A coronial inquest into the alleged murder of a woman in Goldfields, Western Australia, 25 years ago will not hear from a member of a bikie group she was drinking and socializing with before disappearing.

Lisa Govan was 28 when she was last seen at the headquarters of biker group Club Deroes in Kalgoorlie-Boulder — about 600 km east of Perth — on the morning of October 8, 1999.

His body was never found and no charges were ever filed.

Missing witnesses

A six-day investigation into her disappearance began in Perth on Monday, but police failed to locate the two main players.

Coroner Michael Jenkin told the court that prominent Deroes Club member Andrew Edhouse, who was one of the last men Ms Govan was seen with, would not give evidence.

Coroner Jenkin told the court Mr Edhouse’s whereabouts were unknown and he may have traveled abroad.

The court also does not expect to hear from Timothy Hammel, Ms Govan’s then-partner, who was the first to report her missing to police the next day after searching for her in the city.

Lisa’s last night

In her opening address, barrister assisting the coroner Sue Markham told the court Ms Govan was drinking with her close friend in Kalgoorlie-Boulder on the night of October 7.

After attending several venues, her friend returned home, but Ms Govan remained at the Safari Night Club until it closed at 4.30am.

Grainy CCTV footage showed Ms Govan walking down an alleyway outside the club with Mr Edhouse and kissing him.

Deroes Club associate Trevor Atkinson approached the pair and appeared to attempt to punch Ms Govan’s neck before she threw what looked like a cigarette butt at him as he walked away.

The court heard Mr Edhouse intervened after Mr Atkinson approached her in a “threatening manner”.

Ms Govan found herself in a taxi with Mr Atkinson and another person and arrived at the Club Deroes clubhouse at around 5am on October 8.

Ms Markham told the court “if there had been some hostility between them it certainly would not have persisted”.

Concluding remarks

Ms Govan joined several other people drinking, playing pool and listening to music at the cyclists’ clubhouse.

“Several people present recalled Lisa appearing obviously intoxicated. Her speech was slurred and she was unsteady on her feet,” Ms Markham said.

The court heard one witness claimed Mr Edhouse was flirting and getting cozy with Ms Govan, which the witness said she took part in.

Everyone left the headquarters around 7.30am, leaving Ms Govan, Mr Atkinson, Mr Edhouse and another man, who was sleeping on the sofa at the time, in the property.

Ms Markham told the court the last “credible” sighting of Ms Govan took place as she walked back towards the clubhouse doors with Mr Atkinson and Mr Edhouse, who were said to have been drunk out front.

Both men were arrested on suspicion in the past, but the investigation failed to gather sufficient evidence, meaning neither was charged.

Investigation delay

The inquest heard from Detective Senior Sergeant Timothy Lines, who was assigned to the cold case in 2022 to prepare a report for the coroner.

Detective Lines was asked why it took police five days to search the clubhouse after Ms Govan was reported missing.

Detective Lines told the court “the record does not clearly show why.”

He said in hindsight it “would have been ideal” if the premises had been searched sooner.

At that time the court heard part of the floor had been repainted and the carpet removed.

The inquest heard that swabs taken from part of the clubhouse carpet did not confirm Ms Govan’s presence at the site, but Ms Markham said that did not necessarily mean nothing happened to her there -down.

Family plea

Before Monday’s opening speech, Ms Govan’s mother Pat said she was worried and nervous about the inquest.

“In 2017, (her husband) wrote to the coroner’s office requesting an inquest, but because it was an ongoing investigation, they couldn’t do anything,” she told ABC Radio Perth.

She said she feared people would be afraid to testify.

“A lot of water has flowed under the bridge,” she said.

“A lot of people have moved, moved, we forget things. We just hope something comes out of this investigation.

The investigation continues.

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