A string of disappearances in Melbourne | Forensic Files

[Music] Frankston is a Bayside Council of Melbourne as well as a suburb itself with around 135,000 people residing
there it's it's 40 kilometers or 25 miles southeast from the centre of Melbourne and includes a varied mix of
affluent areas as well as inexpensive and council housing it has a mixed reputation with Frankston north renowned
for drugs a crime under the South more wealthy and scenic with sweeping views of Port Phillip Bay and huge houses
nestled in the hills you have heard about Frankston before on this podcast case 23 the Frankston serial killer but
before paul Denya there was another serial killer hunting in Frankston [Music] Allisyn rook was a 60 year old widow who
lived with her pet budgie in a redbrick flat on Hanna Street Frankston North on Friday the 30th of May 1980 Alison was
experiencing car trouble with her ek Holden she ditched the car and decided to catch a bus along the Frankston
Denton Ong road instead Alison had to go grocery shopping and visit the real estate agent to pay a bill about 11:00
a.m. she was seen by neighbors leaving her flat walking towards the bus stop on Frankston Dandenong Road Alison never
placed her grocery order and didn't make it to the real estate agent the bus driver working the route that they
couldn't recall picking Alison up Allison's daughter Elaine white made numerous calls to her mother throughout
that afternoon and evening they had plans to go to a hotel that night to watch Elaine's husband playing a country
in western bed when Elaine failed to get in touch with her mother she feared she
may have collapsed alone in her flat Elaine called her brother Keith and together they went to check on their
mother Keith climbed through a window only to find the place completely undisturbed an
empty bottle of beer Elaine had drunk with her mum the day before was even still in the sink police were called and
after an investigation believed it likely that Alison was abducted while waiting for a bus despite being a major
busy road there were no witnesses no one saw Alison being dragged into a car or speaking with the suspicious person no
one saw any suspicious vehicles it's as if she disappeared on Saturday the 5th of July 1985 weeks
later a man walking his dogs found Alison's body partially hidden by scrub on McClelland Drive in Frankston
McClelland drive runs off Sky Road which is where Paul Daniel would attack 17 year old Natalie Russell 13 years later
Alison was found to naked her body decomposed the discovery of Alison's body didn't help police further their
investigation they struggled to find leads there was no forensic evidence left at the crime scene and to note
witnesses their frustration was evident in this interview given to the aged newspaper by head of the frankestein
Criminal Investigation Branch inspector Marie Burgess only days after Alison's body was found I am disgusted we have
not received more help everybody just keeps on going about doing their own thing not caring that they could be next
this is the worst crime I've seen in this town in the four years I've been here the killer has struck once and we
need help to catch him before he strikes again Alison had another son Ivan Rukh who was a police officer in South
Australia he said when I heard the news that she was missing I had the feeling that I wouldn't be seeing her again no
one knows what it's like until they experience it you read about a murder in the paper and ten minutes later you
forget it I feel anger and I wonder that anyone could be so sick a post mortem failed to identify a cause of death due
to the state of decomposition Alison had two sets of keys to her flat neither set
has been filmed the victorian government announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of
the killer or killers of Alison rook but no arrests were made Julie Sommers was a 55 year old widow
who lived only one kilometer away from Alison rooks flat although they didn't know each other Julie lived on Norfolk
reson Frankston North joy suffered from arthritis and had previously had a stroke every Friday she went shopping
with her friend William Cora but on Friday the 9th of October 1980 William had a few medical appointments
booked so he couldn't go joy didn't like shopping alone but she decided to catch
a bus from Frankston Dandenong Road into Frankston to buy some meat on her own anyway
she needed a side of Lynn she insisted on personally picking out her cuts of meat from her preferred butcher
Woodward's on well Street she was seen by neighbors outside her home at 1:00 p.m. heading to
the bus stop which was only 100 metres away at the intersection of chili street and Frankston Denton on Road joy was
seen at the bus stop at 1:20 p.m. and it was never seen again the bus driver couldn't recall picking
her up and she never placed her order at the butchers it had been almost a year and a half since Alison was killed like
Alison police believed that Joey was abducted from the bus stop on Frankston Dandenong Road her friend William Cotter
was convinced that joy would not have accepted a lift from a stranger yet just like in Alison's case no one saw a
struggle or anything suspicious along the busy road that day it was six weeks later Sunday the 22nd of November 1981
about 11:00 a.m. a man collecting firewood found a joyce naked body hidden in thick scrub in bushland near the
intersection of sky road and McClelland drive Frankston north only about three kilometers away from where Alison rooks
body was located like Alison's body joy was covered but not buried a post-mortem
also failed to find a cause of death in Joy's case due to decomposition police determined that Alison and Joy's murders
were linked there were more than just a few similarities the two murders were almost identical
two special hotlines were set up at Frankston police station with inspector Walsh warning that they believed the
Frankston killer would strike again the early working theory was that joy and Alison had probably accepted lifts from
the killer after mistaking him for someone they knew or trusted they were then killed and their bodies
dumped the same day they even considered that the killer may have been in disguise Chief Inspector Burgess said
they weren't the type of women who were jumped into a car with just anyone it would have to be someone they felt
confident to get into a car with it is quite feasible that the killer could be someone dressed up as a woman a priest
or anything like that he continued that he believed her killer was clever not the kind to drop his wallet at the scene
or leave any evidence behind he concluded that the killer probably lived in the area in DeNooyer
well Burgess appealed to the public particularly middle aged and elderly women who had been offered a lift at a
bus stop to contact one of the special hotlines at Frankston police station Burgess was convinced they were women
out there who had refused to lifts and then probably didn't think any more of it afterward this appeal did generate a
lead for police which we will get into later but first a quote from inspector les Walsh from the Victorian Police
Homicide Squad Tainan is obviously something we don't just push out of our minds and forget
about but at this stage we're still treating Tainan as a different investigation so what was the tornami
investigation in 1980 the same year Alison was murdered in Frankston Bertha Miller was 75 years old and living with
her brother-in-law William Ross on Cardenas Street Glen Iris Glen ARS is an affluent suburb in Melbourne ceasd
situated in what is now known as the Golden Triangle about 45 kilometres north of Frankston Bertha had lived
there for more than 25 years Bertha was an active and alert woman in good health
with a large group of friends she was heavily involved in her local church bertha had worked with the Spring Street
mission in the Central Melbourne suburb Parran for over 40 years she was the longest-serving member
having joined in 1932 she also worked at the Sunday School and was the church treasurer the church priest described
her as a humble woman who spent her life helping others although not a wealthy woman she sent money to many other
Christian missions at 10:15 a.m. on Sunday the 10th of August 1980 Bertha called out to her brother-in-law William
who is in the shower she told him she was off the church should be home late and not to wait for her to have lunch in
order to get to the church Bertha caught the [ __ ] from High Street Glen Iris her
good friend Jesse more live Danny Boy in Burke Road for the previous 10 years Bertha and Jesse caught the same trend
to church every Sunday the 10:47 a.m. along High Street Bertha boarded at the terminus and Jesse joined
her shortly after at the Burke Road stop when Jesse got on the train that day Bertha was nowhere to be found Jesse
thought that maybe Bertha had gotten an earlier trim so she could deal with the church business Bertha was last seen by
a shopkeeper making the 400-meter walk to the tram stop police were called and conducted an investigation
this one was close to home birth and Miller was the auntie of the then Victorian Police Commissioner Mick
Miller but there were no witnesses no signs of a struggle no leads at all no one had seen anything suspicious Bertha
had disappeared without a trace Catherine headland was 14 years old she had moved to Australia from England with
her family in 1966 when she was just one they emigrated during the error of the 10-pound pomp scheme when British and
Australian governments work together to help populate Australia the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne
were heavily populated with English immigrants during the time she lived with her mother and older brother in
Allen Street barrack this outer southeastern suburb was at the time a rural area only just starting to kick
off with housing developments and subdivision berrak is a little further southeast of
Glen Iris and northeast of Frankston Katharine was popular at school she loved competing with her horse prince in
local equestrian competitions there was her horse that led her to receive an ultimatum from her mother hazel either
get a job to help with that upkeep or we sell the horse Katharine chose the job hazel worked at
the Cole supermarket in the local fountaingate shopping centre she got Katharine a job there working
part-time on weekends and Thursday the 28th of August 1980 during the school holidays was to be Catherine's first mid
week shift it was two and a half weeks after Bertha had gone missing in Glen Iris hazel headland Catherine's mum left
home that day at 8:30 a.m. leaving Catherine's 70 cents for the bus fare Catherine didn't start work until
12 midday but she left home at 9:30 a.m. to visit her boyfriend John McManus John
lived on High Street berrak about a one-mile walk John had a number of other friends visiting and
they watched the TV and listen to records Catherine told her friends she wasn't particularly keen on going to
work unless she wanted to quit altogether because it was stifling her social life at 11:10 a.m. Catherine left
John's house and walked to the bus stop at the corner of Manuka Road and High Street where she planned to catch the
11:20 a.m. bus to work Catherine never made it to work she was never seen again police were called and immediately
launched an investigation many people came forward with alleged sightings of Kathryn later that afternoon this
confused the initial investigation a bus driver was adamant that he picked up a girl matching Catherine's description
and a blonde girl about the same age at the PIO street bus stop which is about eight hundred meters away from the
Manuka Road stop others claimed to have seen Kathryn about 2:30 p.m. that afternoon in Mary Warren about eight
kilometers away from Catherine's bus stop speaking with the blond girl a photo fit was even released of this
blonde girl alleged to have been seen with Kathryn but she was never identified if it was true that Kathryn
did go to nary Warren instead of work with an unknown friend it's possible she may have decided to hitchhike home
hitchhiking was very common at the time and another bus driver came forward saying he was positive he had seen
Kathryn hitchhiking in the past police determined that these sightings of Kathryn were unreliable and that there
was no evidence Kathryn got onto the bus in Murray sergeant was 18 years old a happy-go-lucky girl with a large group
of friends she lived with family friends on Railway Road in another outer eastern
suburb called Cranbourne Cranbourne a fairly rural area is almost right in the center between Frankston and barek in a
northeasterly direction Ann Marie was unemployed and struggling to find a career on the 6th of October 1980 just
over a month after Kathryn had gone missing Emery visited her mother on Cranbourne Drive when she left she said
she was headed to the nearby suburb of Denton on to the Commonwealth employment service or CAS to collect an
unemployment check it was located about 15 kilometers west of where Kathryn Hedlund disappeared in
barek Emery told her mother that she would be returning later in the day to collect some clothing
Emory made it to the CES office she lodged the form there but after she left the office she was never seen again
in Marie's father Fred Sargent said she commonly got around by hitchhiking judor
having a lack of money he said she could have had money from home for a bus but she said she would
rather walk because she loved walking on the day she went missing I knew that she
had to hitchhike into dentinal because she never had money to get the bus my belief is that she was picked up and
killed while hitchhiking it was revealed that Emory had an operation a few years
earlier to remove fluid from her brain a plastic tube was inserted into the back
of her skull during the operation any not to her head could have been fatal police again came up empty no witnesses
no reports of a struggle or of anything suspicious no leads Emory just vanished Nirmal Stevenson was 34 years old she
was born in Thailand she married Victorian dairy farmer Wayne Stevenson in Thailand in 1978 before
moving to Australia in August 1979 leaving her two children in the care of her parents she struggled to settle in
Australia and had immediate doubts about her decision to move here Wayne and Nirmal lived on a farm in Dean's Marsh a
hundred and thirty four kilometers southwest of Melbourne on the 28th of November 1980 they visited Melbourne
with another couple to see a concert they stayed overnight with friends near Hartwell station in Camberwell Hartwell
stations is between Glen Iris and Camberwell only about three and a half kilometers from where Bertha Miller
disappeared on her way to church ten weeks earlier the next day the 29th of November they all visited another friend
in Park Street Brunswick about 18 kilometres or 11 miles away in the inner north of Melbourne and about 45
kilometres northwest of where Mary Sargent disappeared in Cranbourne when they got their urine will refused
to get out of the car and go up into the flat she was upset about the visit as she had gone to the market earlier that
day to buy ingredients for a tire mill she planned to cook for everyone but instead they went out drinking Lane
Stevenson and at the other couple went into the flat where they drunk wine and coffee Wayne came down at least three
times to check on euro more the second time he found her walking down the street from the direction of a 7-eleven
the third time he found her talking tire to a man in a car the man had a European
accent after this third check Wayne sat with his wife in their car until it was nearly dawn then he walked upstairs and
fell asleep near amore remained in the car still refusing to enter the flat shortly after 6:00 a.m.
Wayne Stevenson walked back downstairs to see his wife but she wasn't there the car was still there but Nirmal was
missing police were called but got nowhere no witnesses no evidence no signs of a struggle no leads at all they
weren't convinced this was even a missing-persons case given the argument the Stevenson's had had the case quickly
went cold none of the cases were linked at this stage that wouldn't happen until
one week after nirmal's disappearance the 6th of December 1980 around 40 kilometers or 24 miles east of barrack
and Cranbourne local garage owner Graham brenchley and of two friends Tom Ruby and delenn Craven had spent the morning
slaughtering nine lamps in the shed on branchlets property in the town of Garfield they needed somewhere to dump
the awful trail and went to the cool room to store the carcasses while brenchley and Looby jumped in a car and
headed to an area of scrub at Tainan north Tainan north is a small rural town located 75 kilometres 447 miles
southeast of melbourne and it has a population of only about 400 people and is mainly farm in bushland brenchley
knew the foxes and wild dogs in Tainan north would take care of the awful for him
two kilometers north of the princess highway at Tainan north along brew road there is a dead-end dirt track that
leads up to an abandoned same quarry now filled with water the track is rarely used to the left of the dirt road there
were numerous wallaby tracks leading in different directions a quiet isolated area thick with flies and infested by
snakes the chances of running into another person were remote it was the ideal spot it was about 2:30 p.m.
brenchley chose a wallaby track and started walking looking to dump what was left of the limb as he was walking he
looked to his right and was stumped he called out to his mate boobie Christ there's a body over here brenchley went
in for a closer look and called out a second time no there are two of them Branch Lee had found the bodies of
Bertha Miller in the Emory Sargent hidden in dense low scrub like Allison rub enjoy summers the bodies weren't
buried but the dense undergrowth in which they'll found provided sufficient concealment the crime scenes of Allison
and joy were about 50 kilometres west of the Thai non-north crime scene both bodies were badly decomposed they were
laying face-up head to feet beside each other at the base of a large tree each had one arm across the chest and to the
other beside their body Ann Marie Sargent was naked the Bertha Miller was still heavily
clothed police were called and a crime scene was established a thorough search of the area the following morning on
Sunday the 7th of December located a third body at 10:00 a.m. only about 15 meters away it was
Catherine had built a member of the forensic science laboratory found her she was also badly decomposed and had
been left naked the media immediately printed headlines drawing comparisons to the infamous Truro motors in South
Australia seven women were killed between December 76 and February 77 five of the victims were dumped in bush
paddocks at ruh-roh just off a main highway when asked about the similarities the head of the
Victorian Homicide Squad Chief Inspector Paul Daley honest they're saying this is just a local
problem he continued it seems this is the dumping ground for some sort of cure we are not overlooking the possibility
that there are others there he said the search and rescue squad would closely comb over the ten hectare
24 acre area for clues and four more bodies post-mortems were conducted on Monday the 8th of December Emory Sargent
was able to be identified by the plastic tube inserted in her skull during her brain operation it took a few days to
identify Bertha Miller and Catherine headland Bertha was identified by the dress she was wearing and a hair match
to a brush found in her home catherine was identified by our leather anklet earrings and dental records police were
surprised to learn of the age gap between the victims Chief Inspector Paul deli honest said police initially
thought it likely that all the victims would be young we were looking at a possible sexual motive but we will have
to look again at the situation the sexual motive wasn't completely discarded but they didn't fit any known
pattern given the substantial age gap of the victims due to the bad state of decomposition no
cause of death was able to be determined for any of the victims police confirmed
they were checking for similarities between the three Tainan victims and of the murder of Alison rook in Frankston
Joyce summers the second Frankston victim hadn't been attacked at this point in time each victim was either
waiting for public transport or was hitchhiking each victim was close to home and disappeared from public areas
shortly after being seen by witnesses yet there were no witnesses to any suspicious activity no tips had been
called him a special operations room was set up at Russell Street police headquarters in
central Melbourne over 25 police were involved in the search and initial investigation an early Avenue of
Investigation was to set up a roadblock near the Glen Iris home of Bertha Miller
the roadblock occurred on Sunday the 14th of December on High Street Glen Iris although it had been four months
since the day she disappeared police hoped someone would come forward with information
maybe someone remembered something and they did police learned that Bertha may have accepted rides from strangers in
the past despite her brother-in-law saying she wouldn't Detective Inspector Richie from
the Homicide Squad said it appears she was the sort of person who would accept a lift from people she did not know we
have spoken to a number of people who have given her lifts at various times in the past after successfully learning
misinformation from the roadblocks set up for Bertha police set up a roadblock the next day on Thomas Street Denton on
seeking information about Hemery sergeant it was there indenting on that emery was last seen collecting her
unemployment check following the information that had been received about the possible sighting of Katherine
headland in Merritt Warren on the afternoon of her disappearance a dummy wearing the same clothes as
Kathryn was displayed in the area on Friday the 19th of December after the early steps of the investigation had
taken place police issued a press release stating that a driver of a white taxi may be able to assist with their
inquiries witnesses had come forward and said that a white taxi possibly a Holden
Kingswood was spotted near where the bodies were found on three occasions they correspond did with the time of the
killings Paul de Leeuw owner said no connection had been made between the three victims so they believed that the
taxi could have been used as a ploy to pick them up after making extensive inquiries with taxi companies police
were told that some drivers offered free lifts to women and this was known to happen in the tunnel north area but they
weren't able to identify the taxi they were looking for or the driver on Thursday the 3rd of february 1983 two
years into two months after the original discovery at time a teacher and former AFL footballer
Barry Davis found the body of Niram or Stephenson Barry was driving along the Princess Highway in Tainan North when a
tire went flat on a trailer he was towing they pulled over opposite a truck stop while his mate went to try and
borrow a jack Barry decided to stretch his legs quote I decided to take a walk up the bush track
I walked up this track for approximately 50 metres from the road and came to a dead end
I then turned around to walk back and to notice the bone on the ground at the time Barry was a senior lecturer in
anatomy and physiology and immediately recognised that as a human thigh bone the track he is referring to is the same
one off brew road that led to the old sand quarry where Bertha Catherine and Emery were filmed police were notified
attended the scene and after a search they located the body of newer and more Stevenson like the others she wasn't
buried but concealed by thick undergrowth she was found a naked on the opposite side of the track to the other victims
closer to the highway about two kilometres away from the first crime scene Detective Chief Superintendent
Phil Bennett said we have every reason to believe the fourth body is connected to the other three they were too close
not to be connected like the other victims an autopsy failed to identify a cause of
death numel was identified by dental records after two and a half years of investigation and more than 1,000
interviews they had found the fourth body at tunnel they had answered the question lingering over whether Nirmal
Stephenson had met with foul play so the timeline is Allison rook was the first to go missing on the 30th of May 1980
she was found five weeks later at Frankston birth the Miller was the next to disappear on the 10th of August 1980
then Catherine headland on the 18th of August 1980 they named Mary sergeant on the 6th of August 1980
numel Stephenson on the 30th of November 1980 proximity was near amore was by far the
furthest distance to the other women when she disappeared but the night before she went missing
she'd stayed the night in the next suburb from where Bertha Miller had disappeared from the bodies of Bertha
Katherine and Ann Marie were found at Tainan north on the 6th of December 1980 joy Summers went missing on the 9th of
October 1981 and was found at Frankston six weeks later near more Stevenson was the last to be found on the 3rd of
February 1983 at Tainan North police were treating the tunnel north investigation separate to the Frankston
investigation but were open to the idea that they could be linked in fact the opinions were divided amongst the
investigators as to whether or not they were hunting one or two killers some even suggested it could be three a
[Music] cranial inquest into the four tunnel North murders was held at Hawthorne
coroner's court in Melbourne before coroner Anthony Ellis Ellis released his findings on Wednesday the 12th of June
1985 by now the investigation had been ongoing for four and a half years 2,000 interviews had been conducted which had
taken detectives as far as North Queensland there were 11,000 400 pages of notes statements and other documents
some suspects had been identified but there was insufficient evidence for any arrests
coroner Ellis said that the person or persons responsible for the murders appeared to have no criteria in the
selection of victims there were great disparities in the ages and social backgrounds of the four women but there
were similarities that linked them all all disappeared on large roads while using public transport or hitchhiking
all four were either unemployed or worked only part-time and therefore at free time during the day after all of
the evidence was heard before the coroner's court coroner Anthony Ellis was unable to determine how when or
where the women died it was an open finding quote there does not appear to be any particular pattern to the date or
times that the women disappeared there is no doubt that fair play must be suspected I must return and
inverted a $50,000 reward was in place for information leading to an arrest for each victim at both Tainan north and
Frankston the reward is still in place today and has never been increased this case didn't attract the media coverage
that other cases have compared it to two other Victorian cases the Frankston serial killer pulled Enya which was
still a decade away or mr. cruel which was also a few years away from breaking into the media coverage of torn on north
and Frankston was far lower in comparison despite this the police had still conducted an extremely large scale
and intense investigation one of the largest in Victoria's history up to that point they believed sexual assault was a
motivation for the killings but couldn't prove it they also believed the victims
were asphyxiated or stabbed but again they couldn't prove it the investigation continued however with no fresh leads
and not enough evidence to make any arrests it was eventually scaled back the Tainan north and Frankston cases
were still mentioned together but still weren't conclusively linked eventually the cases were placed in the cold-case
file but new life was breathed back into the investigation and it was reopened after Christmas card was sent to
Catherine headlands family in December 1988 inside the card was a handwritten note at read I hope in writing to you I
do not cause you or your family any stress I can comprehend the pain the agony you have endured to lose a loved
one Catherine not knowing when or if the perpetrator singular or plural will ever
be caught well the New Year may be a good one for you things may unfold the name of the perpetrator whose deeds make
true look like kids stuff I'll keep in touch sometime in the new year signed anonymous friend
this Christmas card was followed five months later biotype to letter sent to the Victorian police commissioner at the
time killed Claire it was received by him on Tuesday the 30th of May 1989 at red is the Tainan fall gathering dust
have you ran into a dead end need help with a multitude of questions but very few answers did you know you
were dealing with mass murder in a scale never seen in this country only the top
American serial killers surpassed this cold-blooded killer did you know name is blacked out by
police was another victim and others across three states did you find the brooch that Miller was wearing on the
day of the murder or the pair of sterling silver Bluebird earrings belonging to Catherine that's the end of
the letter police had found Catherine's earrings but not Bertha Miller's brooch Chief Inspector Coll of the Homicide
Squad said he believed the writer had intimate knowledge of the murders he hoped it was from someone who knew the
murderer and would come forward with more information quote after so many years of nothing
we have suddenly got someone communicating with relatives and the chief commissioner this letter was
posted only two weeks after a nationwide TV special aired on Jack the Ripper which had made mention of the taunting
letters sent to Scotland Yard police though in short memory sergeant sister said he's still out there and he's
playing games with us now until he's caught I don't think anybody involved in the whole thing can rest we continually
think about it it's there with us every day every time we go to the cemetery it's there police got to work trying to
identify the writer they weren't sure if it was the killer someone who knew the killer or if it was just a hoax but
publicly sergeant Fraser who is now head of the investigation said this we believe it to be genuine because the
letter mentions items of jewelry belonging to the victims and it appears he has an intimate knowledge of the
murders forensic psychologist mr. Tim Watson Monroe who was also involved in the mr.
cruel case said the author of the letter and the Christmas card fit the criteria
of a psychopath quote he's obviously articulate and above average intelligence it is possible he's flagging a warning
that he may strike again McMiller the former Victorian police commissioner and a nephew of Bertha Miller was
interviewed about the new developments he said the Victorian police have a top reputation of being able to solve
serious crimes long after their occurrence as leader of the force it was with considerable disappointment that we
were not able to solve the murders at the time he said he was confident the case would be solved after the letters
were released to the public police were bombarded with new information detectives who worked the
case originally were recalled from their current duties to get back to work on the Toyon case the chief investigator
Detective Sergeant bill Fraser who had worked the investigation originally was recalled from his duties at the time and
put back on the case as were other detectives around the state the new information they received from the
public took weeks to sift through some information was new to police and had to be examined thoroughly it led to many
more people being interviewed and even some cars being forensic ly tested media reports at the time still only mainly
referred to the four tunnel North murders the Franklin murders were barely mentioned maybe a line or two in the
occasional article briefly mentioning the fact police were considering the possibility they were linked but that's
it another interesting point about the media reporting at a time after the letters were made public the media
started calling the killings mass murders the Tainan mass murders speculation was rife that an interstate
mass murderer was on the loose so the letter writer had an effect the letter didn't just have the attention of
Victorian detectives but detectives from all around the country who sought further information from Victorian
detectives about its contents and potential links to other unsolved murders New South Wales police publicly
confirmed they were monitoring the progress of the newly reopened atonal investigation and were making several
inquiries in relation to missing persons cases Queensland police also confirmed they were reviewing note files to see if
there were any cases with similarities to the tonal murders it was at this time that another theory presented itself the
Tainan killer was a serial killer who had been operating along the highways of Australia's East Coast since 1972 it was
reported 13 women had been murdered along eastern seaboard highways between 1972 and 1983 into their cases remained
unsolved which would explain why Queensland the New South Wales Police were monitoring developments closely on
the 5th of June 1999 police revealed they had identified the letter writer and he was not the person responsible
for the murders the man's name was not disclosed due to fears for his life but he had given information to police he
was a prisoner at Penn treason in Melbourne three typewriters were seized from the prison's J Division and
forensic tests showed one of the typewriters had been used to type the letter sent to the commissioner the
writer told police he sent the letter because he had feelings of sympathy towards the families of the murdered
women the name that was blacked out in a letter was Edwina Boyle who had last been seen in her home in Denton on in
October 1983 police launched a large-scale search to find her at the time of her disappearance but they came
up empty her body wasn't located until 2006 and her husband was charged and convicted of her murder so the case was
unrelated to the Tainan Frankston link's however it was commonly linked to them over the years
despite the investigation kick-starting and at the renewed public interest no arrests were made and that the case went
cold again until 1999 in 1999 Victorian police established a new task force to investigate the killings codenamed
Lyndhurst former police commissioner McMiller nephew of bertha miller lobbied for the
case to be reinvestigated his pleas were heard and the new task force containing
seven police was formed it was hoped that advancements in DNA technology could provide the breakthrough they were
looking for their job was to check the boxes of old exhibits reveal the notes from the original investigators review
witness statements and every other piece of information they could find in the file speaking to witnesses would prove
to be a problem though many when they are dead and of those that were still alive struggled to remember back all
those years ago exhibits were sent to the forensic science center to establish if there were any DNA traces that could
be analyzed if DNA traces were found police plan to ask several suspects for comparison samples despite the fact no
arrests had ever been made police had a few people in mind task force Lyndhurst would be concentrating on the torn on
north murders but would look at other murders if evidence was uncovered confirming they were linked so again the
Frankston killings were briefly referenced but not officially linked different generations of detectives had
by now worked the case some were convinced tonal north and Frankston were linked others entertained to the idea
that two serial killers were operating at the same time others believed that could be three killers even two expert
analysts who examined all available evidence came to two different conclusions two specialist analyst
reports were conducted by the bureau of criminal intelligence one in 1985 and another in 1990 the two reports were
completed by different analysts the 1985 report noted that the Frankston murders
of alison Rilke and Joyce summers end of the tour non-north murders of Bertha Miller katherine headland and anne-marie
sergeant have obvious similarities all were last seen between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. all were abducted east of
Melbourne Alison and joy were both abducted around lunchtime on a Friday all waiting for a bus on Frankston
dentinal Road all five victims were taken in a 17 month period between 1980 and to 1981
four of them lived in a triangle going from Frankston to Cranbourne to barrack there were differences in urine more
Stephenson's case she was presumably abducted while sitting in a car outside a flat not waiting for public transport
although it's possible she may have walked from the car and sought public transport or started hitchhiking
she was also abducted in the early hours of the morning and it was outside the area of where the other victims were
taken Brunswick is a fairly central northern suburb of Melbourne whereas the other victims were taken well east or
south east of Melbourne yet despite these differences the killer was active when she was abducted and her body was
found at Tainan North in the close vicinity of the other victims her remains were also found in a similar
state to the other victims it couldn't be a copycat because Bertha Katherine Demery were found one week
after Nirmal was taken the differences suggest that neuromas case didn't fit yet at the same time it was almost too
much of a coincidence not to be connected the 1985 analyst report states there is nothing to suggest that the
offender or offenders selected their victims because of specific characteristics common to the women it
appears that each of them was selected at random who they were was not the criteria for their selection but where
they were the report suggests that the killer was an opportunist unemployed on leave or a shift worker and possibly
lived in the Dandenong Frankston or Eastern Bay areas in relation to the fact that 75 year old Bertha Miller was
the only victim found to clothes the report concluded it may be that the offender or offenders balked when they
realized her age or fear and stress caused by her situation I have brought on a heart attack the report concluded
the victims weren't killed at the scene they were killed elsewhere as there were
no signs of a struggle none of the bodies were buried all were covered by local vegetation and scrub some were
better hidden than others the branch is used to cover Miller had been sawn off whereas the branches used to cover the
other bodies had been broken away or picked from the ground despite the similarities in the cases the 1985
analyst felt one person killed bertha miller katherine headland and n marie sergeant a second person killed urine
while stevenson and a third person killed Alison rook and Joyce summers three different killers the analyst
offered the following explanation the person or persons who placed the first three victims at the brew roadside near
the same quarry at Tainan North were more particular in selecting a site at which to dispose of the bodies an
isolated site offer little used Road considerable distance from the nearest main road was selected he was prepared
to take the victim a considerable distance from where he picked them up before disposing of the body this could
indicate that the offender responsible for the deaths of the three women at Tainan North had given
some thought as to how and where he might dispose of the body and suggests that he may have planned to commit a
particular offense if and when the opportunity arose the analyst went on to state that this was an important
difference to the other cases Nirmal Stevenson and the two Frankston women Joyce summers and Alison rook were all
located much closer to a main road or highway suggesting to the analyst they were placed at the first available
suitable location found by the offender their bodies were not positioned with as
much care as the first three Tainan victims this alone led the analysts to conclude there was more than one killer
the analysts who completed the 1990 report five years later reached an entirely different conclusion the 1990
report said that on the balance of probabilities the same person killed Alison Brooke Joyce summers Bertha
Miller Katherine headland and n Murray Sargent the analyst wasn't sure about Niram or Stevenson being
killed by the same person because of the differences mentioned earlier so who were the suspects police identified over
the years there are three main ones one of those is considered the red hot suspect but we will go over all three
the first is referred to as Miller's suspect former Victorian police commissioner McMiller nephew of Bertha
Miller couldn't tolerate loose ends and it was a stickler for protocol and procedure he was not one to stick his
nose into an investigation despite his auntie being a victim he knew it was a job for the detectives on
the case and he left it with them he was a former well-respected homicide detective himself and a lecturer at the
detective training school so he no doubt would have been tempted to get involved
giving his personal attachment to the case but he was determined not to he ignored his personal interest and was
insulted by any suggestion he would influence the investigation he stuck to his word until he retired
from the police force in 1987 but in his retirement he did become more vocal he was very vocal in lobbying for the case
to be reexamined which had led to the formation of task force Flynn to us in 1999 he has thrown up the name of a
suspect who cannot publicly be named Miller's belief is that a crucial alibi given by this suspect may be false
although the alibi was accepted by investigators at the time the alibi was that the suspect was working when
Catherine headland and anne-marie Sargent were taken so he couldn't be responsible a handwritten time sheet and
a punched time clock are backed up his alibi but Miller was not convinced by this seemingly airtight alibi the
initial theory was that the victims were selected at random while waiting for public transport all while hitchhiking
but Miller believes Catherine Emery Andy's aunt Bertha may have all been carefully selected by a man they all
knew the reason Miller liked this suspect so much is because the suspect knew Catherine Hedlund his circle of
friends also had contact with Emery sergeant and he also had indirect contacts to Bertha Miller McMiller
believes he suspect wrongly believed Bertha was wealthy and that Catherine and Emory's attacks were sexually
motivated Miller's suspect was in his 20s at the time of the murders and two lived inside
the so-called killers triangle going from Frankston to Cranbourne to barrack Miller became concerned by work
practices at the factory where the suspect worked Miller believed it was possible the torn
sheets could have been falsified and the suspect could have left work after clocking on and been gone for hours
unnoticed workers at the factory had to punch a card into a time clock but of course there's no way of proving who
actually punched the card a handwritten worksheet showed when workers were on leave or sick by supervision at the
factory was poor in Patong sheets and clock ons were not checked daily against staff who were actually present it was
common for workers to slip out for a few hours unnoticed by supervisors and very
occasionally it was possible to get a fellow worker to punch your car and you could get away with not showing
up at all Miller's suspect didn't have a reputation as a good worker he often called in sick and only remained in the
job for about 7 months the 1985 analysis determined Miller suspect was unlikely to be involved but
that was based on his airtight alibi which Miller believes is not hair type any more the next suspect relates to the
Christmas card sent to Catherine's family and the letter sent to the commissioner
the letter ADA was identified as a prisoner at entry to prison he was a serial rapist who had served years of
time with notorious criminal Raymond Edmonds also known as mr. stinky Edmonds murdered two teenagers in 1966 but was
not arrested until 1985 police believe he was responsible for at least 32 rapes and the numerous unsolved murders
committed up until the time of his arrest he was later convicted for five rapes but never convicted for any other
murders he is currently serving life with no minimum turn the letter writer told police that Edmonds had confessed
to him about a large number of unsolved murders and bragged that his youngest victim was nine it was because of this
that the letter I denominated Edmonds as the tournant murderer these allegations
were checked out by police Edmonds repeatedly denies involvement in any other crimes other than those he has
been convicted for he refuses to speak to police or cooperate in any cold case investigations Edmonds would have been
familiar with the areas as he lived and worked on farms nearby but he was found to have moved to New South Wales in 1980
just before the murder started meaning he would have had to have made repeated trips to Victoria to commit the crimes
something investigators thought unlikely after looking at all the evidence the letter writer told the Sunday aged
newspaper that Edmonds had revealed details about the crimes that were never released publicly presumably he's
referring to the jewelry he mentioned in the letter a quote from the letter writer I have
done some terrible things and I've taken responsibility for them Edmonds was a very bad machine one of those tournant
girls was only 14 I have to speak up here's left bodies everywhere he lived he shows no remorse and he'll never
change Edmonds once said if I told them everything I've done they'd neck me the enormity of his
crimes is terrible society should know what happened that brings us to the prime suspect due to a 1985 Court
suppression order we can't mention his name either although reporter John Sylvester does
refer to him as mr. Smith in one of his feature articles on the case so we will go with that mr. Smith was and may still
be a member of a fundamentalist church that believed the mainstream Christian religions were no longer operating
according to the true teachings of the Bible in 1980 he lived in a street between both Joey and Allison the three
of them lived within a 1500 meter radius both bodies were found along the same vicinity of sky and McClelland roads
just around the corner where mr. Smith lived a modest suburban brick house was located in a pocket of the neighborhood
which made it impossible to get to the main road without passing within 100 meters of Joy's house having lived there
for at least eight years it would be likely that you would know many faces from your neighborhood he had previously
worked at the Frankston driving off sky road sty road was the road where Joy's body was found in just around the corner
from where Allison's body was found if you draw a square each corner would represent Joy's house Allison's house
the location of Joey's body and finally the location of Allison's body if you place a dot in the center of the
square you'll find at the house where mr. Smith lived with his wife and family in 1980
mr. Smith drove a black Corolla panel van the media releases police maid had worked several women had come forward
reporting that the driver of a black panel van had offered them lifts one woman was waiting for a bus another was
outside her home a third was a student walking home school after an exam and all of these
reported approaches happen to be on a Friday mr. Smith was first interviewed by police
two weeks after joy summers went missing at the end of 1981 he was by then working at the cinema in colon Street in
the Central City area of Melbourne although it's unclear how long he had been working in Collins Street it had
been less than a year since normal had disappeared from a northern suburb of Melbourne just four kilometers away from
the cinema police told him now we are investigating the disappearance of Joyce summers and had received information
about a man driving events similar to is offering people lifts on Frankston Dandenong Road to their surprise he said
I often stop and offer people lifts along there sometimes at the bus stops sometimes when they are walking along
the street he said he offered lifts the both males and females but mainly elderly females if they would get in
with him why the police asked just to be friendly and have someone to talk to some women have to wait at the bus stop
for a long time and I'll help them by giving them a ride you never know what will happen next all the schools have
got drugs in them near and the young kids are causing trouble Alison and Joey both disappeared between 11:30 a.m. and
1:30 p.m. the days they disappeared mr. Smith was working afternoon shift his shift started at 4:00 p.m.
and finished at 2:00 a.m. 12 hours after this first police interview mr. Smith rang the Frankston Criminal
Investigation Branch and spoke to Detective John Keeley he told the detective here now remembered the
following specific information about the day joy Summers disappeared he said about 12 o'clock that day I went
to the bank with my wife to get some money we would have drove down the Frankston Dandenong Road but I didn't
see anything suspicious or else I would have remembered mr. Smith story was later backed up by his wife but the bank
manager didn't remember this he told the police and later testified at the cranial inquest that no money was
withdrawn or deposited into mr. Smith's account that and there was no record of him visiting
the bank that day bank records showed that those are withdrawal made from his account the day before at a branch 20
kilometers away from Frankston weeks after joy summers body was discovered police paid mr. Smith another visit he
was asked if he was aware that Joyce summers had been murdered and her body found he was also asked if he was aware
about the earlier murder of Alison rook mr. Smith report no I don't read the papers or watch TV
mr. Smith also denied knowing the location of sky Road where the bodies were located he said I don't know where
it is I've never been there he forgot to mention that he worked at the cinema as
a projectionist on that very street he had also lived in the neighborhood for over nine years by that time police had
now caught him out in another life mr. Smith was taken to where the bodies were found the area had been leveled and the
scrub cleared during the search for clues but mr. Smith was seen to carefully avoid the precise areas where
the bodies were found a police source said he became nervous and sweated a lot he walked around the sites as asked but
at no time did he walk in the immediate vicinity of where the bodies had been lying extensive areas are in the sights
have been cleared of bush and scrub by the police crime scene searchers and the investigators stated that without some
prior knowledge it would not have been possible to tell exactly where the two bodies had been lying
during this visit he told police he had no idea two local women had been murdered police had only just told him
about the murders and when they pointed this out to him he said I I just forgot I guess he was questioned further about
offering people lifts he said I would estimate the number of offers generally over the last 18 months to be fifty or
even more most people do not accept that lifts for me and I would say that my success rate is about two or three
percent over the last 18 months about six females have accepted lifts for me an extraordinary statement when you
consider there were six victims another coincidence mr. Smith had lived in Frankston for many years but only
started offering lifts around the same time Alison root disappeared Alison being the first of the six victims to go
missing in a police interview on the 3rd of December 1981 he said I am NOT a sex
maniac I never play around and I resent the implication that I ever would he had
been charged with soliciting a sex worker two years earlier whilst he was married when reminded of that he said
look yes but it is not how it is sir all I felt is a cuddle I was lonely investigations revealed he was a regular
at local sex shops and filled out advertisements in magazines stating he only wanted to watch
he was into pornography and visited sex workers when questioned directly if he had
offered a lift to joy summers mr. Smith said sir I may have I honestly may have but if I did I didn't kill her I
wouldn't do anything like kill anyone after this interview mr. Smith sought legal advice he visited Frankston police
station the next day with his wife and his lawyer and said he would no longer cooperate with police but only shortly
after that on what was the first anniversary of the first three Tainan North victims being found the 6th of
December 1981 mr. Smith walked into Frankston police station of his own accord he wasn't asked to go there by
police mr. Smith said this to Senior Constable Michael white you know I was brought in
about two murders in Frankston well why haven't I been asked about five murders instead of two white asked which others
are you talking about mr. Smith said the ones at tonal remember Niram or Stevenson was missing at this stage but
her body had not yet been found so there were only five known victims after hearing this comment police did another
check into mr. Smith's background which revealed he previously resided in Garfield which adjoins Tainan north and
was the town where the two men came from who found the bodies while disposing of
the Liam offal he also used to work at the tunnel hotel his black van was seen parked outside a friend's house in
Garfield numerous times during the period Bertha Miller Katherine Hedlund and Murray Sargent and nermal Stevenson
disappeared not only that mr. Smith previously worked as a truck driver his regular route took him along brew road
then onto the dirt track that led to the quarry where he picked up loads of sand
the very track where the victims were found two years later despite this that 1st 1985 analysis report said the
following about mr. Smith's the lack of physical evidence and eyewitness accounts linking him to either of the
Frankston victims means that it's unlikely he will ever be charged with any offense or eliminated as a suspect
the only conclusion I can draw is that the person or persons responsible for the deaths of Alison ruk and Joyce
summers at Frankston is not the same person responsible for the deaths of Bertha Miller Katherine headland and n
Murray Sargent and it is most likely that a third person or persons were responsible for the death of Neera more
Stevenson three killers it was a highly controversial finding and 1 that divided
police working the case some thought if possible which meant that there were two
serial killers operating in the same area at the same time who both stopped around the same time
other police completely disagreed and thought mr. Smith was good for all six killings the second analysis report in
1990 said mr. Smith was a viable suspect with weak or non-existent alibis on the
balance of probabilities the same person or persons were responsible for the murders of Alison rook Bertha Miller
Katherine headland and Murray Sargent and joy summers on the information available mr. Smith is the best
nominated person for the offenses serial crime experts in the United States who reviewed the case agreed they believed
mr. Smith was likely the murderer mr. Smith was not working when Bertha Miller anne-marie sergeant Allison Rourke and
Joyce summers disappeared but he was rusted to work from 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. the day Katherine headland was
abducted but was that alibi correct police weren't so sure records weren't the best and they felt mr. Smith's Tom's
shade also could have been falsified in 1997 police ran operationally stuff which actually had nothing to do with
the murder investigation there was a four-day operation between the 20th and 23rd of August targeting street sex work
in st. kilda seventy men were questioned for soliciting and 30 women for loitering during that operation mr.
Smith aged in his late 60s at the time approached an undercover policewoman and asked for sex he was arrested and
questioned when being interviewed over this matter mr. Smith randomly blurted out he was the crime suspect in the
unsolved tie non-north killings the police interviewing him at the time weren't aware of who he was or that he
was a suspect in that case one former detective told the H newspaper as far as I'm concerned he's
not the suspect he's the killer mr. Smith is now in his 80s he's still deeply religious and attends a strict
Church in Melbourne see outer east those who knew mr. Smith referred to him as a crude fellow coworkers remember him
yelling about provocative pictures of women and how offensive they were the original profile of the killer was had
access to a motor vehicle ever didn't work was a shift worker or was possibly on leave had good knowledge of the area
bent by Dandenong Frankston ended the Eastern Bay Area and may have lived in that area was an opportunist
mr. Smith fitted all these points he had lied to police on several occasions admitted to picking up women at bus
stops and knew both areas at torn on north and Frankston but none of that is solid evidence there are no witnesses no
forensic material no hard evidence to put before a court mr. Smith has taken to polygraph tests in relation to the
murders although controversial his answers to questions about the tone on north and Frankston killings showed
signs of deception the head of operation Lyndhurst said we are confident we know
the killer's identity we have used DNA technology behavioral psychological and geographic profiling methods and have
been greatly assisted by receiving new important information from members of the public we are confident in the
direction our investigation is heading we're now focusing on one suspect it said the majority of serial killers
continue until they Accord generally they don't just stop although it does happen in a lot of cases there is a
spark that starts them killing but if their spark is removed then it's possible that will stop in the December
1981 interview mr. Smith admitted that he was experiencing severe marital problems mainly involving financial
difficulties his wife informed him she was filing for divorce mr. Smith was a deeply religious man who
didn't believe in divorce it was at this time that the Frankston anti non-north victims started to disappear mr. Smith
was eventually able to work through his marriage difficulties and remained married about which time the murders
stopped mr. Smith grew up in the king Lake area northeast of Melbourne between the years of 1954 into 1963
through his 20s he was still in the king lake area and was known to be working in
the timber industry by 1967 at around 33 years of age he was living in the st. Kilda area of Melbourne a stone's throw
away from where he would be questioned 30 years later asking for a sex worker by 1972 he had settled down and married
and was living in the Frankston North home after the Frankston and tonk murders after being questioned and after
a court suppression order was issued his movements are more elusive his three children grew up and moved up and his
wife who had provided his alibis passed away in 2006 so her word has gone with her 7 News tracked down mr. Smith and I
encourage everyone to watch that news report the link is in the show notes [Music]
you

Case 46: The Frankston and Tynong North Serial Killer

Frankston is a Bayside council of Melbourne as well as a suburb itself with around 135,000 people residing there. It sits 40km or 25miles south-east from the centre of Melbourne and includes a varied mix of affluent areas as well as inexpensive and council housing.

It has a mixed reputation with Frankston North renowned for drugs and crime and the south more wealthy and scenic with sweeping views of Port Phillip Bay and huge houses nestled into the hills.

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research and writing – Anonymous Host Greatly assisted in research and writing – Anna Priestland Production, scoring – Mike Migas Additional scoring – Andrew Joslyn

SOCIAL LINKS

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RESOURCES

For all credits and sources please visit https://www.casefilepodcast.com/case-46-frankston-tynong-north-serial-killer

Brief Summary

The episode covers the unsolved murders of women in Frankston and Tynan North, detailing their disappearances and the ongoing investigations.

Key points

The Disappearance of Alison Rook. Alison Rook vanished while waiting for a bus in Frankston, leading to a chilling investigation.
Joy Summers Goes Missing. Joy Summers disappeared after heading to a butcher, mirroring Alison's case.
Bodies Found in Tynan North. The discovery of multiple bodies in Tynan North linked to a series of murders.
Discovery of Nirmal Stephenson's Body. Barry Davis finds a body while walking, leading to a significant development in the case.
The Letter from an Anonymous Friend. An anonymous letter raises new questions and leads to a renewed investigation.
Edmonds: The Tainted Confessor. A letter writer claims Edmonds confessed to numerous unsolved murders, raising alarms.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I had the feeling that I wouldn't be seeing her again.

Ivan Rukh on his mother's disappearance

4:11WatchNov 19, 2018

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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