Unanswered questions in the Atherton case | Forensic Files

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o m dot com slash case file that's noom dot com slash case file [Music] our episodes deal with serious and often
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or on our website [Music] on june 12 1991 john wilkinson received a strange request
john worked as a blacksmith and ran a successful engineering shop with his wife berget in the small north queensland
town of atherton on that particular wednesday john walked from his workshop into the adjoining office and spotted
his wife chatting with their accountant and friend vicky arnold who was working on the
couple's computer 27 year old vicki was a quiet and kind person who worked hard and also volunteered at the local church
having relocated to atherton from the larger city of cairns she'd befriended the wilkinsons quite
quickly and often visited them outside of her office hours for a little while she'd even lived with
them and helped out by babysitting their children john joined the two women and the three
of them made small talk for a while then vicky asked john if he could help her with something
she wanted to buy a gun specifically a 22 caliber rifle that was for her boyfriend who worked on
a cattle station john knew that vicky knew nothing about guns and informed her that a 22 would be too
light to use on a cattle station she simply replied that was what her boyfriend wanted
he just needed something to stash under his seat and was willing to pay around 500 for it
john agreed to help and began looking in a local paper where people could list things for sale
soon he found a private seller advertising a 22 semi-automatic ruger it had a 10-shot
magazine and the seller only wanted 300 for it 200 less than vicki had said she'd spend
pleased with the discovery john bought the rifle then passed it along to vicky in early
july a few days later he asked her if her boyfriend was happy with it she enthusiastically responded that he
was what john didn't realize was that vicky didn't have a boyfriend that anyone knew about at least
[Music] on the evening of thursday july 25 1991 several weeks after buying the 22 ruger
vicki arnold drove over to the home of her best friend julianne lay although the two women had
only been friends for a few years they were already extremely close they'd met in 1987 when julianne
and her partner alan lay contracted vicky to handle the accounts for their carpet laying business
when julianne married allen a year later vicki was their bridesmaid the women were at different stages in
their lives but this didn't get in the way of their friendship vicky hoped to find love but was
currently single and living alone in a rented apartment 26 year old julianne had four children
three girls and a boy she was also raising her 16 year old half sister vanessa stewart who moved in two years
earlier after spending much of her childhood living with her grandmother the lay household was a big and bustling
one that thursday night vicky pulled up at the lay's residence on dancer drive in
atherton the sweet and gentle vicky was such a regular guest at the lay home that the children called her aunt vicki
as vicky arrived julianne was dishing up scrambled eggs for the children's dinner
and fixed a plate for vicki as well then the two women headed to julianne's bedroom to wrap some presents for her
ten-year-old daughter anitra whose birthday was in two days time when that task was finished vicky and
julianne joined the rest of the family in the lounge room julianne's husband 28 year old alan lay
was dozing in a bean bag still wearing his work clothes while the kids watched tv
vicky and julianne started a game of scrabble and the children began to go to bed
vanessa julianne's 16 year old half sister was allowed to stay up later than the others
but by 10 pm julianne told her to go to bed as well the teenager made her sister and vicki
some tea before heading to her room for the evening alan continued to snooze in the bean bag
until he suddenly woke at 12 25 am the television was still on and the two women were still in the room
playing scrabble allen smoked a cigarette and began to watch a movie that had started about
frankenstein's monster the three of them chattered and joked about until julianne announced
that she wasn't interested in watching that particular movie she and vicki discussed going late night
fishing at nearby lake tinaru instead a pastime allen had often known them to partake in
at approximately 12 45 am alan went to check on baby kathleen who'd woken up outside he heard the engine of
julianne's white nissan 4-wheel drive start up the car pulled out of the driveway
and the sound of its motor grew faint as it headed off down the road at 6 50 in the morning alan was woken by
his sister-in-law vanessa she couldn't find julianne and asked alan if he knew where she
was allen estimated that the fishing trip should have only taken the women a few hours
it didn't make sense that they could still be out plus julianne had left her driver's
license and cigarettes behind allen jumped out of bed dressed and went to look for them
julianne's four-wheel drive was still gone while vicky's car remained parked outside the property
alan hopped in his own white van and drove over to vicky's apartment he pounded on the front door when there
was no answer he knocked on the door of vicky's next-door neighbor a woman named pamela
fox pamela told alan she hadn't seen or heard anything so he headed out to lake tenaroo
there was no sign of them he checked a couple more locations where he thought they could be
but there was no trace of vicky or julianne in any of the usual places [Music] time was ticking by and the children
were at home preparing for school allen decided he had to go home to update them
then he and his stepdaughter anitra went to the police station to raise the alarm
atherton sits in the tablelands region of queensland an inland area of the state with several
booming agricultural industries it's home to a small close-knit community and when word spread that
vicky arnold and julianne lay were missing locals were quick to help with the search
their friends colleagues and other townspeople joined allen in scouring the surrounds of
lake tinaroo some focused on the surrounding streets and roadways suspecting that maybe the women's
vehicle had broken down but hours passed with no sign of the two fronts or the four-wheel drive by 4 pm
alan lay had officially reported both women missing one of the first people to learn of the
disappearance was sergeant bernard wilkes a local police officer who happened to
be close friends with vicky he'd met vicki through his wife jane a florist and the couple regularly invited the
young woman over for meals she'd babysat their children and even went camping with their entire family
when vicky had decided to be confirmed in the anglican church approximately 18 months earlier sergeant
wilkes and jane agreed to be her godparents the sergeant was very troubled to learn
his friend was missing and his concern only grew as dusk fell he knew vicky to be a responsible person
who wasn't prone to taking off without warning moreover it was the middle of winter and
the temperature had dropped to minus 1.7 degrees celsius the night before friday night was going to be similarly
cold if the two women were lost in the bush somewhere they were at risk of succumbing to the
elements accompanied by another officer sergeant wilkes visited vicky's ground floor apartment
and a gained entrance via a window nothing appeared out of place he walked through
each room keeping an eye out for anything unusual upon entering the spare bedroom
something caught sergeant wilks's eye lying on the floor was a box of 22 caliber bullets
its label indicated there should be 50 inside when sergeant wilkes picked up the box
to examine it he saw that ten were missing [Music] this discovery troubled sergeant wilkes
greatly he'd never known vicky to have any interest in firearms he didn't even think she owned a gun
rummaging around some more he also found a telescopic sight that belonged to a 22-gauge rifle
but there was no firearm anywhere sergeant wilkes headed to the lay residence to collect to vicky's car
after driving it back to the police station he looked through it to see if he could find anything else of note
vicky's purse was still there with 500 cash inside so were her glasses which she needed to drive and read
there was a box of work-related files and a birthday gift she'd purchased for julianne's daughter
anitra on saturday july 27 the day that julianne should have been celebrating her eldest daughter's birthday
atherton police organized the structured search of the area an emergency services helicopter was
dispatched and flew across the region but the pilot cited nothing relevant [Music]
by monday morning the double disappearance had triggered a major incident investigation a full-scale
ground and air search ensued and lasted for several days searchers honed in on surrounding
bushland and mountain ranges but found no sign of the women or julianne's car police were both baffled and daunted by
the situation if the women had just broken down somewhere surely they would have found
them by now but it had been days since they were last seen if they decided to just head off
somewhere together they could be hundreds of kilometers away by now the women's families were certain they
hadn't just taken off vicki was a reliable employee who kept to a regular routine
it wasn't in her character to run away on a spontaneous adventure although julianne was more outgoing and
outspoken than her friend she also took her responsibility seriously she was a dedicated wife and a loving
mother who diligently looked after her children and half-sister there had been no signs that anything
was wrong and the day before they vanished had been completely normal only one of julianne's daughters
nine-year-old sandra sue could think of something strange that had happened earlier that day vicky had taken a break
from work to have lunch with the julianne something she did quite often sandra sue
hadn't been at school that day so she'd been there when vicki arrived bringing sticky buns as a special
treat not long after she arrived though julianne told sandra sue to go to her room
so she and vicki could speak privately this had never happened before the nine-year-old was curious and
couldn't resist leaving her room to see if she could find out what they were talking about
she saw vicky and julianne engaged in an intense conversation when julianne caught sight of her
daughter she angrily ordered get back to your room [Music] two weeks later at around 4pm on friday
august 9 five teenagers round their way through a remote area of the herberton range
15 kilometers southwest of atherton this bushland was perfect for trail bike riding
it was off the beaten path but the low scrubby vegetation was easy to navigate as the teen sped through an area called
cherry tree creek along a bulldozed bush track that was almost one kilometer long
they spotted something up ahead [Music] near the end of the dead-end track was a
white two-door nissan patrol four-wheel drive with red markings on its side and the registration 371 adm
it was parked facing the nearby highway which sat about 800 metres to the east both of its doors were open as was the
rear window that hinged up above a metal door a small and skinny tree was caught
underneath the vehicle it looked as though whoever had been driving had run off the track and
into the bush the vehicle had run over a small tree before coming to a stop on another tree
that had already been filled the teens approached the vehicle but suddenly stopped when they were within
10 meters of it on the front passenger side they could see a woman's legs stretching out of the car her feet
dangling just above the ground sitting in the driver's seat was the beaten and bloody
body of another woman both were clearly dead the five teenagers lived in the area and
knew about the disappearance of vicki arnold and to julianne lay realising they had
likely stumbled across the two missing friends they hastily left the scene and contacted the police
sergeant michael morrison was working at the police residence in the small town of herberton
when he learned that a vehicle had been found with bodies inside he drove the six kilometers to cherry
tree creek arriving shortly after 5 pm as soon as he spotted the nissan patrol he knew
it was julianne lay's he slowly walked around to the car several times observing everything
closely although the bodies of both women were badly decomposed sergeant morrison was certain they
belonged to vicky and julianne it was obvious they'd suffered violent deaths julianne was in the driver's seat
sitting firmly upright she was held in place by her seatbelt it looked as though she'd been beaten
she had also been shot twice in her left temple and slightly lower down near the corner
of her mouth on the left side of the car vicky who had a heavier build was squeezed into the front passenger
foot well having been shot multiple times her back was against the dashboard and
her legs were sticking out of the car with her bare feet almost touching the ground
her head had fallen forward onto the front right corner of the passenger seat her left arm was also on the seat as
were four scratch at lottery tickets and what looked to be the murder weapon a 22-caliber ruger self-loading rifle
with a 10-shot magazine attached to it vicki's right hand was touching the firearm
with three fingers curled around its grip and her index finger resting on the trigger
sergeant morrison radioed for detectives to attend the scene it was somewhat surprising to find the
women enter their car in this area cherry tree creek was located about 13 kilometers south of
atherton tinaru lake where they were said to have been going was in the opposite direction
sergeant morrison was soon joined by atherton officers detective sergeant michael hayes and
senior constable willem hendrix by now knight was falling and it had started to rain
district officer inspector francis wagner and detective senior sergeant neil campbell also drove over from the nearby
town of mareeba it was their department's responsibility to supervise atherton's detectives
the district scenes of crime officer was also summoned to take photographs and dust for prince
he didn't check the vehicle's cabin but he did fingerprint the car's exterior and
rear tray area no prints were found in those areas with the help of floodlights further
details began to emerge there was a baby capsule fitted into the middle of the back seat
two fishing rods and buckets filled with tackle and bait were found in the back of the nissen
the blood-spattered car keys were in the ignition which was switched on the car's
headlights and heater were also on the women had clearly been dead for some time
maggots were found on their bodies as well as throughout the car both women were fully dressed vicky in a
blackened gray jumper and a light yellow trousers julienne in a jumper a light shirt and a
short pink and grey skirt these outfits seemed surprisingly light for two people
heading out on a late night fishing trip in winter julianne was wearing thongs but vicky's
white slip-on shoes were discovered behind the rear of the car they were lying about four meters apart
from one another one by the track and the other near a creek bed where the property's owner had recently
constructed a dam the dam was only a few inches deep and was very muddy not a place where people could go
fishing although the only tyre prints visible in the immediate vicinity were from the nissan the rest of the
track had marks left by various cars and motorcycles over time the car's interior was covered with
blood as was the ground beneath vicki arnold's feet under the passenger seat was a
grapefruit-sized rock which was covered in dried blood and hairs it had been used to beat julianne's face
and hands during the attack police theorised that vicky had gone up the track to find
the rock and had lost her shoes there in the process a blood-stained serrated knife with a
wooden handle was lying under vicky's left thigh its blade was bent at a 45 degree angle
it was later identified as matching a set of steak knives that the lay's owned the rifle used had been significantly
cut down and a portion of the stock was also removed reducing it from its original size of
almost 1 metre long to just 33 centimeters such modifications to a firearm were illegal
tangled in the gun side of the rifle was some of julianne's dark hair a spent cartridge case was located near
the firearm and there were two more in the back seat one month later another would be found
by an officer who returned to the area near the spot where vicky's feet had rested
this cartridge had markings on it that indicated the rifle had jammed during the shooting and had to be
cleared before being fired again [Music] within an hour of arriving at the scene
officers had come to a conclusion they were dealing with an open and shut case of a murder-suicide
sergeant bernard wilkes was tasked with notifying julianne's family accompanied by the local priest he
arrived at their home and braced himself to break the news as soon as julianne's sister vanessa saw
the two men her gut instinct told her something was wrong allen ordered her and the other children
to go to one of their bedrooms the five of them sat together in anitra's bedroom
waiting after a little while allen joined them they found mum alan said before he could say another word
eleven-year-old anitra blurted out well good where is she can we go and see her is
she in the hospital no alan replied she's dead a wave of shark washed over vanessa
this information was impossible to process then screaming reverberated throughout
the room as the children absorbed what alan had told them and began crying out no and what repeatedly
after the initial horror died down the kids remembered vicky kind aunt vicki whose calm and soothing
presence had almost been a part of their family what about vicky was she okay no said allen vicky's dead too
she killed your mother then she killed herself within a couple of hours the police had
decided to take the women's bodies for autopsy when they attempted to remove julianne
they discovered that her seatbelt had been looped around her neck twice apparently vicki had tried to
strangle her with it once the seat belt was removed the police also saw that her throat had been
cut three times as the car reeked with the stench of decomposing bodies the police decided to tow it to the
smaller younger borough police station instead of atherton it was obvious to the pathologist that
julianne endured a particularly brutal attack she'd been beaten strangled and cut
before being shot twice in the head a closer examination of vicki arnold revealed
she was shot once beneath her chin and again approximately four centimeters behind
her right ear the shot to vicky's chin had shattered her jaw it would have been extremely painful but
probably wouldn't have caused her to lose consciousness the wound to the back of her head likely
killed her instantly a third gunshot wound was subsequently discovered in vicky's left
thigh after both women's bodies were x-rayed the pathologist had completely missed it
due to vicky's severe state of decomposition [Music] ammunition had already been found in
vicky's flat during a search right after shea and julianne disappeared which came as a surprise to most of
those who knew her as far as they were aware vicky had never shown any interest in guns but a
few of her friends knew otherwise john wilkinson came forward explaining how vicky had asked him to buy a 22
rifle for her boyfriend he didn't realize that this boyfriend didn't exist some of vicki's other friends were aware
she'd bought a gun but she'd given them different stories she told a colleague that she'd bought
it to hunt kangaroos and planned to join a gun club soon she explained to other friends that she
wanted it for self-protection and just three days before she went missing vicki mentioned to some relatives that
she'd purchased a rifle but decided to give it back to her friend to john so he could sell it
police believed vicky had another motive all along she'd bought the rifle intending to use it against her best
friend julianne before turning it on herself they theorized that the two women had
been driving along when vicky suddenly attacked julianne cutting her throat this caused the julianne to veer into
the small tree found beneath the car vicky started strangling her with her own seat
belt and simultaneously reached into the back seat for her rifle in the tussle she accidentally shot
herself in the leg julianne continued to fight back vicky got out of the car and picked up a
large rock which she used to beat julianne then she shot julianne twice killing her
finally ready to kill herself she first angled the rifle beneath her chin when this shot only wounded her
vicky placed the gun at the back of her head and pulled the trigger when the rifle was recovered at the scene
it had two cartridges stuck in its receiver one of these was a live round that was
being fed into the rifle's chamber when the firearm jammed while the other had been in the process
of being ejected photographs were taken of the weapon before police removed the stuck
cartridges john wilkinson was adamant that the ruger hadn't been sawn off when he gave it to vicky
investigators were left wondering had she modified it herself and if so where were the missing parts
on august 23 two weeks after vicky and julianne's bodies were found vicki's neighbour
pamela fox who lived in the same building as vicky received a call from their landlord
the landlord had supplied a lawn mower to vicky before she disappeared and asked pamela if she could return it
pamela agreed and went to vicky's carport which adjoined her own garage to fetch it
the carport was almost entirely empty there was a wooden wardrobe a stepladder and an outdoor furniture set
pamela easily spotted the lawnmower amongst these sparse belongings she immediately noticed that there was a
white bag perched on top of the mower's left to rear wheel with some objects clearly inside
pamela lifted it up it was a pillowcase and it was damp and heavy looking inside she spotted what looked
like a hacksaw and the barrel and butt of a rifle she had found the missing pieces of
vicky's rifle pamela reported the discovery to police who took the gun parts and pillowcase in
as evidence [Music] when vicki arnold and julianne lay first went missing rumors began to circulate that the two
had been secretly dating after their bodies were found and words spread that vicky killed julianne before taking
her own life the gossip mill went into overdrive no one could understand why a woman
would kill a friend unless they were romantically involved investigators immediately dismissed this
theory as absurd there was no evidence pointing towards a romantic relationship between the pair
instead they suspected vicky had been a sad and lonely woman who envied what julianne had a husband
and kids so she'd killed her best friend in a violent fit of jealous rage life hadn't always been easy for vicki
arnold born on october 3 1963 to parents of vada and richard arnold she'd been particularly close to her
father but he died of cancer when she was 13. vicky was devastated by the loss for months afterwards she stayed in her
bedroom as much as possible only leaving when her mother insisted she ate something
vicky grew up in cairns and applied to join the military after leaving school but she needed to wear glasses most of
the time and her poor eyesight led to her being rejected she began working at an accounting firm
and in her early 20s she was offered the chance to manage the firm's new branch in atherton
not long after settling in her new town she befriended sergeant bernard wilkes and his wife
jane the trio grew so close that the wilkes even planned to build a new house with a
separate self-contained unit for vicky they viewed vicky as a sweet and introverted young woman who felt awkward
around strangers and longed to find true love although vicky was kind generous and
successful in her career she was sometimes inclined to make up stories she told the couple she was battling
kidney disease and also claimed she had a boyfriend who died neither of these things were true
[Music] gradually sergeant wilkes began to notice vicky had romantic feelings for him
he and jane suspected that her strong attachment to him and to them as a couple was simply due
to her own desire for a husband and family when they began to find vicky's constant
visits overwhelming they politely asked her to stop vicky was very hurt by this but did as
she was asked staying away for several months they were later able to repair their friendship
vicky's friendship with the lays had followed a similar pattern she spent lots of time at their home and
eventually started showing interest in allen about a year before the women went missing
julianne began to feel overwhelmed by vicky's constant presence and had asked her to stop visiting
this led to an argument and the two stopped seeing each other but before long they made up and resumed
the closeness they'd had before investigators obtained diaries that vicky had kept from her teenage years on
she hadn't written in the muffin and the final entry was dated march 27 1991 four months before she died
these journals were passed along to a human services officer from the queensland police service for further
examination investigators also gave the officer some poems and notes vicky had jotted down as well
as a true crime magazine titled murder casebook which alan lay had handed in after the women's bodies were found
allen repeatedly visited the police station to check in on the investigation on one occasion he brought in this
magazine explaining that vicky had borrowed it from him quite recently inside was an article about an
apparent murder-suicide [Music] the human services officer scoured these materials
looking for possible insights into vicky's state of mind she concluded that vicky had suffered
from unsolved grief relating to her father's death this had caused her to become unstable
and increasingly suicidal [Music] the two women were both laid to rest on august
14 1991 a year after their deaths an inquest was held in atherton after examining police reports the
coroner came to the same conclusion as the investigators vicky arnold had been a disturbed woman
who murdered her best friend then took her own life with the perpetrator dead there was nothing else to be done it was
a tragic case but an open and shut one vicki arnold's family refused to believe the police's version of events
the vicky they knew was a gentle person with no history of aggression or violence
she might have been quiet and lonely at times but she certainly hadn't been depressed
or given any indication she was suicidal vicky had made a number of plans that indicated she expected to be around
in the days after she went missing she organised to meet her friends the wilkes's
at 6 00 am on friday july 26 to help them complete their tax returns she'd withdrawn cash to pay john
wilkinson for the rifle he'd bought her vicky had also arranged to attend a training seminar in cairns with some
colleagues and had spoken excitedly about the impending event vicky had a little experience with
firearms it was possible she'd shot a rifle previously but she wouldn't have known how to
modify one like the weapon used in the crime and even if vicky had secretly been homicidal the attack
against the julianne had been so vicious there was no way she had the physical strength to carry it out
it also seemed strange that the ever responsible vicky would dress so lightly and leave the glasses she always wore
behind if she was going on a fishing trip julianne's outfit hadn't been consistent
with going night fishing either although alan lay said it wasn't unusual for the women to go fishing at night
most others who knew them disagreed with this julianne's sister vanessa stewart and
julianne's children remembered family fishing trips that lasted until dusk fell but couldn't recall the two women ever
going out fishing after it was already dark julianne's siblings and her kids struggled to comprehend the crime
vicki had loved them and their mum why would she hurt them this way it didn't make sense
even julianne's brother james who had only met vicki once was certain she was innocent
vicki had not seemed like someone capable of killing anyone she didn't have the temperament or the
physical strength required james had also noticed how strangely julianne's husband was behaving
alan lay was refusing to let his wife's family see her children and had entirely shut out his in-laws
alan lay was one of the few people who never had any hesitation in calling vicki guilty
he explained to his children how she was a deeply troubled person who never got over her father's death
she wanted the life julianne had and became enraged with the jealousy after the first inquest was complete the
family members who disagreed with its findings became more outspoken they weren't satisfied with the answers
they'd received and campaigned for the investigation to be reopened prompting two more reviews over the next
three years the same conclusion was reached each time arnold had killed julianne lay
but there was at least one police officer who didn't think this was the truth senior constable willem hendrix had been
one of the first officers to attend the crime scene he'd arrived with detective sergeant
michael hayes after the first responding officer had radioed for backup as hendricks and hayes took in the
grizzly scene they felt a creeping sense that something wasn't right the other officers were already talking
about the crime as a murder-suicide but the victims and their injuries didn't match
that scenario neither hendricks nor hayes knew of another case where one woman killed another then herself
why would vicki arnold cut strangle beat and then shoot her best friend why would she shoot herself three
separate times in three different places and why were her shoes roughly 20 meters behind the car
although vicky's finger was on the rifle's trigger the pose felt staged and the position of
her body seemed unnatural for someone taking their own life plus the rear window of the car was open
as though someone had used it as an exit in hendricks's opinion it looked as though a third party had attacked both
women from the back seat of the car the scene was complex enough that hendricks and hayes thought it should be
looked at by homicide detectives from the state capital of brisbane as night had fallen and the weather was
bad they offered to light a fire and camp there overnight so the area could be preserved for
examination the following day but the district officer inspector frank wagner refused they were dealing with an
obvious murder-suicide and no overtime was necessary as far as wagner was concerned a
thorough investigation could be completed within one hour that same night julianne's nissan patrol
was towed to younger borough police station where it was left out in the yard with a
tarpaulin draped over it officers wouldn't attempt to examine it until after the weekend
over the three nights that it was left outside condensation formed beneath the tarpaulin
washing away possible fingerprints and blood spatter formations inside the front of the car
shortly after the women were discovered a young man named shane feeney reported something to
sergeant michael hayes he'd been driving through atherton on the evening of thursday july 25
1991 after visiting a friend who lived in the area shane was heading towards home and as he
approached a roundabout that was situated on atherton's main street he noticed a white nissan patrol with
red markings to his left shane recognized the car as belonging to julianne lay who he'd met once before at a barbecue
as the nissan pulled into the roundabout and drove past shane he saw that julianne was driving
and vicki arnold who he also knew was next to her in the passenger seat a third person also caught his eye
leaning forward from the back seat was the silhouette of a man shane couldn't make out who it was but
noticed how the silhouette stayed perfectly still shane couldn't be certain of the exact
time he'd seen the women but he thought it was around 9 00 or 9 30 10 30 at the latest if shane was correct
in his identifications he'd seen both women out with a man at least two hours before alan lay said they left
home to go fishing this not only placed a third person with them immediately before the crime
but also completely altered the timeline police had been working with sergeant hayes had listened to shane's
story quietly then told him not to worry about it they knew they were dealing with a
murder-suicide though hayes publicly supported the murder-suicide theory hendricks later told a journalist to
robert reed that he only did so to placate his superiors he was under enormous pressure to go
along with the higher-ups who were insisting that the case was closed in private hayes didn't believe this
theory at all he and hendricks began conducting their own investigations of particular interest to them was what
had happened to the missing gun parts from the sawn off rifle they were sure vicky hadn't cut it down herself
just as they began making enquiries on the subject the parts were suddenly discovered by
vicky's neighbour in her carport but vicky's home and carport had already been searched
multiple times none of the officers had ever seen the gun parts or the pillowcase they were found in
when the case was re-examined multiple times after the inquest officials from outside the district were
assigned to investigate to hendrix it just looked as though they retraced the original investigation then went
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around the time of the first inquest a journalist named robert reed began looking into the case
he was convinced that there was more to it than met the eye over time he built relationships with
the women's friends and family in 1994 robert broke a story that shocked queensland
on the morning of august 14 1991 the day that both women were laid to rest two police officers paid a visit to
atherton's funeral parlor they needed to obtain fingerprints from vicky and julianne
as some smudged prince had been discovered on the 22 ruger without telling the families the
officers took in a set of garden secateurs and a surgical scalpel removed the women's hands
and took them away for testing vicky and julianne were buried without their hands
after a funeral parlor employee told robert reed about the incident it made headlines across the state
public outrage ensued the women's bodies were subsequently exhumed and police returned to their hands to be
buried with them public anger around the matter led to it becoming a political issue
queensland's opposition police spokesman pledged to order yet another review if his party won the next state election
they did and the new investigation was announced in mid-1990 retired high-ranking officers carl
mengler and franco gorman were appointed to lead it and spent five months diligently examining every
aspect of the case while scrutinizing photographs of the crime scene they noticed an indentation in the
ground just outside the car's passenger side that matched the rock used to beat julianne
this must have been where the rock came from the original investigators had suggested
vicky wandered up the track in the dark to find a rock losing her shoes along the way
it quickly became clear to them how difficult it would have been for vicky's injuries to be self-inflicted
there was a bullet hole in the lower left side of the passenger seat that aligned with the wound in vicky's left
thigh the angle of this shot ruled out the possibility that she'd accidentally shot herself
during a tussle it indicated vicky had been shot by someone else who was in the back
of the car possibly as she was trying to get out and run away her shoes being found at some distance
behind the car suggested that an attacker had jumped out the back then chased vicky and grabbed her as she
attempted to flee the seat belt that was wrapped twice around to julianne's neck
was also consistent with someone trying to strangle her from behind the shots to vicky's thigh and the jaw
would have resulted in immense pain and confusion it seemed highly unlikely that after
receiving those wounds she could have then administered the fatal shot to the back of her head
an angle which would have been difficult to reach even without injury the fact of vicky was found in the
footwell instead of the passenger seat was another problem not only did it seem a bizarre choice
for her to make but vicky couldn't have logistically used the firearm from the footwell
such a maneuver would have been difficult and she lacked the physical strength to perform it
some partial bloody prince had been recovered from the rifle mengler and o'gorman held the rifle so
their hands would align with these prints and found the position awkward and unnatural
in their opinion the placement of the prince seemed more like staging than how someone would have held the gun
the position of the rifle on the passenger seat also seemed wrong the trajectory of the bullets
suggested it should have fallen out of the car after being fired one matter mengler and o'gorman couldn't
get to the bottom of was the issue of the jammed cartridges in the murder weapon
one was definitely a live round being loaded but it was unclear from the photographs
whether the cartridge being ejected was live or spam it looked as though it might have had a
firing mark on it which has led some to argue it was spent but firing marks can also be left on live
cartridges if both cartridges were live then there was no way vicki arnold could have
killed herself a third person must have attempted to reload the rifle after both women were fatally shot
contemporaneous police reports about this matter were conflicted detective sergeant hayes told the first
inquest that both rounds were live and was so tightly jammed that he had to use extreme force to remove them
when this inquest was later reviewed haye said he'd made a mistake and the cartridge being
ejected was spent some suspect he only made this amendment due to pressure from higher ups to stick to the
murder-suicide story although julian had been shot twice and vicki was shot three times
only four empty cartridges were ever recovered if one of the jammed cartridges was
spent then this would account for the fifth one yet police later went out with metal
detectors and performed grid searches in an attempt to find the final cartridge something they wouldn't have
needed to do if it was already accounted for photographs of the firearm also showed
the cartridge being ejected is facing the opposite direction that a spent cartridge would typically face
firearms experts have pointed out that if a breach jams with one life cartridge and one spent one experienced shooters
can usually tip the spent one out easily and reload the gun automatically a cartridge usually only becomes tightly
jammed when someone tries to manually eject it something vicky could not have done
because by this point she would have been dead on march 16 1998 carl mengele and franco gorman interviewed julianne
lay's half-sister vanessa stewart who had been 16 years old at the time of julianne's murder
vanessa and margaret julianne's other half-sister had been raised in the new south wales
city of lismore by their grandmother as their mother wasn't in a position to take care of them
as their grandma grew older some family members suggested they move in with julianne for a while the girls agreed
first thirteen-year-old vanessa joined the lay residence followed by fifteen-year-old margaret a
little while later [Music] but after just three months of living with her sister
margaret abruptly left to go and live with her boyfriend but vanessa had loved living with her
half-sister for the first time she was part of a busy young family unit the youthful and vibrant julianne was
more like a mother than a sister but she also encouraged vanessa to speak up and share her opinions on things that
mattered to her at regular family meetings that julianne initiated she wanted to hear what all of the
children were thinking and feeling she was a fun parent who took joy in family celebrations
played video games with the kids and to joined them in mud fights after heavy rain
vanessa also adored her nieces and nephew and was extremely close to them alan lay
became a kind of father though he could be domineering and controlling but everything abruptly changed in
february 1991 when vanessa was 15. one day while julianne was in hospital giving birth
to her youngest child vanessa was folding laundry in the master bedroom when alan
approached her and began caressing her neck [Music] though vanessa was a very naive and
inexperienced teenager she immediately realised that alan's touching was more intimate than
the affection of a father over the next few months alan continued to touch vanessa inappropriately
the grooming that began with him stroking her neck progressed to touching her entire body
and eventually having her perform oral sex on him alan kept trying to coerce vanessa to
have sex with him but she refused she felt sick dirty and ashamed when she went to
school she felt as though everyone there knew what was happening to her at home the shame of the sexual abuse
kept her quiet by july of 1991 alan was abusing vanessa multiple times a week [Music]
it wasn't the first time allen had done something like this after margaret moved in with the family
julianne noticed that alan seemed to pay her a lot of attention julianne confronted both of them and a
fight followed resulting in margaret leaving to live with her boyfriend allen vehemently denied any interest in
margaret but julianne still decided to leave him she and the kids found a place of their
own however she agreed to reconcile with allen a few weeks later in the months leading up to vicky and
julianne's disappearance vanessa noticed how critical alan was of the two women he accused julianne of being a poor
housewife and a bad mother he didn't like vicky and said the only reason he tolerated
her frequent visits was because she was useful and handled their business accounts
the morning before the two friends vanished julianne asked vanessa to stay home from school
vanessa was scared that her sister knew what was going on with alan and planned to speak with her about it
terrified that her sister would hate her if she knew about the abuse vanessa lied and said she had an
important exam that day that night when vicky and julianne were supposedly out fishing
allen went to vanessa's room and woke her up then had her perform oral sex vanessa had no idea what time it was but
alan told her it was around 12 30 or 1am he said he'd had to reset all the clocks
in the house after a circuit breaker tripped out shortly after vicky and julianne left to go fishing at
12 45 they spent a couple of hours together at most before vanessa went back to sleep
vanessa worked the next morning to discover julianne was missing following her sister's disappearance
vanessa struggled with feelings of guilt she worried that the things alan had been doing to her had created a kind of
negative karma that caused the julienne to vanish allen ordered vanessa to tell no one
about what was going on between them if she did she would be judged and blamed for it
he also told her to tell police that she'd woken up by herself on the night of the women's disappearance
she was to say that she'd gotten up to use the bathroom and saw that some lights were on she'd
gone to check who was still up and wound up having a conversation with alan approximately four or five days before
julianne's body was found alan began raping vanessa he convinced her that they were in love
and they became a couple though they concealed this from the children allen expected vanessa to care for the
kids and perform all of the housework julianne had previously managed while still attending high school
this ended in mid-1992 immediately after the first inquest was over when alan moved to western australia to
be with another woman he initially tried to convince vanessa to join him telling her she'd have no further
contact with the kids if she stayed in queensland vanessa refused despite being devastated
by the separation from her nieces and nephew in the years that followed vanessa grappled with
many painful feelings over time the more she reflected on what had happened the more she became convinced
that alan had something to do with vicky and julianne's deaths and he had used her for an alibi on the
night of their disappearance the statement she gave to carl mengele and franco gorman
was the first time she'd told any police officers what alan had done to her although other members of the family had
told previous investigators there was something wrong with the way alan treated vanessa and margaret it had
never been looked into before one family friend who visited delays home to help out while julianne was
missing became concerned when she saw how physically close alan and vanessa seemed
occasionally the two of them went into allen and julianne's bedroom together they'd shut the door behind them and
stay in there for quite some time several times she also overheard alan say to vanessa
just keep your cool it will be all right everything will be all right another time julianne's daughter sandra
sue came home from school and couldn't find alan her mother was still missing and it was
a distressing time for the young girl allen's truck was out the front so she was sure he must be around
she began looking throughout the house for him when she walked into her parents bathroom sandra sue was shocked
to see alan and vanessa in the shower together she ran from the room crying vanessa followed to comfort her and alan
made up an excuse to explain what she'd seen mengler and o'gorman made a point to
interview alan on multiple occasions while he admitted to having had a sexual relationship with vanessa
he said it began spontaneously after julianne's body was found by that time vanessa was 16 years old
and over the age of concerned alan denied ever grooming vanessa or raping her [Music]
following their conversations with alan lay mengeler and o'gorman observed he is extremely well presented
well-dressed and well-spoken he is confident manipulative patronising and sword on both occasions to endear
himself to his interviewers he tends to avoid answering direct questions and seeks to skirt around seeking to
learn the extent of the knowledge of the investigators before answering at times he will claim no recollection
on simple issues when it's considered his memory should not have failed him what some people didn't know about alan
lay was that he had a criminal record under another name when alan was a child his father left
atherton for aberdeen scotland allen's mother remarried and when alan was 18 he adopted his
stepfather's surname of suta a couple of years later he began getting into trouble with the law
throughout 1983 and 1984 allen committed multiple break and enters on one occasion he hid in a camping
goods store until its employees had closed up for the day then stole a rifle and ammunition before
exiting via the front door another time he stole credit cards from a victim's home and used them to spend up big
he was arrested several times and once assaulted a police officer by pushing him over to escape
as he was being led to a cell ultimately allen spent two years in prison until he was paroled in 1986 at the age
of 23. he switched back to using his birth name and not long after his release he met
julianne allen maintained his criminal connections his closest friend was a cellmate he'd
met while incarcerated in conversations with vanessa allen bragged about his criminal history
and told her he knew how to carry out the perfect bank robbery because of allen's record he was barred
from owning guns investigators mengler and o'gorman also discovered that the lays had been
struggling financially when julianne disappeared some years earlier she and alan had
started a carpet laying business together vicki arnold had been their accountant
but by 1991 the business wasn't doing well and the lays were heavily in debt exactly one month before vicky and
julianne disappeared the lay's bank threatened to foreclose on their home due to mr mortgage repayments
allen and julianne were in such dire straits they agreed to sell allen's truck and
julianne's nissan four-wheel drive the vehicle her body would later be found in four days before they disappeared vicky
and julianne took julianne's nissan to a car yard in cairns to be valued after julianne's body was found alan lay
received a life insurance payout of 121 thousand seven hundred and eighty five dollars
he and julianne both had policies it had been her idea and they'd purchased them in february 1990
a year and a half before julianne's murder allen also sued vicki arnold's estate
for two hundred thousand dollars compensation her elderly mother vada was ultimately
forced to pay alan lay 45 000 [Music] the subject of the murder weapon was another interesting factor for
investigators carl mengele and franco gorman no one who knew vicky could recall her
expressing an interest in firearms and she'd given various explanations as to why she wanted a rifle
the weapon had also been significantly cut down a modification that vicky didn't have
the knowledge or physical strength to perform some people suspected her friend john
wilkinson who purchased the gun for vicky also cut it down for her but he firmly denied doing so and
the job hadn't been done well enough to look like the work of a blacksmith such as himself
vicky's next-door neighbor pamela foxx had discovered the parts in vicky's carport
after going in there to fetch her landlord's lawnmower in 1998 pamela gave mengler and o'gorman
a new statement about this incident that included some brand new details on the night of august 22 1991
pamela went to bed at around 10 30. she'd been asleep for a few hours when she suddenly woke at 3 am
she could hear a rattling sound from the direction of her lounge room instantly pamela suspected someone was
trying to break in there was a door in her lounge that led to the external carport and it sounded as though someone
was attempting to open it frightened pamela jumped out of bed and turned on the light
then she carefully walked over to the lounge room window which was about 12 feet from her bedroom
from one side she gently pulled back a corner of the lace curtain now she had a clear view of the front
yard through the dark shadows of the night pamela saw something it was the figure of a grown man running
away from her house he was of average heightened build and he looked to be wearing a dark
shirt and trousers within seconds he was gone having raced off down the street although she'd only seen him briefly
pamela couldn't shake the thought that he looked like alan lay the following day pamela found that the
gun parts in vicky's carport around the same time pamela began receiving hang up
phone calls she believed the caller was alan although pamela had a silent number
she'd previously given it to julianne and knew she had it saved in the family phone
kima believed allen was trying to intimidate her and it worked at the first inquest
she hadn't mentioned anything about the running man she'd spotted outside her and vicki's property the night before
the gun parts were found the pillowcase that the gun parts had been stashed in was damp
and police officers failed to retrieve any fingerprints from it but scientific tests had revealed a name
and address scribbled on it in faded ink it belonged to anitra one of julianne's
daughters and listed a previous address where the lays had lived [Music] two of the original officers senior
constable willem hendrix and detective sergeant michael hayes had been suspicious when the gun parts
appeared right after they started asking questions about them their suspicions only grew when they
learnt where the pillowcase came from years later investigators mengele and o'gorman
were equally intrigued vicky's friend john wilkinson surely wouldn't have bothered to stash the parts in vicky's
carport if he'd been the one to cut the rifle down and he wouldn't have had access to linen
owned by the lays [Music] a ballistics expert had determined the rifle had been held in a vice
while a hacksaw was used to cut it down according to multiple witnesses alan lay
kept the vice and several hacksaws in a cellar beneath his home and unlike vicky arnold allen was very
competent with firearms just a few days before the women went missing he'd gone to vicky's aunt's home
to deliver some carpet vicky and julianne went too as did vanessa and anitra while they were there
vicky's aunt asked alan to test-fire a 22 rifle of hers the women stayed inside chatting while alan went out with the
rifle and shot it repeatedly when they concluded their investigation of the case
carl mengele and franco gorman put together a 188-page report in which they criticized police handling
of the case the crime scene which they described as baffling and complex didn't fit with the early
conclusion officers had reached they noted that significant evidence they'd uncovered
hadn't been available during the original investigation and if there were another cranial
inquest they believed it would likely result in an open finding a second inquest was ordered and began
in april 1999 before brisbane coroner gary casey 24 witnesses gave evidence including
vanessa stewart but neither menglar nor gorman were called upon on february 21 2000 mr casey's findings
were delivered he agreed with the original inquest finding that vicki arnold murdered
julianne lay then killed herself he didn't believe there was any evidence pointing to a
third party's involvement nor did he think the original officers had jumped to a particular conclusion
he failed to provide reasonings for most of his findings leaving crucial matters unexplained
vicky's family were devastated mr casey had deemed her guilty again without even trying to explain what her
motive could have been or why she would behave so wildly out of character after the second inquest vanessa stewart
went out for dinner and drinks with her sister margaret as the two women chatted
the conversation turned to alan lay suddenly margaret broke down and said it happened to me too
when vanessa asked what she was talking about margaret replied alan in early 1990 fifteen-year-old margaret
had visited julianne's home in atherton before deciding to join vanessa by moving there permanently
allen offered to help out by driving margaret back to lismore to collect her possessions it was a long journey
covering almost 2 000 kilometers each way on the way back the two of them broke up
the trip by stopping at a hotel in the central queensland city of rockhampton early the next morning margaret awoke to
a heavy weight on top of her it was alan he was raping her she froze in shock and as she described
it went into survival mode this was her brother-in-law the man whose home she was moving into scared and
panicked margaret closed her eyes and waited for the assault to end after it was over margaret never
discussed the rape with alan nor did he bring it up margaret claims alan never raped her
again but she only lived with him and julianne for a few months before julianne noticed how much
attention alan seemed to pay her margaret soon escaped their household to live with her boyfriend
whom she later married in the years that followed margaret and vanessa hadn't always been close
[Music] when vanessa came forward to share her story with the police and the court
system margaret grappled with feelings of guilt she wasn't ready to speak out about her
own ordeal only after the second inquest did she finally tell her sister over the decades since the arnold lake
case first made headlines journalist robert reed fought to keep it in the spotlight
his interest had been peaked since the first inquest and he was sure there was more to the
story than police were claiming in 1997 he published a book about the case titled third party to murder
seven years later he wrote a sequel robert grew close to vicky and julianne's families as they lobbied for
the case to be reopened as he made a name for himself as an expert on the case witnesses started coming forward with
tip-offs in june 2005 former senior constable willem hendrix gave robert an exclusive interview exposing how his
superiors had forced the murder-suicide align through laziness and a fear of going
over budget the story was featured in the weekend australian and the cairns post
newspapers and on television program 60 minutes vicky's mother vader arnold told the program how allen
had sued her deceased daughter's estate demanding financial compensation for julianne's death when the
interviewer asked did you think that was reasonable vita fell silent for several seconds
then wordlessly shook her head she placed a hand over her mouth and began to cry
vanessa stewart also appeared on 60 minutes telling her story to the public for the
first time as well as detailing alan's abuse she revealed how he'd coached her into being
his alibi for the night of her sister's murder the episode concluded with vanessa
imploring alan to speak up and tell the truth and say what it is you know and stop hiding
after the episode aired vanessa wrote a letter to the queensland attorney general and the minister for
justice repeating her assertion that alan had used her to cover for himself vanessa's letter
triggered yet another review that eventually resulted in a third inquest being called
it began before state coroner mr michael barnes in november 2011 more than 20 years after the women's
deaths the case's original investigators had always claimed that vicky must have been
suicidal in order to test these assertions the coroner asked professor diego deleo
a psychiatrist and expert in the study of suicidal behavior to go over all of the evidence
professor deleo found nothing in vicky's history or writings to indicate she'd experienced suicidal ideation
neither was there anything to suggest she had a mental illness such as depression
or a personality disorder which might increase her risk of suicide her life had been stable and she had
made plans for the future professor deleo went so far as to say quote there are elements in vicki
arnold's history that could point to a lower risk of suicide than that of the general
population only a tiny percentage of individuals who take their own lives commit murder as well of that percentage
very few perpetrators are women professor deleo scoured all the available information about vicky and
julianne's relationship there was nothing to suggest that they'd been romantically involved
and even if they had been he could find to no cases in australia where a woman killed her same-sex
partner before killing herself nor were there any cases of a woman killing a female friend and then herself
after ruling out relationship issues financial difficulties psychiatric conditions and finding vicky
had no history of aggression professor deleo concluded that a murder-suicide was highly improbable he also
pointed out that the positions the women were found in were inconsistent with a murder-suicide
noting if vicky had killed julianne she was not in a hurry to suicide thereafter
she could have been sitting normally in the front seat of the car the most illogical position for a murder
suicide or outside the car but not in the footwell of the vehicle i could not see any reason for doing so
vanessa stewart testified in front of a silent courtroom that hung on her every word at one stage
she held up a large photograph that had been published in the cairns post on july 30 1991
four days after vicky and julianne went missing it showed alan lay sitting with baby
kathleen on his lap and one arm wrapped around his son allen jr anitra sandra sue and vanessa
huddled close around him vanessa stood directly behind allen dressed in a white t-shirt
her eyes gazing off into the distance her young face was undoubtedly that of a child
vanessa told the court i've been referred to as being somebody that's been having a relationship or an
affair with alan lay and i brought that photo to show everybody to prove the point of how i was actually
a victim of child abuse after she'd finished giving evidence about the abuse she'd endured
and the circumstances surrounding her sister's murder she was applauded by the gallery
her sister margaret also detailed how allen had raped her when she was 15 years old
shane feeney spoke of how he'd seen julianne and vicki in julianne's car on the night they
disappeared and how he'd seen the silhouette of a man in the back seat vicky's neighbour pamela shared how
she'd found the gun parts in vicky's garage the day after she heard someone moving
about in her carport and saw a man running away down the street when the barrister representing vicky's
family asked if pamela was frightened of anyone she answered yes when asked who she was
afraid of pamela refused to name them all she would say was sitting behind you the barrister inquired as to whether she
was referring to alan lay who was seated behind him pamela simply replied yes alan sat listening
as the entire courtroom turned to look at him his face was completely blank eventually he too was called to the
stand allen denied abusing vanessa and margaret and said he hadn't woken vanessa for oral sex on the night of his
wife's disappearance he stuck to the same story that he'd always told that vicky and julianne had decided to
go fishing that night despite the freezing cold weather their lack of proper clothing or a torch
and the fact that they'd left belongings behind that they usually took everywhere
like vicky's glasses and julienne's cigarettes early investigator detective sergeant
mick hayes had previously written a report detailing how alan had visited the station in the days after
his wife's body was found he brought a magazine titled murder casebook with him claiming
vicky had borrowed it from him not long before the crime inside was a feature article about the
white house farm murders in which five family members were murdered in essex england in 1985
police initially considered the case a murder-suicide it was later revealed that the only
surviving family member murdered everyone else then staged the scene to implicate his sister
vanessa stewart remembered this magazine well it was part of a series that julianne
and alan subscribed to they often talked about the publication's crime stories which vanessa found horrifying
despite this allen denied owning it and claimed he couldn't recall handing it in to the police
when it was put to him that he had been inspired by the white house farm murders
and framed vicki for the double homicide he repeatedly replied no in making their final submissions the
two councils assisting were direct as they saw it there could only be two suspects in this crime
vicki arnold or alan lay the primary reason to suspect vicky was because she had purchased the rifle
but what if she had done so for somebody else vicky had never given any indication she
was interested in firearms yet had been very specific about the model she needed
claiming her boyfriend had told her that was the one he wanted it was posited that someone with a
criminal record asked vicky to buy the gun on their behalf someone like alan lay
that way he could get around illegal restrictions preventing him from purchasing a firearm
while also casting more suspicion on vicki it was pointed out that vicky had zero
motive for murdering her best friend on the other hand julianne might have discovered her husband was abusing her
sister as vanessa suspected when vicki visited julianne for lunch on the day they disappeared
the two women had an intense and private conversation julianne's daughter sandra sue tried to
listen in on them but her mother sent her back to her room [Music] council assisting theorised that the
women had been discussing alan's abuse of vanessa then julianne had confronted allen that night
after all the children were in bed she may have threatened to report him to the police
which would have resulted in him losing his business his home and being charged with child sexual
abuse due to his criminal history he'd likely be incarcerated while investigations were ongoing being
charged with child abuse would place a significant target on his back in prison but alan realized that if julianne were
dead he would not only be safe he'd receive a 120 000 life insurance payout using the threat of violence he ushered
the women out of the house and into julianne's car then alan directed them to drive to
cherry tree creek an area he knew from four-wheel driving expeditions once they reached the location allen
murdered both women then staged the scene to frame vicky then he either made his way home on foot
or on a bicycle that he'd stashed on the back of the vehicle at midday on march 1 2013
state coroner mr michael barnes was ready to hand down his findings as he ran through each of his findings
from the coroner's court in brisbane his words were broadcast live to the cairns courthouse
via video link where members of the women's families and their advocates were closely packed
in everyone listened closely as mr barnes finally declared as the evidence stands
i consider a properly instructed jury could exclude beyond the reasonable doubt that ms arnold carried out the killings
and determined that no one other than mr lay did accordingly i am obliged to commit mr lay to stand
trial the coroner also made a point to apologise for the botched investigations and previous
inquests stating those to suffer most acutely from these failures were the families of the dead women they
have my sincere condolences for their loss and my apologies for the way in which
the cranial system failed to adequately search for the truth vicky and julianne's families applauded
and cheered vader arnold vicki's mother sobbed with relief with the coroner issuing a pending
warrant for alan lay's arrest police urged him to come forward and hand himself in he did so but
was later granted bail as he was deemed a low flight risk allen subsequently lodged an appeal with
the supreme court of queensland requesting that the coroner's order that he stand trial
be set aside the court ultimately found in favour of alan lay ruling that mr barnes had used an
improper exercise of the law in committing alan to trial the director of public prosecution still
had the option of charging allen for the crime ultimately he decided against doing so
concluding that all of the evidence against alan was circumstantial authorities had no physical proof
definitively tying him to the crime and with that it seemed the exact truth would never be
known [Music] at around the same time as the third inquest was drawing to a close
a 66 year old woman named hazel scarrat was reading robert reed's second book about the arnold
lay case hazel was a resident of the atherton tablelands region with a story to share
she tried passing it on to crimestoppers on numerous occasions but never heard back from them she
finally knew who might be interested in hearing what she had to say more than 20 years earlier in 1991
hazel and her husband jim ran a general store in younger borough a rural town 13 kilometers east of
atherton at around 7am one thursday morning in july hazel and jim were working at the store
when two women walked in one had a heavier build was about five foot six and had hair with a slightly ginger
tinge the other was taller and thin with dark hair the women wanted to buy cream buns but
the baker who delivered them was running late the two women said they were happy to
wait they'd been out all night fishing at lake tenure so a few more minutes wouldn't make any
difference [Music] the dark-haired woman mentioned how she often went night fishing while her
husband looked after the kids he was happy for her to do so as long as she got home in time to see the kids off
to school while the women waited they purchased some scratch at lottery tickets hazel thought they both seemed pleasant
enough they were accompanied by a man who was less friendly hazel's husband knew him and called to
him by name at which point the man grew very irritable he tried to hurry the women out of the
shop one of them mentioned she had an early appointment she needed to get to anyway
in his haste to leave the man basically pushed the women out the three of them walked to a compact
four-wheel drive that looked to hazel to be a nissan and the darkhead woman got in the driver's seat
in the weeks that followed hazel learned how vicky arnold and julianne lay had disappeared nearby
and were later found dead upon seeing photos of the women she believed that they were the two customers she'd
served in the general store but the man she'd seen them with hadn't been alan lay his name was chris dunlee
chris don lee was notorious in the atherton tablelands region police throughout the area knew him as a
criminal involved in large-scale cannabis cultivation but he also made a habit of stealing
money into crops from other growers cruel vicious and violent he was suspected in several
drug-related murders but investigators never had enough evidence to charge him he also sexually assaulted numerous
women throughout the region one person who spoke to journalist robert reed on condition of anonymity
said he was an absolute psycho and wherever we saw him in a pub or wherever we'd go the other way you never knew
with chris just what he'd do next and you didn't want to be around when he did it
bill scarratt had recognized him because bill had hired dunlee to deliver milk in
the town of ravens ho 60 kilometers south of younger borough dunley died in 1994 several years after
the women were murdered when two associates shot and killed him over the years bill and hazel tried to
report having seen dunlee with vicky and julianne but got nowhere after reading robert reed's second book
about the case hazel decided to sit down and write robert an email when robert opened hazel's email he was
stunned to read her account it wasn't the first time that a tipster had contacted him to
share information about chris dunlee in 1997 one of the men convicted of killing
dunleigh reached out to robert with his own story [Music] gregory dejong and his friend rodney
bouchard were part of the same illegal underworld as dunlee and they were terrified of him
dunlee had threatened to shoot them both along with dejong's partner and children and he said he'd framed dejong
for the murders just like he'd done with the two women in atherton dunley told dejong that vicky arnold and
julianne lay had been in the wrong place at the wrong time so he killed them both and then his
mates put it down as murder-suicide mates was what dunlee called the police the location where the women were found
was in an area known for its cannabis crops so it didn't seem implausible that dunlee
would know the spot dejong took dunley's threat seriously and decided to strike first
he and bouchard lay in weight outside the isolated farmhouse where dunlee was staying
then shot him when he emerged to turn off a generator both men were convicted for the
execution-style killing gregory dejong later wrote to robert reed to pass on what dunlee had told him
dejong knew what type of man dunlee was and wholeheartedly believed he'd murdered vicky and julianne
he claimed he was only coming forward because he wanted their families to have peace of mind
[Music] after receiving the email from hazel roberts spoke to her and bill extensively about their
encounter he found them both credible and believable they were initially adamant that the
three people entered their store on a thursday morning even though that didn't fit with the
timeline of the women going missing in the early hours of friday july 26 on reflection hazel changed her mind
and said it had been a friday morning she later provided investigators with a sworn statement to that effect
as chris dunley had died decades earlier investigators were unable to pursue the
matter further it's uncertain whether or not the women seen with chris dunlee were vicki and julianne
one thing that makes robert suspect they were is the fact that no other women have
ever come forward to identify themselves as having been with dunlea that morning
robert is certain that dunlee committed the murders at alan lay's bidding he's examined the
timeline extensively and doesn't think allen himself could have gotten to the murder site
then home again where he cleaned up before waking vanessa robert publicised the chris dunley
theory in his third book about the case titled the search after its publication more people came
forward to tell robert they agreed chris was exactly the type of person to commit such a crime
if dunlee was involved julianne's brother james and sister vanessa agreed that alan lay would have commissioned him to
carry out the crime but no connections have been found between the pair and vanessa has difficulty believing
alan would trust a stranger with such a dangerous task he was a control freak and once told
vanessa that the only friend he trusted was his prison cellmate she could see alan collaborating with
him but no one else a scenario vanessa and james have considered involves alan's prison cellmate helping
him plan the murders but being unable to participate directly due to being on parole at the time
perhaps the cellmate knew dunlee through his criminal connections and commissioned him to do the job
instead the large insurance payout alan received for julianne's death has never been fully accounted for
allen didn't use it to pay the mortgage and those who were close to him insist that he was always broke perhaps
the majority of the cash went to dunley in exchange for committing the murders but vanessa can also believe that alan
murdered both women on his own and used her as an alibi he may have deliberately tripped the
home's electricity so the clocks weren't set and vanessa wouldn't know what time it
was when he woke her perhaps it was hours later than he told her it was and he had time beforehand to drive both
women out to cherry tree creek kill them return home and have a shower if shane feeney's
sighting was accurate the women were out of the house at least two hours before alan claimed
regardless of who pulled the trigger vanessa has no doubt that alan was behind vicki and julianne's murders she
believes he planned the crime weeks in advance right down to sweet talking vicky
into buying the rifle that would ultimately end her own life and that of her best friend
in july 2018 alan lay took his own life in the northern territory city of alice springs he was 55 years old
those who knew him were left stunned robert reed told case file he never expected alan would do such a thing
in his opinion alan was too self-obsessed and killing himself created an atmosphere of guilt
that he'd always denied kathleen allen's youngest child with the julianne received a suicide note from her father
in which she apologized for having been absent over the years but denied having anything to do with
the julianne's murder almost one year later vicki arnold's mother vaidar died at the age of 93.
she had always been one of the biggest advocates for reopening the case alongside her sister and niece who
helped her every step of the way journalist and author robert reed had grown very close to vida over the years
and visited her shortly before she passed in a previous conversation vida had told
robert how devastating it was to not only lose her daughter but have her accused of the most
terrible crime possible she remarked i've hardly had a full night's sleep in all those years
just thinking and crying about it vicky couldn't have done such a thing i'm her mother
and i should know throughout the making of this episode julianne's sister vanessa stewart
spoke at length to case file she described the ongoing and layered effects of the
trauma she's endured as a victim of child sexual abuse vanessa struggled with shame and guilt this guilt was later
intensified by many factors vanessa blamed herself for the case dragging on without resolve
because she'd helped alan lie about the night of the murder she also felt guilty for previously
blaming vicky who had always been a loving presence in her life in describing how she felt upon
realizing alan could be the one who really killed her sister vanessa said i had to deal with the
concept of has this man gone out and murdered my sister and murdered vicky and then come home and put his murdering
hands upon me that was a pretty hard moment trying to deal with that as vanessa worked to process her
experiences she started writing everything down as a kind of therapy now she's working on a book telling her
story and what she knows about the case one day she hopes to publish it these days vanessa's guilt has been
replaced by regret she's upset that when the story of alan's abuse broke the media initially portrayed her as a
seductive teenager who preyed on an older man and had an affair she's disturbed by how abuse and
grooming are still so commonly misunderstood and she's angry at how the police handled the case
from the very beginning vanessa believes that she has found evidence proving vicky's innocence that was in police
possession since the two women first went missing she says that if investigators had done their job
properly she julianne's children and both families could have avoided decades of additional
trauma quote what was the consideration for us kids had the police been investigating a
double murder instead of trying to prove a murder-suicide that would have come out about the
sexual abuse that i was under all these things that came out over years and years later
bit by bit by bit would have all been known right from the early days and how much
trauma could have been prevented how much trauma could have been saved for us all
[Music] you

Case 174: Vicki Arnold and Julie-Anne Leahy

One cold winter night in 1991, best friends Vicki Arnold and Julie-Anne Leahy vanished from their town of Atherton, Queensland. The two women had left for a late-night fishing trip but never came home...

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Erin Munro Creative direction – Milly Raso Production and music – Mike Migas Music – Andrew D.B. Joslyn With special thanks to Vanessa Stewart and Robert Reid

SOCIAL LINKS

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RESOURCES

For all credits and sources please visit https://casefilepodcast.com/case-174-vicki-arnold-and-julie-anne-leahy

Brief Summary

The episode details the mysterious deaths of Vicki Arnold and Julianne Lay, exploring the investigation and allegations against Alan Lay.

Key points

The Disappearance of Vicky and Julianne. Vicky Arnold and Julianne Lay go missing after a late-night fishing trip.
A Troubling Discovery. Sergeant Wilkes finds a box of missing bullets in Vicky's apartment.
The Murder-Suicide Theory. Police quickly concluded it was a murder-suicide, but evidence suggested otherwise.
The Discovery of Gun Parts. Missing gun parts were found in Vicky's carport, raising more questions.
Investigators' Dissent. Some officers doubted the murder-suicide narrative, believing a third party was involved.
Public Outrage Over Exhumation. After the women's bodies were exhumed, public anger turned the incident into a political issue.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

It didn't make sense that they could still be out.

Alan's concern about the missing women.

8:46WatchMay 8, 2021

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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