The Australian racing industry faced significant challenges during the 1970s and 1980s, characterised by the influx of illicit drug money into the racing industry, leading to widespread corruption and dangerous consequences for anyone involved. Now 40 years after his tragic death, an underperforming horse and race fixing could be linked to a Sydney trainer’s 1984 torture and murder. Brown’s incinerated body was found in a burnt out Ford Falcon in bushland near Sydney in 1984 after failing to return home, and was discovered brutally killed hours later, with a strange series of events leading to his disappearance and eventually to the grisly discovery near Wollongong. Detectives in recent years reopened the case believing Mr Brown was murdered by someone in the racing industry, and the details seem stranger then fiction.

Sydney police were given a sworn statement alleging that late bookmaker, Bill Waterhouse had hired two Tongan nationals to reclaim a down deposit that was paid to the 38-year-old Brown the week before to fix a race, but that they “went too far and killed the trainer.”

It all begins when George was meant to substitute a faster horse for an outsider called Risley in the last race at Doomben racecourse, Brisbane on March 31, 1984. Arthur Harris, who had been Robbie Waterhouse's form analyst in 1984 was asked by him to check on the betting price for the underperforming Risley in the Doomben race, and that Robbie revealed he had a bet running on the horse. His father, Bill Waterhouse, was the consul-general to Tonga from 1970 to 1995 and had quite a strong influence over the Australian racing circuit through the Waterhouse dynasty. The statement alleged late bookmaker Bill Waterhouse hired two Tongans to retrieve a down deposit paid to Brown to fix a race the previous week. Apparently Bill used a network of associates, including rogue strappers, horse "nobblers" and enforcers, famously responsible for fixing dozens of races and pulling numerous racetrack frauds.

Growing up on a property in mid-west Queensland, horses were always part of George Brown’s world, but he struggled to make it as a Sydney trainer and often had to scramble at the end of the week to cover his costs. In early March 1984 he reportedly told friend and horse owner Geoff Newcombe he had "something up his sleeve" to help the stable out of its financial woes, but didn't elaborate. His sister recalls George once telling her to put some money on a decent horse he trained called McGlinchy, and that it was "ready to win," but the horse finished last and at a later date he reluctantly informed her, "I got a phone call from someone." They said, the horse will run 'dead', meaning, 'McGlinchy won’t win tomorrow'.

Robbie Waterhouse had confided in his son David in 1986 that he feared he would be arrested over the murder after a Daily Mirror headline story was published purporting to know about the ring-in and it's link to George Brown. It didn't name name's, but it was enough to scare the crooked bookie. Robbie and his father Bill were already tied into the botched Fine Cotton ring-in fiasco at Eagle Farm in 1984, that went badly astray after trainer, Hayden Haitana and Gold Coast conman, John Gillespie attempted to literally paint a horse, then substitute it out the next day and collect big. It was a spectacular failure, but a number of dodgy personalities were allegedly involved, including the underworld figure, George Freeman, known for his involvement in setting up 'stings' for financial gain, and this appeared to include the Waterhouse duo in his shady business dealings. Bill always claimed Freeman set them up and they both ended up being the 'fall guys' in the Fine Cotton affair. It was a massive scandal in Australia at the time and it sullied the Waterhouse name leaving them banned from all racecourses, but apparently that never stopped them operating illegal dealings with dangerous Australian underworld figures.

Bill had confided in his son David after a few drinks one day, that George Brown had been involved in a few ring-ins on his behalf and was meant to substitute a faster horse for an outsider called Risley in a race at Doomben in 1984, however he got "cold feet" and backed out at the last minute. George had allegedly already been paid for the rouse, so when the scam failed to materlise the fixers wanted their bribe back. Two Tongan heavies were then hired and sent up to Brown's, Rosebery stables on the Monday after the Doomben fiasco to reclaim the money and rough him up to teach him a lesson. The thugs had allegedly taken Brown back to his stables as he telephoned around desperately, stalling for time and trying to borrow the money. When he couldn't produce the cash, the thugs drove him back to the now deserted provincial racecourse, looking for Bill's associates, who had left. What happened after that is by all accounts a grisly and shocking murder bought about by George's inability to repay the money that day.

For whatever reason they went too far and killed George before disposing of his body within his burning car in bushland a fair distance away. It was later found he had probably been force-fed a large quantity of alcohol by his killers. There were multiple fractures to his legs and his arm was bent backwards. Something had connected hard with his head, causing a network of cracks to spread across his skull like a spider’s web. There were other fractures above his right ear – one a saw-like crack and another just above it, nearly 6.5cm long. The fire had burnt away his lower legs and his forearms. His watch had dropped from his burnt wrist and stopped ticking at 10.56pm. It was ugly, but it kicked off a strange turn of events that, in the end seemed to link all the pieces together and instigate Bill Waterhouse in the despicable crime.

Bill Waterhouse, shocked by the disastrous outcome and senseless killing, quickly flew the two Tongan nationals back to their homeland, allegedly informing the Tongan King, Taufa’ahau Tupou IV that he had a problem. Bill had a good friendship with the King, and informed him that they had been involved in something nasty in Sydney and needed to be 'looked after.' The men now back on the small Pacific island apparently 'disappeared' and were never heard from again. Bill used Bertie Kidd, a longtime enforcer for Bill Waterhouse's interstate race-fixing racket to threaten and intimate people to guarantee their silence, but his level of involvement is unknown, however other associates likely participated, but kept quiet. Ultimately, it led to the Tongan Royal family denying any connection to the tragic unsolved murder of George Brown and the Waterhouse brother's betraying each other over the Fine Cotton affair. Speculation linking Bill Waterhouse and his associates to the murder has loomed over the famous racing family for 40 years, but NSW police did little to investigate the case before finally announcing a $1 million dollar reward for information in 2019

The naive Hayden Haitana caught up in that Fine Cotton scam, claimed that he and his family's lives had been threatened if he did not go through with the ring-in back in 1984. A man had shown him a gun and said: ''Do you want to end up like trainer George Brown?'' Haitana tried to pull if off, George didn't, and it cost him his life.

The murdered trainer, the Tongan Royal family, rogue bookies and a failed ring-in that left an unsolved 40 year mystery