Early Legal Career
Wilson was admitted as a barrister and solicitor in 1951. He had a rapid rise in his legal career, becoming Crown Prosecutor for Western Australia in 1959, only eight years after starting work as a lawyer. In 1963, he was admitted as a Queen's Counsel, the youngest ever in WA. As a prosecutor, Wilson earned the nickname of the "Avenging Angel".
In recent years, two men he had prosecuted for murder have had their convictions overturned: John Button, who was convicted in 1963 of the manslaughter of his girlfriend Rosemary Anderson and Darryl Beamish, convicted of the 1959 murder of Jillian Brewer. Perth serial killer, Eric Edgar Cooke, confessed to both offences before he was hanged for other murders, but was not believed by authorities. The convictions were eventually overturned in 2002.
In 1969, Wilson became the Solicitor-General of Western Australia. He served in that position for ten years working under both ALP and Liberal governments.
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