's ghost has moved on and is now hopefully resting in peace, with his murderer in jail for life. A brief summary account of the Tiki Coffee Lounge murder case is given below, taken from newspaper accounts and published legal records.

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The Players

Within this account of the murder of Charles Berry the following individuals are referred to:

• Charles David Berry (31). Victim. Manager of the Tiki Coffee Lounge, Wollongong.
• Michael Francis McHannigan (22). Murderer. Manager of Tiki following Berry's murder. Alias 'Big John' and 'John Bayliss'.
• Peter Soffe (31). Doorman at the Tiki. Accomplice to McHannigan.
• Ian Adrian Williamson (24). National Service soldier. Accomplice to McHannigan.
• Anthony Malouf (29). Wollongong businessman. Part owner of the Tiki Coffee Lounge.
• Sergeant Posser - Policeman.
• Beverley Dawn Eames (25). Prostitute/dancer at the Tiki, and girlfriend of Michael McHannigan.
• Bridgette Tolson - Prostitute at the Tiki.
• Laurie Vickery - Policeman.

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The Tiki Coffee Lounge

During 1970 Charles "Charlie" Berry was the manager of the Tiki Coffee Lounge, located in a 2-storey terrace building at 118 Keira Street, Wollongong. The coffee lounge was on the ground floor, with associated brothel rooms and living quarters on the first floor and three doors down to the south. Berry lived at the Tiki with his son Phillip (8), though he also had other premises.

The business was part-owned by Anthony Malouf (39), who in addition operated a gaming house in Wollongong. Tony Abizard had been the manager of the Tiki prior to Berry. The Tiki accommodated both gaming (cards would be played there) and prostitution. The latter transactions would be arranged in the coffee lounge and clients would be taken to the upstairs rooms via the rear courtyard and entrance to the building. At the time, each girl would charge $10 for her services, of which she would receive $5 at the end of the shift. Berry would take the remainder and later give a percentage to Malouf, who would then pass on a further cut to the local policeman, Sergeant Posser and the superintendent of police at Wollongong. Of the card games held at the Tiki, one of the regular participants was Ian Williamson (24), a soldier resident at 1 Cliff Road, Wollongong. Williamson appears to have been a gambler, and his quest for money would later be used by the murderer to implicate him in the crime.

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The Murder

In October of 1970 Michael Francis McHannigan (22) began working at the Tiki as an assistant to Charlie Berry and to provide protection for the prostitutes. McHannigan had previously worked in Sydney. He was known as 'Big John' and was apparently an intimidating man.

Late in December 1970 Anthony Malouf, part-owner of the operation, asked McHannigan if he would like to take over Charlie Berry's job as manager of the Tiki. McHannigan was anxious to do so, though Malouf suggested it would be up to him to arrange for Berry's removal. Around this time Peter Soffe, a New Zealander, also began working at the Tiki as a doorman and general assistant. Of the prostitutes at the Tiki, a Bridgette Tolson was employed from 21 December 1970. Two other girls were also there at the time, one named Vicki and also Beverley Eames. The latter was the girl friend of McHannigan and they would eventually become engaged. 

Following his discussion with Malouf, McHannigan decided that the murder of Berry was the quickest and easiest way for him to assume control of the Tiki.

On the evening of Tuesday, 5 January 1971, Charles Berry was driven home by local policeman Laurie Vickery, an acquaintance. Vickery was beginning his holidays that evening, and upon his return would play a part in the discovery of his friend's fate. On the following evening, 6 January 1971, Berry was asleep in his bed above the Tiki Coffee Lounge. Downstairs a group of men were playing cards, including McHannigan, Soffe, Williamson, and two others. According to Williamson, McHannigan was very drunk at the time. During the game McHannigan and Soffe got up and left the premises for a period. McHannigan headed towards Berry's bedroom, armed with a Browning pistol and a hammer. Upon entering the room he hit Berry on the jaw with the hammer to wake him; Berry sat up in bed and McHannigan then shot him in the head twice. Berry died almost immediately.

McHannigan and Soffe subsequently wrapped Berry's body up in blankets and placed it in the ceiling of the Tiki prior to arranging disposal. They left the room and Williamson remembers hearing them arguing prior to returning to the Tiki. McHannigan later called Williamson out to the back of the Tiki and, throwing him up against a wall, told him that he and Soffe had killed Berry, and threatened that he would do the same to Williamson if he did not help them dispose of the body. McHannigan then took Williamson up to the scene of the crime where he saw blood dripping from the ceiling. Williamson was loathe to assist in the disposal of the body and tried to stay away from McHannigan and Soffe over the next couple of days. However, this proved difficult as he lived and worked in Wollongong.

During the following Thursday and Friday (7 and 8 January 1971) the body remained in the ceiling and began to quickly deteriorate due to the stifling heat of the time, it being the middle of summer. As a result, the prostitutes were forced to use perfumes to mask the smell as they conducted their business in the rooms just below the ceiling cavity. During this period McHannigan and Soffe travelled to the Blue Mountains in Berry's red Ford Falcon GT, looking for a disposal site. By Saturday 9 January the removal of the body was becoming imperative. On that day McHannigan, Soffe, and Williamson travelled to Primbee to arrange disposal of the body, possibly in a furnace. However, they were unsuccessful and later travelled to Seven Mile Beach at Gerringong to search for a suitable site among the sand hills there.

On the morning of Sunday, 10 January, Berry's body was, with much difficulty, removed from the ceiling of the Tiki Coffee Lounge by McHannigan and Soffe, and placed in the boot of Williamson's grey Holden, which was then parked in the small alleyway running off Keira Street besides the terrace buildings. Williamson later drove to Bendalong, where he had spent his holidays over the years, and buried the body there besides a tree. By this time the decomposing body was swelling and black, causing Williamson to be sick as he undertook the burial. Upon returning to Wollongong he had much difficulty in removing the smell of decomposing flesh from his car.

Following the murder and disposal of the body by Williamson on 10 January, all remained quiet at the Tiki Coffee Lounge. McHannigan was the new manager and business continued as usual. Some questions were asked amongst the staff as to what had happened to Charlie, and his friends and family began to get suspicious. Most concerned was Berry's brother, who from 8 January grew increasingly concerned about his brother's disappearance. Malouf told him that Charlie has gone to Melbourne, but the brother did not believe this.

When policeman Laurie Vickery returned from holidays in February he also began to inquire of the whereabouts of Charlie Berry, unsuspecting at first, but later becoming suspicious. Events moved slowly throughout March and April, however by early May 1971 the police had gathered enough information to suspect McHannigan of Berry's murder, and on 11 May they raided the Tiki Coffee Lounge and arrested him. On 12 May McHannigan was charged at Wollongong Court with murdering Charlie Berry, running a brothel, and carrying an unlicensed pistol. He was held in custody. Also on that day Anthony Malouf, a local businessman, was interviewed by Sgt. Day at Wollongong Police Station in connection with the murder.

On Thursday, 13 May, police from Wollongong and Sydney raided local brothels and the Illawarra Mercury ran the headlines 'Manager faces murder charge - Sleeping Man Shot in Head, Police Claim.' The following day police found a sawn-off shotgun and rifle in a sewerage pit at Bellambi Point, possibly belonging to McHannigan, and once again a salacious headline appeared in the Illawarra Mercury. It read 'City Brothel Blitz Order' and informed the local public that corruption and vice had broken out in their fair city.

On Monday, 17 May, Anthony Malouf was also charged at Wollongong Police Station with Berry's murder, though he was immediately released on bail. The following day he appeared in Wollongong Court and was formally charged with Charlie Berry's murder, operating the Tiki Coffee Lounge brothel, and living off the earnings of prostitution. Continuing bail was refused. Malouf's lawyers appealed the discontinuance of bail, and on 20 May he was released on bail of $7500. Also on that date Peter Soffe was charged in New Zealand with harboring McHannigan. Up until this point the police still did not have a body, and it was not until Ian Williamson was interviewed by police on 24 May and later charged in Sydney court with harboring McHannigan on 10 January, that a resolution to this matter was set in train.

On 25 May Wollongong Court set the Charlie Berry murder hearing for 19 July. Michael McHannigan, Peter Soffe, and Anthony Malouf were all remanded on the murder, prostitution, and harboring charges. In the interim, the police continued to seek information on the final resting place of Charles Berry, and on 16 June interviewed Williamson a second time, during which he admitted burying Berry on the South Coast. On that day he accompanied police to Bendalong and the body was exhumed.

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The Trial

The Charles Berry murder trial began at Wollongong Court on 19 July 1971. Bridgette Tolson was the first to give evidence, and her story was descriptive to say the least. The Illawarra Mercury report of the first day's evidence lead with: 'Woman Tells of Body Under Tree.' The second witness, Beverley Eames, gave a detailed description of the swollen body in the ceiling of the brothel, and how the girls were forced to use cologne to minimise the smell of decomposing flesh. On 21 July the Illawarra Mercury reported further details, under the headline: 'Man Jumped on Corpse, Dancer Claims.' On 5 November 1971 the trial ended, with McHannigan and Williamson, who had pleaded not guilty, both found guilty. Soffe had pleaded guilty from the outset. On 8 November Williamson was sentenced to 8 years in jail (3 years non-parole). He immediately appealed the severity of his sentence, but the Court of Criminal Appeals rejects his appeal. In June of 1972 he appealed to the Supreme Court on the grounds of acting under duress. This time he was successful, and a new trial was called.

Illawarra Mercury, 24 June 2025.

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Aftermath

According to a 2025 testimony by her daughter, following the murder of Charles Berry and his burial at Bendalong, Anthony Malouf got Beverley Eames to drive around Williamson's grey Holden in order to remove the small of the dead body from it. 

Amigos Mexican restaurant opened on the site of the Tiki Coffer Lounge in 1973. In continues in operation there til the present day (2025).

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Chronology

1970

* Charles David Berry manages the Tiki Coffee Lounge. Peter Soffe is a doorman.

* October - Michael Francis McHannigan begins working at the Tiki.

* December - part owner Anthony Malouf suggests to McHannigan that he take over Berry's job.

1971

* Tuesday, 5 January - Charles Berry driven home by Laurie Vickery.

* Wednesday, 6 January - Berry is shot twice in the head and hit in the jaw with a hammer by a drunk McHannigan. McHannigan and Soffe wrap his bod in blankets and place it in the Tiki ceiling. McHannigan later threatened Williamson in order to force him to assist in disposal of the body.

* Thursday 7 & Friday 8 January - body remains in ceiling. Hot weather. Body smells; prostitutes forced to use perfume to smother it. McHannigan and Soffe travel to Blue Mountains looking for a disposal site.m

* Saturday, 9 January - McHannigan, Soffe and Williamson travel to Primbee and Seven Mile Beach to look for a disposal site.

* Sunday, 10 January - the body is removed from the ceiling and driven to Bendalong for disposal.

* February - Vickery returns from holiday and becomes suspicious.

* March - April - police and friends gather evidence.

* 11 May - McHannigan is arrested

* 12 May - McHannigan charged with murder, running a brothel and carrying a pistol. Anthony Malouf is interviewed.

* Thursday, 13 May - Wollongong police brothel raid.

* 17 May - Anthony Malouf charged with murder.

* 20 May - Peter Soffe in New Zealand is charged with harboring McHannigan.

* 24 May - Williamson is interviewed and later charged with harboring.

* 26 May 1971, The Canberra Times:

Body in car

SYDNEY, Tuesday. — A 24-year-old soldier had used his car to help another man remove a body from premises at Wollongong, police alleged in Central Court today. Before the court was Mr Ian Adrian Williamson, of 1 Cliff Road, North Wollongong. The prosecution alleged that Mr Williamson received, harboured, maintained and assisted Mr Michael Francis McHannigan on or about January 10 this year. Mr McHannigan has been charged with the murder of Mr Charles David Berry at Wollongong on January 6. Mr Farquhar, CSM, refused bail for Mr Williamson and remanded him to Wollongong Court on June 12.

* 16 June - Williamson interviewed a second time. He takes police to Bendalong and the body is retrieved.

* 19 July - murder trial begins, with McHannigan, Soffe and Malouf all charged with murder.

* 20 July 1971, The Canberra Times:

Shot man's body found in grave

SYDNEY, Monday. — Police had found the remains of a man's body buried in a shallow grave on the South Coast, Wollongong Court was told today. The body with a bullet wound in the head had been wrapped in blankets and tied with a rope. Three men have been charged with the murder of the man, Mr Charles David Berry, at Wollongong on or about January 6. They are Mr Anthony Malouf, 39. company director, of Wollongong. Mr Michael Francis McHannigan, 22. manager, of North Wollongong and Mr Peter Soffe, 31, manager, of New Plymouth, New Zealand. Mr Ian Adrian Williamson. 24, soldier, of North Wollongong, and Mr Soffe have been charged with having been accessories after the fact. Detective-Sergeant J. E. Snowden, of the CIB scientific bureau, Sydney, told the court that he and other policemen had gone to the Tiki Coffee Club in Keira Street, Wollongong, on May 11 where they had found bloodstains in a bedroom on the first floor of the building. About 7pm on June 16, he and other police had gone to a public reserve at Bendalong, south of Nowra, with Mr Williamson who had indicated an area where police had dug and found Mr Berry's body.

* Wednesday, 21 July 1971, The Canberra Times:

Body was 'jumped on'

WOLLONGONG, Tues day. — A dancer, Miss Beverley Dawn Eames, 25, said in Wollongong Court today that her fiance had told her that the body of a man he had killed had become so swollen that it had been jumped on to make it fit through the ceiling of a coffee lounge. Her fiance, Mr Michael Francis McHannigan, 22, Mr Anthony Malouf, 39, both of Wollongong, and Mr Peter Soffe, 31, of New Plymouth, New Zealand, have been charged with the murder of Mr Charles David Berry at Wollongong on or about January 6 this year. The hearing was adjourned until tomorrow.

* Saturday, 22 July 1971, The Canberra Times:

Man had sought shot brother

WOLLONGONG, Wednesday. —- The brother of a man found shot in a shallow grave on the South Coast told Wollongong Court today that he had travelled from Sydney to Wollongong several times looking for his brother. Mr Brian Berry, 28, bricklayer's labourer, of Kingsgrove, said he had thought his brother could have been in jail in Melbourne.

Three men have been charged with the murder of the brother, Mr Charles David Berry, at Wollongong on or about January 6. They are Mr Anthony Malouf, 39, company director, of Wollongong, Mr Michael Francis McHannigan, 22, manager, of North Wollongong, and Mr Peter Soffe, 31, manager, of New Plymouth, New Zealand. Mr Ian Adrian Williamson, 24, soldier, of North Wollongong, and Mr Soffe have been charged with having being accessories after the fact.

Mr Berry said that when he told Mr Malouf he thought his brother had been "knocked", Mr Malouf had replied, "Don't say that, it makes my hair stand on end". Mr Berry said he had gone to the Tiki Coffee Lounge in Wollongong on January 8 to see his brother, but he had disappeared. Mr 'Big John' McHannigan had told him he thought Charlie was in Melbourne.

Mr Berry had gone to Wollongong again to see Mr Malouf about his brother's car in which he had seen women riding while he had been talking with Mr McHannigan. He had asked Mr Malouf to ask police Sergeant Prosser to check whether his brother had been in Melbourne under a "bodgie" name. Later, Mr Malouf had told him he had seen Sergeant Prosser and that it would be best to wait until June before any inquiry was made.

Earlier, Detective-Sergeant Robert Blissett, chief of Wollongong CIB, told the court that Sergeant Prosser had tendered his resignation from the police force but he did not know that it had been accepted.

On another occasion Mr Berry had visited Mr McHannigan and told him, "I am down here this time to get to the bottom of everything". Mr Berry had seen Mr Malouf and Sergeant Prosser later. He had told Sergeant Prosser, "I have been down here on a number of occasions. No one seems to know where he has gone. You have said nothing. I will line you up against a wall, Malouf, Big John, and Prosser, and I'll find out where he is."

* Friday, 23 July 1971, The Canberra Times:

WOLLONGONG, Thursday. — A man allegedly said he had been told that $200 was to be paid to the Superintendent of Police at Wollongong, Wollongong Court was told today. The man, Mr Peter Soffe, 31, of New Plymouth, New Zealand, is one of three men facing a murder charge. Mr Soffe was alleged to have said in an interview with a Sydney detective that Mr Anthony Malouf had told him the money was for the superintendent.

Also charged with the murder of Mr Charles Berry, 31, at the Tiki Coffee Club, in Wollongong, on January 6, are Mr Anthony Malouf, 39, company director, of North Wollongong, and Mr Michael McHannigan, 22. of Wollongong. In a record of interview, Mr Soffe, when questioned about entries in a note book, allegedly said he had been told by Mr Malouf that $161 was to go to Sergeant Prosser. Under cross-examination by Mr G. Samuels, QC, for Mr Malouf, Detective-Sergeant K. Arkins, of Sydney, agreed there had been a reference in Mr Soffe's record of interview to money passing to someone described as the superintendent of police. The record of interview between Sergeant Arkins and Mr Soffe on Tues 6, tendered before Mr R. W. Henry, SM, showed Mr Soffe had been questioned about certain entries in a notebook allegedly found in the Tiki Club. To a question Mr Soffe said, in part, that an entry of $200 was supposed to be for the police station, leaving a balance of $161 which Mr Malouf had taken. "Actually Malouf took $361", Mr Soffe said.

The record had shown Mr Soffe as being asked about $200 and if he knew where this money was to go. Mr Soffe had allegedly replied, "Malouf told us that it was to go to the superintendent at the Wollongong police station. The other $161 was to go to Sergeant Prosser". The record had shown Mr Soffe as being asked, "You referred earlier to the superintendent. Do you know the name of the person to whom this refers?" Mr Soffe had allegedly replied, "no". To a further question Mr Soffe had allegedly said he did not know if this person had actually received any money, and that went for Sergeant Prosser as well. Mr Samuels, in cross examining Sergeant Arkins earlier, asked, "Has Sergeant Prosser been charged with any offence arriving out of the conduct of the Tiki?" Sergeant Arkins: "Not to my knowledge." Mr Samuels: "Or any offence arriving out of the death of Berry? "No. Mr Henry remanded the three men to Wollongong Court on August 26.

* 28 August 1971, The Canberra Times:

DIRECTOR DISCHARGED

Two for trial on murder charge

WOLLONGONG, Friday. — A company director, Mr Anthony Malouf, 39, of Wollongong, was discharged by Mr Henry, SM, in Wollongong Court to day on a charge of murder. Mr Henry committed two other men, also accused of murder, for trial but said there was no evidence that Mr Malouf had committed murder or procured and counseled another person to commit the felony. He remanded Mr Malouf on $200 bail to Wollongong Court on September 23 on charges of permitting premises to be used for the purpose of prostitution and knowingly living in part on the earnings of prostitution. Mr G. Smauls, QC, for Mr Malouf, said that these charges would be defended.

The two committed to the Supreme Court at Wollongong on September 13 are Mr Michael Francis McHannigan, 22, manager, of Wollongong, and Mr Peter Soffe. 31, manager, of New Plymouth, New Zealand. They are charged with having murdered Mr, Charles David Berry at Wollongong on or about January 6 last. Mr Soffe and Mr Ian Adrian Williamson, 24, soldier, of Wollongong, are charged with having been accessories after the fact. Mr Henry refused bail to Mr McHannigan and Mr Soffe. He allowed Mr Williamson bail of $500 after the police prosecutor, Sergeant R. Greenhill, said there were no fears that Mr Williamson would not attend. Mr Soffe and Mr McHannigan said they pleaded not guilty and reserved their defence.

* 5 November - trial ends, with McHannigan, Soffe and Williamson (8 years) found guilty.

* 5 November 1971, The Canberra Times:

'Chickened out', says accused

WOLLONGONG, Thursday. — Mr Michael Francis McHannigan told a Supreme Court jury in Wollongong today that he had been outside the room in which Mr Charles Berry was shot in the Tiki Coffee Club, Wollongong, on January 6. In a statement from the dock, Mr McHannigan said he had "chickened out" at the last minute and had run from the room past Mr Peter Soffe, who had had a gun. Mr McHannigan, 22, of Wollongong, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Berry. Mr Ian Adrian Williamson, 24, soldier, of Wollongong, has pleaded not guilty to being an accessory after the fact. The case will continue in the Supreme Court tomorrow before Mr Justice O'Brien.

* 6 November 1971, The Canberra Times:

'Life' for man in coffee-bar murder.

WOLLONGONG, Friday. — A 22-year old man was jailed for life by Wollongong Supreme Court today for the murder of a man in a Wollongong coffee bar. A 12-man jury look one hour to find Mr Michael Francis McHannigan, of New Dapto Road, Wollongong, guilty of the murder of Mr Charles Berry, on or about January 6. The jury found another man, Mr Ian Adrian Williamson, a 24-year-old soldier of Cliff Road, Wollongong, guilty of being an accessory after the fact. Both Mr McHannigan and Mr Williamson had pleaded not guilty. A third man, Mr Peter Soffe, 31, of New Plymouth, NZ, pleaded guilty last Monday to being an accessory after the fact.

'Shot like a dog'

Mr Williamson and Mr Soffe will appear at Wollongong Court on Monday for sentence. The Crown Prosecutor, Mr V. R. Wallace, said in his address to the jury that Mr Berry had been "callously murdered in his sleep". "He was shot like a sleeping dog", Mr Wallace said. He said Mr Berry had not even been given the chance a sportsman would give a rabbit on the run.

* 10 November 1971, The Canberra Times:

TWO JAILED ON ACCESSORY CHARGES

SYDNEY, Tuesday.— Two men were jailed for eight years by Mr Justice O'Brien in the Wollongong Supreme Court today. They are Mr Ian Adrian Williamson, a 25-year-old national serviceman, of Wollongong, and Mr Peter Soffe, 31, of New Plymouth, New Zealand. Their trial followed the murder of Mr Charles Berry at the Tiki Club in Wollongong on January 6, for which 22-year-old Mr Michael Francis McHannigan, of Wollongong, was jailed for life on Friday. Mr Williamson was found guilty of being an accessory after the fact to the murder of Mr Berry, while Mr Soffe admitted a similar charge. Mr Justice O'Brien said today that Mr Soffe had walked into the room where Mr Berry had been hit on the chin with a hammer and shot through the head. He had helped Mr McHannigan conceal the body after being threatened. Later, Mr Williamson had driven the body to a place near a reserve south of Nowra, had dug a grave and buried the body. The judge placed three-year non-parole period on Mr Williamson and a 2-year one on Mr Soffe.

* 30 November 1971, The Canberra Times:

Rebate of bail money

SYDNEY, Monday.— Convicted murderer Mr Michael Francis McHannigan is to receive $250 from the Crown. Mr McHannigan, 22, had stood bail for a man in the sum of $500 earlier this year. The man failed to appear in Wollongong Petty Sessions in June. Mr McHannigan. also known as John Bayliss, made an application in Wollongong Quarter Sessions today for a refund of the $500. Mr McHannigan had signed the bail papers as "John Bayliss, shop manager, 118 Keira Street, Wollongong". Judge Thorley ordered that half of the bail money be returned to Mr McHannigan. [Mr Michael McHannigan. of Wollongong, was sentenced to life imprisonment earlier this month for the murder of Mr Charles David Berry at Wollongong on or about January 6 this year.] Mr McHannigan was brought to Wollongong under police escort to make his application. Later he was returned to Long Bay jail.

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References

Duggan, Amy, Tiki Coffee Lounge murder 1971 - interview with Michael Organ, ABC Illawarra (radio), 6 August 2025.

Elise, The Tiki Coffee Lounge Murder, Forgotten Illawarra, 3 June 2013.

Humphries, Glen, Body in the ceiling: the grisly tale of Wollongong's brothel that's now a beloved eatery, Illawarra Mercury, 24 June 2025.

Illawarra Mercury [various editions], 1971-2.

Organ, Michael, Tiki Coffee Lounge Murder 1971 - interview with Amy Duggan, ABC Radio Illawarra, 6 August 2025.

Rossiter, Georgia, Tiki Coffee Lounge murder snippet interview with Michael Organ, Georgia Rossiter, 31 May 2021, YouTube, duration: 1.10 minutes.

Shot man's body found in grave, The Canberra Times, 20 July 1971.

The New South Wales Law Reports, Sydney, 1972, volume 2, pp281-301.

Wollongong Mutilation Slaying (1966), Nostalgia Central, n.d.

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Michael Organ, Australia

Site last updated: 6 August 2025