A hardened ex-homicide boss has revealed the murderer who killed Daniel Morcombe sent shivers up his spine when he heard his chilling confession.

Assistant Commissioner Brian Wilkins has spent the past 44 years of his life keeping the streets of safe since he was sworn into service on March 23, 1979.

Commissioner Wilkins has seen it all as he progressed through the ranks of the police force, from working the streets as a beat cop to dealing with murders as a homicide boss.

His exposure to the dark underworld meant he had to develop a thick skin very quickly as he stared down criminals.

Only on one occasion did Mr Wilkins feel terror pierce through his hardened exterior.

He had joined a police unit in Perth who were listening in on an audio recording device set up in a room of the Hyatt Regency in August 2011. 

In the room an undercover police officer was speaking to Brett Peter Cowan.

Cowan was a serial paedophile who had been suspected of killing 13-year-old Daniel Morcombe on the Sunshine Coast in December 2003. 

Detectives conducted an eight-year-long investigation that led them to Cowan.

Undercover cops posed as criminals to gain his trust before leading Cowan back to the hotel where they attempted to draw out a confession.

Commissioner Wilkins said he was listening nearby when the child rapist finally admitted he was the murderer. If you have any queries pertaining to where by and how to use son and mom xxx, you can call us at the web site.  

‘When I heard him through the listening devices confess that he had murdered Daniel, I must say that actually sent shivers up my spine,’ Commissioner Wilkins told .

‘It was crazy (when he confessed). To me it was just a great sense of relief. We’ve got him… to actually find his shoes and find his remains, which corroborated what Cowan was saying, to me was the greatest times in my career.’

The child killer subsequently led police to where he had dumped Daniel’s remains, and the teenager was recovered from bushland at Glass House Mountains in August 2011.

He was sentenced to life behind bars in Brisbane’s Wolston Correctional Centre in 2014, with a minimum non-parole period of 20 years.

Cowan, now 52, remains an unpopular inmate due to his horrific crimes – which include an extensive rap sheet of child sex offences prior to Daniel’s murder.

The convicted paedophile has been the target of several brutal attacks at the hands of fellow inmates, including being doused with boiling water in 2016 which left him with permanent scarring.

In May 2018, he was stabbed in the ear and neck with an ‘improvised implement’ and suffered superficial injuries.

Cowan will be eligible to apply for parole in 2034. 

Mr Wilkins will hand in his badge as he retires from the police force in March.