Lisa Govan: Ex-boyfriend Tim Hammel threw away clothes after falling off bike while searching for her

The former boyfriend of missing Kalgoorlie woman Lisa Govan left abusive messages on her phone and threw away the clothes he had been wearing when she vanished. Tim Hammel told an inquest into the 1999 disappearance that he was unhappy that his “de facto wife” had been out drinking while he was working a night shift at the super pit gold mine. He denied having anything to do with her disappearance, saying he threw away his jeans and flannel shirt because the clothes had been ruined when he fell off his motorcycle while combing the streets for the missing 28-year-old. Ms Govan was drinking at several Kalgoorlie bars when Mr Hammel was working on the evening of October 7, 1999. When Mr Hammel finished his shift at 6.30am the next day, he returned to an empty house. The inquest had previously been told that by that time Ms Govan was partying at the Boulder Road clubhouse of the Club Deroes bikie gang. The Coroner’s Court was told that Ms Govan died there after senior Club Deroe Andrew Edhouse stomped on her head. Counsel assisting the coroner Sue Markham grilled Mr Hammel about how he felt about his partner’s late-night drinking. “You weren’t very impressed that she was still out,” she said when questioning him about his many phone calls to Ms Govan the morning she is suspected of being killed. “No, I wouldn’t have been,” Mr Hammel replied. “You started leaving abusive messages,” Ms Markham said. “I don’t think I would have been aggressive,” Mr Hammel replied. The answer promoted Coroner Michael Jenkin to read from the Mr Hammel’s police statement, in which he admitted leaving abusive voice messages when Ms Govan failed to answer her phone. Mr Hammel, who had been seeing Ms Govan for five years when she vanished, said he rode around Kalgoorlie and Boulder searching for his partner. “I had a bad feeling,” he said. “That was why I was so worried about her.” In the early afternoon, Mr Hammel came off his bike and spent an hour in hospital. He later threw away the clothes he had been wearing at the time of the accident. “There were rumours that suggested that you got rid of them because they may have had some forensic evidence on them,” Ms Markham said. “No, they are just rumours. They were rubbish so why would I keep them,” Mr Hammel said. After leaving hospital, he went to the Kalgoorlie police station to report Ms Govan as missing. “I am pretty sure they said I had to wait 24 hours,” he told the court. After going to sleep that afternoon, he woke at 3am on October 9 and rang police to again report her as missing, this time successfully. Mr Hammel said that he would have been very unhappy had he known Ms Govan had been at the Club Deroes clubhouse. “She should not be there,” he said. “She was supposed to be my partner.” Mr Hammel denied a suggestion by Coroner Jenkin that his anger may have been related to the fact he had friends who were members of the rival Gypsy Jokers bikie club. Mr Hammel said he knew that Gypsy Joker Billy Grierson, who the court had been told had been seen riding around Kalgoorlie with Ms Govan on the back of his bike on the morning she disappeared. Mr Hammel said he did not believe evidence given to the court that Mr Grierson had dropped Ms Govan outside the Club Deroes clubhouse. The inquest was adjourned. SEE MORE IN OUR SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE VIDEO SERIES CATCHING LISA’S KILLER HERE. Catching Lisa’s Killer: The Inquest is hosted by Ben Harvey and Natalie Bonjolo, creators of the true-crime docuseries, Catching Lisa’s Killer: Fear and Murder in Kalgoorlie.