State alert for fugitive

TASMANIA has been put on alert over renewed fears one of Australia’s most wanted fugitives could be hiding here after interstate tip-offs proved wrong.

Murderer and alleged underworld drug trafficker Graham Gene Potter was extradited from Tasmania in 2008 after being caught in an Australian Federal Police-led $600 million drug bust involving the Calabrian mafia.

Only then did Potter’s past come to light, shocking the community at Coles Bay where he had lived with wife Sheree for many years.

Potter served 16 years of a life sentence imposed in 1982 for the 1980 murder of 19-year-old Kim Barry in New South Wales.

He killed the teenager and dumped her decapitated and fingerless body in bushland.

Potter’s fiancee married him in jail and they relocated to Tasmania after his parole in 1996.

They bought a block of land at Coles Bay in 2002 and built a $260,000 home on the site, living there until his arrest. The couple also own a property at Pipers River.

Both properties were placed under a Commonwealth caveat after Potter’s arrest, preventing them being sold.

He has been on the run since 2010 after being given bail on conspiracy charges involving high-level underworld identities. Police allege Potter was involved in a plot to murder an underworld identity at Mick Gatto’s son’s wedding in 2008.

He was last seen by police south of Cairns in August last year and a search uncovered camping gear at a local caravan park where he had been staying for six weeks.

Investigators from the Purana Taskforce have been hunting for him on the NSW-Victorian border where they believe he worked as a fruitpicker.

But so far they have come up with nothing and Tasmania Police is considering the possibility he is in the state.

Launceston Criminal Investigation Branch detectives have confirmed they are looking into the matter.

‘‘If you think you may have seen Potter, or have suspicions about someone fitting his description, please contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or 000 if you think you know where he is now,’’ Victoria Police Superintendent Gerry Ryan said.

Potter is described as caucasian, 175cm tall, of medium to solid build with brown eyes, a fair complexion, brown greying hair and a ginger beard. He reportedly has a gold sleeper earring in both ears, wears glasses and a gold chain around his neck.

There is a $100,000 reward for information leading to his capture.