Casefile True Crime - Case 07: Julian Buchwald & Carolynne Watson

Episode Date: February 20, 2016

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… For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-07-julian-buchwald-and-carolynne-watson

A splash of fresh water will reach the depths of your heart. Those mighty blue waves can propel you forward or they can calm and soothe. Coast to Michigan coast. Simply feel the flow in the moment. And let those vast lakes, rivers and streams create everlasting memories. Jump right in and let fresh wash over you in Pure Michigan. Keep it fresh at Michigan.org. On the 4th of March 2008, Julian Buckwald took his girlfriend, Carolyn Watson,

for a picnic lunch tour waterfall located on a remote property in Budgery, Country, Victoria. The days soon turned into a nightmare when Julian and Carolyn were abducted by a master 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 a frantic, widespread search. Would Julian and Carolyn be found alive? Was this really the work of a satanic cult? Or was there something even more sinister going on?

Music Julian Buckwald was 22 years old. He was from Budgery, 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 the Latrobe Valley of Victoria. They were both small country towns and both Julian and Carolyn 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 in Budgery.

The property was a rural, remote area, mostly bushland. It covered an area of about 500 hectares, which is about 5 kilometers squared or around 2 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 picked Carolyn up in the morning in his 99 gold-coloured four-wheel drive Nissan Patrol, and they left for the waterfall. They planned to be back around 3pm 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 he will be back in a few minutes. He had 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 is footsteps running up behind 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 5-10 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 screams, 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. He then picks her up and throws her into the back seat 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 worse, 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 tape shut so she couldn't scream. She was still hog tied 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 3pm. It was 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 with a piece of paper hanging out.

Julian's mother quickly opened up the piece of paper and she nearly fainted. The piece of paper read and there's a language warning here. Your 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 shit us around again. Tell everyone they are on holiday. Don't you dare talk to the cops again and you'll get your kids back. Shit us again and you never see them again because we'll fuck the girl to death and burn her alive. 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. I didn't get too more serious than this. The police were on high alert straight away. They organised a large search operation by both land and by air. 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 and extensive off-road thick bush area. It was a hard search made harder by the fact the pressure was on. It sounded like Carolyn and Julian were in the hands of complete psychopaths. While the search was being conducted, detectives got to work trying to find out who was responsible and what their motive was.

The note indicates there was some kind of prior history between the kidnappers and the Buckwild family. But not to the Buckwild's knowledge. They couldn't make any sense of the letter or 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 mind your own business and stay away or it will 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 recognised 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 Buckwild's.

The symbol on both letters gave them a hint as to why Christians were their enemies. It was a satanic symbol. It 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 grave fears for Carolyn and Julian's safety. They were both devout Christians, which is why they felt they were targeted by a satanic cult. Police feared they would 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 the 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 he 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 that 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 a couple and learnt that they had 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 we couldn't explain the two notes that were found, the language and vowel 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 had packed 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 had 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 or speculation of the cult existing anywhere in the country. This was baffling in their fears that an Australian chapter had just born and they wanted to start off with a bane by conducting a human sacrifice. Almost a week went by and there was still no trace of Julian or Carolyn. The searches had come up empty. There was no sign of them anywhere. The feeling was that the chances of finding them alive were now slim to none. Police switched the focus of the search to finding remains rather than finding them alive. The rugged bushland had extremely hot 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 motive 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 the cult even existed in Australia, police started to explore the possibility that the nades 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 kilometres 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 had cuts and bruises and both suffered from bad sunburn. Their bodies were covered in blisters. Detectives wasted no time. They interviewed them straight away. 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 prays and prays. 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. Sometime later she hears a familiar voice, Julian's voice. She cries out, Julian, is that you? He screams 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 were both terrified. They had no idea where he was, but they could only assume he was coming back at some stage. So they grabbed the sleeping bag and 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 sunburnt. And they both wondered if their lives were about to end if the attacker tracked them down. It 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 it meant the attacker was probably nearby, but they got lucky. While they were checking out the site, Julian spots the 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 Caroline with the backpack and they are able to clothe themselves. They stumble around the bush for another few days before lucking out and finding the road where they were picked up by the farmer. Luckily the attacker never caught up with them again. It was important that police identify 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 Caroline 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. It 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 of his own equipment to use.

He used all of Julian's stuff. But how did he get it? There was another problem. Julian had described to police how he was 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 knocked out. Police start to wonder if Julian was somehow involved in his own kidnapping. Detectives let Julian know his story wasn't adding up. They were upfront with him. They basically told him his story was full of shit.

They told him to tell them the truth. And he eventually cracked. The evidence exposed his lies. 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 Caroline'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 Caroline up and then drove six hours north to the remote Alpine National Park area.

So no wonder the police search failed. They had no hope of finding them. They weren't searching anywhere near there. Julian chillingly recounts how Caroline 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 he took his own clothes off and tied himself up and how he started calling out to Caroline a while later to make her look like he had been attacked as well. So police had them in. But why the hell would anybody want to kidnap their girlfriend and stage 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 Caroline and to get her to marry him. Throughout the entire ordeal Julian was in Caroline'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 Caroline 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 Caroline 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 doesn't excuse to spend more time with Caroline 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 Caroline 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 Caroline 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-tired and left in the back of the vehicle for six hours, Caroline 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 did 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 look Indian. It 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 detained 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 laid a sentence to seven years and three months for kidnapping Caroline and he was sentenced to a further six months for skipping bail and leaving the country. He had an unparalleled period of five years and three months, meaning he is eligible for a lease now. And if he isn't out already, it won't be long until he is. you