# Brisbane's Streets Still Hold the Secrets of Queensland's Darkest Crimes

Crime writer Jack Sim has been leading visitors through Brisbane's bloodiest locations for over 25 years — on foot, after dark, through the heart of a city that has never fully reckoned with its own violent history. In 2026, three confirmed true crime walking tours operate across Brisbane and Fortitude Valley, covering everything from colonial-era hangings to organised crime firebombings that killed seven people in a single night.

This is not ghost tourism. This is documented criminal history, walked at street level.

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The Bloody Brisbane CBD Crime Tour

Brisbane's longest-running true crime tour departs from central Brisbane and runs for two hours. Operated by Jack Sim — a published crime writer — the tour visits the actual sites of some of Queensland's most notorious crimes.

Among the confirmed stops:

• **The Arcade Murder** — the precise location where the killing took place, still embedded in the everyday fabric of the CBD.
• **The Last Public Execution Site** — the spot where Brisbane carried out its final public hanging, a reminder that state-sanctioned death was once civic spectacle.
• **The Regent Theatre Shootout** — the site of a historic armed confrontation that rattled the city.
• **The Mad Butcher of Queen Street** — perhaps the most chilling stop of all. A man allegedly confessed to a Queen Street murder only after the wrong person had already been executed for it. The wrongful execution is not disputed.

Adult tickets are priced from US$26–28 (approximately AU$38), with free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure. You can check availability and book directly through Viator's Brisbane crime tours page.

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Brisbane Dark Stories True Crime Tour

For visitors who want a shorter introduction to the city's criminal past, the Brisbane Dark Stories True Crime Tour covers the CBD's oldest buildings and most notorious locations in 90 minutes. The tour meets at King George Square, outside Brisbane City Hall, and ends near the Old Windmill — one of the most significant sites in Queensland penal history.

Built in 1828, the Old Windmill is Australia's oldest surviving prison tower. It was constructed using convict labour and served as a place of punishment during the colonial era. The fact that it still stands in central Brisbane, largely unremarked upon by commuters passing it daily, says something about how quietly this city carries its history.

The tour holds a 92% traveller recommendation rate across more than 255 reviews on Viator. Tickets start from US$25. Mobile tickets are accepted; the tour operates in English.

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The Moonlight State — Fortitude Valley Crime Tour

The third confirmed tour moves east of the CBD into Fortitude Valley, the neighbourhood that became the epicentre of Queensland's organised crime era in the 1970s and 1980s — a period later exposed by the Fitzgerald Inquiry as involving systemic police corruption and protection rackets.

The tour's name references the era directly. The Moonlight State was the title of a 1987 Australian television documentary that blew open Queensland's corruption scandal and led to the most significant judicial inquiry in the state's history.

The tour departs from the top of Brunswick Street Mall, outside the Royal George Hotel, and ends approximately two blocks away. It covers the crimes and characters of Fortitude Valley during this period, including the context of the Whiskey Au Go Go firebombing of June 8, 1973 — one of Australia's worst mass murders. Fifteen people were killed when a nightclub on Amelia Street was firebombed. Two men were convicted, but questions about the full extent of organised crime involvement have never been entirely resolved.

Ticket pricing for this tour is not currently listed on Viator — contact the operator directly for current rates.

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Practical Information

| Tour | Duration | Price (adult) | Meeting Point |

|------|----------|--------------|---------------|

| Bloody Brisbane CBD Crime Tour | 2 hours | From US$26–28 | Central Brisbane CBD |

| Brisbane Dark Stories True Crime Tour | 90 minutes | From US$25 | King George Square (City Hall) |

| Moonlight State — Fortitude Valley Crime Tour | Not specified | Contact operator | Brunswick Street Mall (Royal George Hotel) |

All three tours offer free cancellation. All are listed as active and updated for 2026 on Viator.

Brisbane does not advertise its criminal history loudly. It is there in the footpaths, in the buildings that survived, and in the cases that were never fully closed. These tours put you directly on the ground where it happened — which is the only honest way to understand it.