A millionaire’s mysterious death and hidden secrets | Forensic Files

[Music] the 7th of May 2005 began there's a typical run-of-the-mill day for Shirley
withers she worked the full day in her fashion boutique and once the shop had closed
she bought a takeout meal and then headed to a boyfriend's house in Caulfield in Melbourne Australia but
what she found when she arrived there about 7 p.m. was anything but run-of-the-mill
[Music] [Music] PETA shalad was a 56 year old self-made millionaire he lived in a luxury North
Caulfield mansion worth about six million dollars at the time he was the type of person that everybody had a
story about he was described as a bit of an oddball a little bit out there many referred to him as the eccentric
millionaire and he lived up to that tag when he appeared on The Today Tonight TV
show and outlined his plans to purchase the entire rolls-royce Factory worth about sixteen billion dollars he's said
in that interview well I probably am a bit mad but it's nice to be a bit mad isn't it he made these fortune in real
estate and then he bought into a successful high-end car dealership specializing in BMWs Jaguars and his
favorite rolls-royce he ended up being the director of several companies and would go on to own numerous residential
and commercial properties at the time of his death his estate was estimated to be
worth around fifteen million dollars not only was Peter a successful businessman
he was known to be a ruthless businessman he wasn't the type of person you'd want to get on the wrong side of
he never resorted to violence he's method of battle was to try and financially crippled people he would
fall lawsuits at the drop of a hat if there was a problem Peter was suing in the year 2000 Peter aged 51 at the
time met Shirley withers who was 33 years old surely isn't the type of woman you
picture a multi-millionaire property developer and luxury car dealer going for she wasn't your glamour type so to speak
regardless peter was smitten when he first met Shirley Peter had previously been married twice and had three
daughters Shirley herself had been divorced once and had two sons their relationship blossomed and moved quickly
all of a sudden Shirley found herself in a completely new lifestyle filled with every luxury she could imagine
Peter was smitten so whatever Shirley wanted she got Peter bought her an upmarket fashion boutique in the
Melbourne suburb of Brighton Shirley ran the business but Peter financed everything and it wasn't long before
Peter had another surprise for Shirley a brand new house being divorced twice Peter was in no hurry to move in
together so he stayed living in his Caulfield mansion and Shirley could have her own house to live him Shirley of
course had a key for Peter's mansion and vice versa Shirley was a bookkeeper so Peter decided to make use of his skills
he put her in charge of the books at his luxury car dealership on the 7th of May
2005 Shirley withers spent the full day working in her fashion boutique in Brighton at the end of the day she
finished up all the book work or to take our meal and then headed to Peter his mansion in Caulfield when she walked
inside she found Peter dead on the floor yet being tied up with dog leashes electrical cords and ropes he's me after
being gagged shut that's when Shirley made that frantic triple low call detectives arrive soon after and they
were confronted with one of the most bizarre crime scenes they had ever seen they look more like a movie set than
real-life it's he that the secret world of Peter Schiller had started to make a very public appearance there was a great
deal of bondage equipment at the scene there were leather masks leather outfits whips dog leads chains harnesses belts
and other equipment the initial impression of the crime scene was that it appeared to be a sexual encounter
that had gone horribly wrong payda had bruising all around his body as well as facial injuries had somebody
gone too far a thorough examination of the crime scene was conducted and the police were in luck a bloody fingerprint
was found on Peters home phone and a cigarette butt was found in the kitchen did these belong to Peter but would they
turning out to be vital clues unfortunately there was no way of knowing straight away detectives would
have to wait until the results came back from the lab which could take a little while in the meantime they had to get to
work to find out what exactly happened to Peter the first obvious person to question was
Shirley with us Peters girlfriend shared fam paid a dead and made the frantic emergency telephone call they
asked her about Peters interest in bondage but she was unable to offer them too much information Peter had asked her
to participate in bondage previously but she declined Shirley told detectives Peter respected her decision and didn't
pursue it any further with her she was completely oblivious to any acts of bondage Peter was participating in
detectives discovered that Shirley stood to gain nothing out of Peters death with
the exception of $1 H he left the h of his two ex-wives paid his entire estate was left to his daughters this removed a
very big very common motive for murder as far as detectives could tell Shirley had no other motive to harm him
she appeared shocked and heartbroken and her actions didn't raise suspicion at all detectives started to look elsewhere
for motive and opportunity despite what the crime scene look like they weren't completely sold on the theory that paid
her died as a result of a bondage session gone wrong they were more than open to the possibility that the crime
scene had been staged to make it look that way they started diving into Peters past business relationships and looking
at the long list of people Peter had filed lawsuits against despite the thinking being there was a long list of
people with a reason to harm Peter detectives really didn't find anything significant no obvious suspects jumped
out at them this led detectives to go back to the bondage gone wrong theory and if this is what happened they need
to establish who Peters partner or partners were on the night of his death despite his partner Shirley saying that
Peter hadn't pursued his interest in bondage any further with her detectives soon found that it hadn't stopped Peter
pursuing his interest in bondage elsewhere it was very much into it he had paid several visits to the Hellfire
Club in Melbourne at the Hellfire Club you could do things such as get tied up get whipped have hot wax poured over you
and so on alternatively you could do these things to somebody else if you so desired this was useful
information but again detective still couldn't come up with any suspects from the bond in jangle a few days later the
autopsy result came back and it would have a major impact on the investigation it was found that Peter suffered
repeated blunt-force trauma to the head resulting in a fractured skull and not only that Peters body had been pumped
full of heroin Peter wasn't a user of heroin in fact he wasn't a user of drugs at all he was known to be quite
anti-drugs the theory that he may have died as a result of an overzealous bondage session was shot out of the
water it was clear Peter had been deliberately beaten and then given a hot shot a hit of heroin designed to kill
there was neon no doubt somebody had intended to kill Peter and it wasn't long after this that detectives got the
break in the investigation they had matched the bloody fingerprint and it didn't belong to Peter the fingerprint
matched a girl by the name of Sofia stupas not only that her DNA was found on the cigarette that had been left in
the kitchen Sofia was known to police so was a boyfriend Stanley there were small-time petty criminals and known
drug addicts they'll both particularly fond of heroin but despite their long criminal records
neither was known for violence there was all drugs and property theft type stuff
to support their drug habit but what was interesting for police was that Sophia had a history in bondage police knew
these softer bondage equipment was found at a place during a police raid that had
been conducted previously for an unrelated matter Sofia had definitely been at the crime scene and wherever
Sofia went stealing it was usually there as well their involvement could explain
both the bondage angle and the heroin angle police now had their prime suspects but as detectives were getting
ready to make their move on Sofia and Stanley the case took an unexpected twist a telephone call had just been
intercepted by police and this telephone call had massive significance for the murder investigation a contract had just
been put out for the lives of Sofia in Stanley also both had long criminal records there were small-time low-level
drug addicts petty criminals they didn't mix in the circles where people put hits
yet on each other but it turns yet it wasn't fellow criminals that wanted them dead the hit was ordered by Shirley with
us this raised some very interesting questions how the hell did Shirley withers no Sofia and Stanley we're
involved in Peter's death had somebody leaked the information to her what did Shirley know more than she was
letting on [Music] either way detectives had to find out so they sent in Victor they hit men he was
of course not a real hit man he was an undercover police officer Victor tells Shirley that he can do the job for
$10,000 but he needs photos of them in their addresses Shirley gave Victor this information handed over photos and a
cash deposit she said to Victor they the ones that killed my Peter and they have
to pay for what they've done I want blood detectives quickly made their move on Sofia in Stanley although Shirley had
just hired a police officer to kill them they weren't too sure if maybe she'd hired a second person as well so they
arrested them and took them back to the police station to find out exactly what they knew during the initial stages of
questioning both of them deny having any knowledge about Peters death they put up
the wall of silence but that soon changed when police told them Shirley had just put a hit out on
them when they learned that they couldn't talk quick enough they admitted to police that they were there the night
that Peter died and they know what happened to him but according to them they weren't there
alone they both named a third person who was there with them detectives started to take a much closer look at Shirley
Willis she was born in India before migrating to Australia she suffered abuse at just nine years of
age and this led her to develop post-traumatic stress disorder after the birth of her second son she was in and
out of hospital for over a year suffering severe postnatal depression and she ended up making three suicide
attempts detectives started going through the books of Shirley's high-end fashion boutique from the outside
looking in everything seemed to suggest the shop was successful and doing quite well but a closer look at the finances
showed that the business was actually going backwards and was in significant debt the business side close to $300,000
the truth was Shirley had no idea how to run a business she kept ordering high-end stock despite
not being able to sell the stock she currently had on hand but it didn't worry her she had paid his large bank
account to steal from as detectives dug further they found that Shirley had been
stealing from Peter to keep the business afloat and to allow her to keep living the life of luxury she'd become
accustomed to she started writing checks to herself using Peters bank accounts in
total she stole around nine hundred thousand dollars from him a few weeks before his death Peter
started to catch on to what surely had been doing he called his accountant to check his
books his accountant told him there was more than enough evidence for surely to be charged peter was furious he
immediately froze surely out of all these accounts Shirley's life of luxury had just come
to an abrupt halt not only that Peter put Shelley's house on the market this stung Shirley and she started to
formulate a plan to stop Peter from cutting her off she befriended Stanley and Sophia they came from a world far
away from Shirley's upmarket lifestyle Shirley essentially groomed them for the job she had planned she gave them
thousands of dollars in cash in order to buy their friendship and Trust she also
won them over with stories detailing how Peter forced her to participate in bondage sessions she said that he tied
her up and abused her Stanley and Sophia lashed on Shirley was throwing money of
them and they saw her as an easy target they would do whatever she wanted Stanley and Sophia told police
everything in their interviews it became clear to them they surely had set them up and had planned all along for them to
take the rap for Peters murder they both said though of the belief that they were just going to rough Peter up
for cutting off Shirley's money supply and force him to sign some documents for her
this included him signing the house she lived in over to her so he couldn't sell
it on the night of May 6th 2005 Shirley picked up Stanley and Sophia and drove over to Peter's house Shirley still had
a key to his place so they got in easily they made their way to Pete his bedroom
where he was found asleep they immediately jumped on him and started the attack during the initial struggle
Peter was able to bite Sophia's finger which is what would cause the bloody fingerprint to be left later
Sophia responded by belting him over they had Peter was knocked unconscious but he wasn't dead they dragged him out
of his bed down to the floor and tied him up Shirley then injected Peter with heroin
they left the house but then Shirley returned the next day to give Peter another shot of heroin just to make sure
he wouldn't wake up Shirley then set the crime scene up to make it look as though
Peter had been engaging in a bondage act she went to work for the day then returned that night where she made that
fake frantic triple oh cool [Music] Sonia was the word of two drug-addicted petty criminals against the word of an
upmarket boutique shop owner Shirley continued to deny she had any involvement in Peters deaths so police
arranged for Victor the hit man to pay her another visit and they struck gold the undercover police officer expertly
got Shirley to confess her involvement in Peters murder Shirley was arrested soon after Shirley refused to say
anything to detectives so Shirley withers ordered a hit on Sofia and Stanley so they wouldn't talk and
implicate her in the murder which is kind of ironic because they didn't start talking until they found out Shirley had
put a hit out on them although to be fair it was still early days and it's doubtful they would have continued to
stay silent about Shirley's involvement they probably would have started to look
for a deal at some stage Sofia and Stanley both pled guilty to manslaughter in exchange for testifying against
Shirley they'll bite given reduced sentences of six years jail with a non-parole period of three and a half
years Shirley pled guilty to hiring a hitman conspiring to kill Sofia and Stanley but
pled not guilty to the murder of Peter after a six-week trial Shirley was found guilty of murder and sentenced to 26
years in jail with a non-parole period of 18 years but Shirley thought she could do better
so she appealed this sentence she argued that it was never her intention to kill
Peter and that she had merely wanted to teach him a lesson she argued she had no
way of knowing how much heroin would kill Peter despite the brutal and premeditated nature of the attack the
staging of the crime scene her attempts to have the people she hired for the job
killed so they couldn't talk she managed to convince the appeal judges and have her charge downgraded from murder to
manslaughter he is what one of the judges had to say the evidence fell short any of you of establishing an
intention to kill or cause serious injury even though in the weeks leading up to Peter's death Shirley had written
a new will that she intended to get paid at ass on then you will still have $1 H
to paid his ex was but left the remainder of his estate to Shirley for her role in the brutal murder of Peter
shalad Shirley withers was sentenced to 13 years jail with a non-parole period of just 9 years she is eligible for
release this year you

Case 10: Peter Shellard

The 7th of May 2005 was a typical run of the mill day for Shirley Withers. She worked the full day in her Melbourne fashion boutique and once the shop had closed, she bought a take-out meal and headed to the North Caufield mansion of her millionaire boyfriend Peter Shellard…

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research and writing – Anonymous Host Production, scoring – Mike Migas

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Brief Summary

Shirley Withers hired criminals to kill her millionaire boyfriend Peter Shalad, leading to a complex murder investigation and her eventual conviction.

Key points

The Eccentric Millionaire. Peter Shalad, a self-made millionaire, was known for his oddball personality and lavish lifestyle.
A Shocking Discovery. Shirley Withers finds Peter dead in his mansion, tied up and gagged.
The Twist of Betrayal. Shirley hires a hitman to kill Sofia and Stanley, revealing her true intentions.
The Final Verdict. Shirley is sentenced to 13 years for her role in Peter's murder after an appeal.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

It's nice to be a bit mad, isn't it?

Peter's eccentricity in a TV interview.

1:31WatchNov 19, 2018

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