Kidnapped by a cult? A mysterious disappearance | Forensic Files

[Music] on the 4th of March 2008 Julian Buckwald took his girlfriend Carolyn Watson for a
picnic lunch to a waterfall located on a remote property in budget country Victoria the day soon turned into a
nightmare when Julian and Carolyn were abducted by a masked attacker it wasn't long before Julian's mother located a
frightening note from a satanic cult claiming responsibility for the abduction and threatening to kill both
Julian and Carolyn both of whom were devout Christians this sparked the frantic widespread search for Julian and
Carolyn be found alive was this really the work of a satanic cult what was there something even more sinister going
on [Music] [Music] Jullian Buckwald was 22 years old he was from buggery a small country town in the
Latrobe Valley in Victoria about 160 kilometers which is about 100 miles southeast of Melbourne
carolyn watson was 17 years old she lived nearby to Julian in the town of Churchill also in Latrobe Valley of
Victoria they'll both small country towns and both Julian and Carolyn's still live with their parents on the 4th
of March 2008 Julian and Carolyn had organised to go on a picnic at Julian's parents property and budgie the property
was a rural remote area mostly bushland it covered an area of about 500 hectares
which is about five kilometers squared or around two miles squared so it's a pretty large area Julian and Carolyn
planned to visit a waterfall that was on the property to have their lunch together
Julian Pete Carolyn up in the morning in his 99 gold-colored four-wheel drive Nissan Patrol and they left for the
waterfall they plan to be back around 3:00 p.m. that afternoon they took only basic clothing and only the food and
drink they needed for lunch before they arrived at the waterfall Julian stopped the car to check out the carcass of a
dead animal he had seen so he stops the car and tells Carolyn who will be back in a few minutes he'd stopped the car a
little up the road from the carcass so he had to walk back a short distance and he was out of sight from Carolyn as he
kneels down to check out the carcass the nightmare begins he his footsteps running up a horn him
and he feels a hard blow to the back of his head and he goes out cold knocked unconscious
while this is happening Carolyn remains waiting in the car after about five to ten minutes she starts getting a little
concerned it wasn't unusual for Julian to stop the car and get out to look at various things dead animals included but
he usually was pretty quick about it he didn't usually take this long Carolyn starts to think about getting out of the
car to go and look for Julian when a person catches her eye in the side mirror a person dressed in black wearing
gloves and a balaclava is charging towards the car Carolyn Springs but before she can think
about locking herself in the car the attacker has the door open and drags her out Carolyn gets thrown to the ground
hard the attacker doesn't waste any time he immediately hog ties her and covers her mouth with duct tape
hit him picks her up and throws her into the backseat of the car a little while later the attacker gets into the
driver's seat and starts driving away Carolyn was beyond terrified she assumes the worst thinking she's about to be
raped and murdered after several hours of driving the attacker eventually stops Carolyn was dragged out of the car and
thrown to the ground her mouth was still duct-taped shut so she couldn't scream she was still hogtied so she couldn't
move and then she heard the sound that made her certain her life was about to end Julian and Carolyn obviously didn't
arrive home at 3 p.m. there was an out of character for them to be late Julian's mother starts to worry and
starts pacing around walking up the driveway to see if there's any sign of them coming up the road and that's when
she sees it a bottle stuck through their wire fence but a piece of paper hanging in Julian's
mother quickly opened up the piece of paper and she nearly fainted the piece of paper red and there's a language
warning here you bloody couldn't leave us alone so your son and girl won't walk about you get Carolyn and Julian back
when we finish our business in the area but only if you behave yourself and don't cheat us around again tell
everyone they're on holiday don't you dare talk to the cops again and you'll get your kids back shoot us
again and you never see them again cuz we'll [ __ ] the girl to death and burn her alive and the bloody boy will really
enjoy the torture and sacrifice to our God to pay back 180 times the hurts he did to us
when we picked him up this is your last warning do what we say and the kids come
back in a live condition Julian's mother is obviously terrified and distraught she immediately calls the
police threats don't get to more serious than this the police are on high alert straight away they organized the large
search operation by both Lind and Boyer it wasn't an easy search not only was there a large area they had to cover it
was also very tricky terrain it's remote bushland with a huge amount of dirt roads hidden roads side roads an
extensive off-road thick bush area there was a hard search made harder by the fact that pressure was on it sounded
like Carolyn and Julian were in the hands of complete psychopath while the search was being conducted detectives
got to work trying to find out who was responsible and what they motive was the note indicates there was some kind of
prior history between the kidnappers and the BOK world family but not to the buckwalds knowledge they couldn't make
any sense of the letter all the threats they hadn't had trouble with anyone but when interviewing Carolyn's parents they
were shocked to find out they had gotten a threatening letter from the same person about 10 days earlier the letter
said words to the effect of more drone business and stay away or I'll make your life a bloody misery and destroy you and
your family it also says Christians are their enemies Carolyn's father found it left on their front porch one morning
and reported it to local police however nothing was done it was chalked up to be
a sick prank at the time Carolyn's father immediately recognized it was from the same person as it had
the same writing and also the same symbol that was on the letter found at the buckwalds
the symbol on both letters gave them a hint as to why Christians were their enemies there was a satanic symbol there
was the symbol of the ona the order of nine angles a satanic cult known to preach human sacrifice the letters were
very concerning for police and gave them great fears for Carolyn and Julian safety they were both devout Christians
which is what they felt they were targeted by a satanic cult police feared they'll make good on their threats and
conduct a human sacrifice on them after 48 hours of extensive searching there was still no trace of Julian or Carolyn
news quickly spread of their disappearance through their local community and their church pastor held
constant prayer vigils for their safe return police interviewed the pastor to get his take on the satanic cult angle
they felt he might be able to provide some valuable information what he had to say surprised police they thought it
would be the first to believe in the satanic cult being responsible but he wasn't he didn't even believe they were
kidnapped he believed they had just run away together through their questioning of the pastor they learnt the Julian and
Carolyn were strict believers in their faith and for that reason the physical side of their relationship had not
gotten past holding hands he had recently had a meeting with the couple and learned that they planned to get
married but couldn't just yet because of Carolyn's age the pastor believed that's
what they had done run away together to get married although he couldn't explain
the two nights that were found the language in Vall nature of the notes was far removed from anything Julian and
Carolyn would do police started to investigate the possibility that Julian and Carolyn had
run away together but they didn't get very far with it remember Julian and Carolyn didn't take any clothes or
supplies with them and they only had the food they'd pack for their lunch also their bank accounts hadn't been touched
the running away together theory didn't really hold water especially when you add in the threatening letters that have
been received police were of the firm belief that Julian and Carolyn had been the victims
of foul play they focused their investigation into the order of nine angles cult they found
the satanic cult was started in England in the 1960s they had affiliates around the world the cult advocated a spiritual
path in which practitioners were required to isolate themselves from society commit crimes embrace political
extremism and violence and carry out a human sacrifice the problem the police ran into was that they couldn't find any
evidence of the cult existing in Australia they had no reports of anyone being a member of the cult there were no
previous cases on record involving the cult there weren't even any rumors of speculation of the cult existing
anywhere in the country this was baffling and they'll fears that an Australian chapter had just formed
and I wanted to start off with a bang but conducting a human sacrifice almost a week went by and there was
still no trace of Julian or Carolyn the searchers had come up empty there was no
sign of them anywhere the feeling was that the chances of finding them alive when a slim to none
police switched the focus of the search to finding remains rather than finding them alive
the rugged bushland had extremely caught temperatures in the day but became freezing cold at night
there were snakes and spiders everywhere not easy conditions at the best of times
but when you consider Julian and Carolyn had no food or supplies and minimal clothing the conditions became that much
worse the remote area meant there were no witnesses so there was no information coming in from the public at all to help
the investigation the only mode you police could establish at this stage was the order of nine angles cult wanting to
commit a human sacrifice but given there was no information to suggest a cult even existed in Australia police started
to explore the possibility that the Knights were left as a diversion to throw them off the trail of the real
abductors but seven days after their disappearance when all hope seemed lost and police thought they were looking for
bodies the miracle happened Julian and Carolyn were found alive they stumbled out onto the road near the
Alpine National Park hundreds of kilometers away from their picnic destination they were picked up by a
farmer who was driving along the road they would have stood out both were in pretty bad shape
they'd cuts and bruises and both suffered from bad sunburn their bodies were covered in blisters
detectives wasted no time they interviewed them straightaway they needed as much information as possible
the attackers were still out there they thought it very possible other family members of Carolyn or Julian could be at
risk Carolyn is interviewed and details are attacked to police the attacker dug the
hole only a few metres away from her the attacker then made his way towards Carolyn he cut her clothing off with a
knife leaving her completely naked and still tied up she was convinced she was about to be
raped murdered and then buried in the hole Carolyn does about the only thing she can do she starts to pray she prays
and praise and praise and almost as if God himself had shown up to save her the attacker disappears she has no idea
where he went or what he was doing but she seemed to be spared for the time being but she was still tied up and
couldn't move some time later she hears a familiar voice Julian's voice she cries out Julian is that you he streams
back yes Julian is also tied up and naked and had just woken up after being knocked out he Wiggles his way through
the scrub over to Carolyn he sees a knife laying on the ground next to her obviously left there by the attacker he
grabs the knife and with Carolyn's help they were able to cut the rope they stand up and see the attacker had left
behind a sleeping bag and a few items of food they'll both terrified they had no
idea where he was but they could only assume he was coming back at some stage so they got the sleeping bag in the bits
of food and ran off they were barefoot naked battling the extreme heat during the day and the
freezing cold at night they both had cut feet and cuts on their body from the bush they were both badly sunburned and
I both wondered if their lives were about to end if the attacker tracked them down there was a horrific
experience during their ordeal they got a bit disorientated and ended up back near the site that they had escaped from
this was bad as I meant the attacker was probably near boy but they got lucky while they were checking out the SOI
Julian spots a backpack that they had taken with them the day of the picnic he runs over and gets it and they are in
luck their clothing is inside Julian runs back to Carolyn with the backpack and are able to clothe themselves
[Music] they stumble around the bush for another few days before locking out and finding
the road where they were picked up by the farmer luckily the attacker never caught up with him again it was
important that police identified the site where they escaped from there would be a lot of evidence there which could
help them track down whoever was responsible police conducted an extensive search of the bush area around
where Carolyn and Julian were found and they got lucky they found the site they found bits of rope and items of clothing
they also found the knife the shovel and the duct tape they had a lot of evidence
not only that they were able to identify the person that owned all of those items
there was great news albeit somewhat confusing news and it posed a lot more questions than answers because the owner
of those items was Julian something didn't add up as far as police could tell the attacker didn't bring any
reason equipment to use he used all Julian's stuff but how did we get it there was another problem Julian had
described to police Harriers whacked over the head by the attacker knocking him unconscious then he doesn't remember
anything till he woke up naked tied up in the bush but the mark on Julian's head from where he had been struck was
hardly visible they didn't really match up with his story being hit hard and not
there police start to wonder if Julian was somehow involved in his own kidnapping
[Music] detectives let Julia know his story wasn't adding up they are up front with
him they basically told him his story was full of [ __ ] they told him to tell them the truth
and he eventually cracked the evidence exposed his laws he knew it was all over he made full admissions to police that
he orchestrated the whole attack he was the sole person responsible for Carolyn's kidnapping faking his own
kidnapping in the process Julian tells detectives everything he points out the spot where he stashed all of his
supplies he had pre-planned the attack he had buried a map and the other supplies that he needed such as the
shovel knife rope and duct tape he lied about seeing the dead animal carcass he used that time to change and disguise
himself as a kidnapper he tied Carolyn up and then drove six hours north to the remote outpour
National Park area so no wonder the police search failed they had no hope or for Nealon they weren't searching
anywhere near there Julian chillingly recounts how Carolyn was begging him to stop saying please
don't do this pleading for a life he describes how he cut off her clothes and dug the hole he
then details how it took his own clothes off and tied himself up and how he started calling out to Carolyn awhile
later to make it look like he had been attacked as well so police had their men but what the hell would anybody want to
kidnap their girlfriend and staged their own kidnapping what reason could possibly exist for Julian to do that
the reason is Julian staged the whole thing to try and have sex with Carolyn and to get her to marry him throughout
the entire ordeal Julian was in Carolyn's ear saying that they had to have sex to keep warm at night and for
that reason it wouldn't be wrong in the eyes of God but Carolyn stuck strong to her faith and refused Julian's advances
for sex and refused his marriage proposals they had planned to get married one day but there was tension
between them about the timing Julian wanted to get married now whereas Carolyn wanted to wait until she
finished her studies plus she wasn't old enough at no stage was Julian ever lost he knew
exactly where they were the entire time he just pretended to be lost does an excuse to spend more time with Carolyn
to try and get her to crack and have sex with him Julian thought he would only need a couple of days he'd get Carolyn
to either have sex with him or agree to get married or both and then they would leave the area but after a week it
became apparent Carolyn was having none of it so he made his way out towards the road
to be rescued Julian was charged with unlawfully carrying away against one's will abduction with intent to marry
abduction for sexual penetration and theft the court heard that as a result of being hog-tied and left in the back
of the vehicle for six hours Carolyn had severe damage to her neck back and hands
Julian was found guilty at court in 2009 but he wasn't remanded into custody straight away he was allowed to stay out
on bail while awaiting the sentencing hearing but Julian didn't want to hang around for his sentencing date he would
have known he was going to get jail time for what he did so he tried to pull off
an escape he got hold of a fake Indian passport he dyed his hair and darkened his skin in an attempt to looking in
there was a ridiculous disguise but he somehow managed to fool Australian customs because he got out of the
country thankfully he didn't get very far he was the time when he landed his real
identity was discovered and he was extradited back to Australia his plan was to eventually make his way to
Germany where he had relatives he was later sentenced to seven years and three months for kidnapping Carolyn and he was
sentenced to a further six months for skipping bail and leaving the country he had an on parole period of five years
and three months meaning he is eligible for release Neil and if he isn't here already it won't be long until he is
[Music] you [Music]

Case 07: Julian Buchwald and Carolynne Watson

On the 4th of March 2008, Julian Buchwald and his girlfriend Carolynne Watson went for a romantic picnic lunch in country Victoria. They didn't return home.

It wasn't long before a terrifying, threatening note was located. Was this really the work of a satanic cult? Or was there something even more sinister going on…

CREDITS

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

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Brief Summary

Julian Buckwald staged his own kidnapping of Carolyn Watson to force her into a relationship, leading to shocking revelations and legal consequences.

Key points

The Picnic Turned Nightmare. Julian and Carolyn's picnic takes a dark turn when they are abducted by a masked attacker.
The Frightening Note. Julian's mother discovers a terrifying note from a satanic cult claiming responsibility for the abduction.
The Shocking Truth Revealed. Julian confesses to orchestrating his own kidnapping and Carolyn's abduction.
The Aftermath of the Ordeal. Julian is sentenced for his crimes, facing serious legal repercussions.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

This sparked the frantic widespread search for Julian and Carolyn.

The beginning of the search after the abduction.

0:39WatchNov 19, 2018

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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