Casefile True Crime - Case 105: Louise Bell

Episode Date: January 26, 2019

During recess and lunchtime at Hackham West Primary School in 1982, teachers patrolled the schoolyard to oversee the young children as they ran around and played together between lessons. Yet, there was often one student separated from the others, preferring to stick by her teachers’ sides rather than go off and play with her peers – 10-year-old Louise Bell... Episode narrated by the Anonymous Host Episode researched and written by Elsha McGill For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-105-louise-bell

Our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents. If you feel at any time you need support, please contact your local crisis centre. For suggested phone numbers for confidential support, please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website. Today's episode deals with a crime committed against a child that won't be suitable for all listeners. During recess and to lunchtime at Hackham West Primary School in 1982, teachers patrolled the school yard to oversee the young children as they ran around and played together between lessons. Yet there was often one student separated from the others, preferring to stick by her teacher's sides rather than go off and play with her peers. Ten-year-old Louise Bell.

A shy and timid girl, Louise found comfort in the company of adults whom she knew and trusted. When her fifth grade teacher, Miss Grace, asked if Louise would rather play with her classmates instead of accompanying her on yard duty, she responded, I'm fine, I'm happy, I just want to stay and help you, before linking hands with her teacher. Louise's introversion extended beyond school hours. When her friends were rushing out of the classroom to head home, Louise would often stay behind and help clean up before her parents arrived to pick her up. During a school camp, she sat by herself on the bus and didn't interact with the other pupils. But the camp itself served to bring Louise out of her shell. When she joined

in on a pillow fight that broke out amongst the children, the teachers were delighted to see Louise jump in on the fun. It was a clear sign that Louise was finally starting to feel more at ease with her peers. Despite suffering from asthma, she joined the school's basketball team, the year five basketball Saints, donning a number seven blue and yellow jersey. Her father, Colin Bell, sometimes assisted with the team, affording the dad and daughter some valuable bonding time. In late November 1982, the basketball Saints celebrated the end of the season with a breakup barbecue and pool party at their coach's house. During celebrations, Louise was thrilled to be awarded with a trophy commending her efforts, ending 1982 on a high note.

The following year started like any other for the Bell family. Parents Colin and Diane were enjoying spending quality time with Louise and their younger daughter, six-year-old Rachel, who were both off school for the summer holidays. Christmas and New Year had gone by in a whirlwind of excitement and social engagements, and things were starting to quieten down after the busy festive season. The Bell family were looking forward to relaxing over the weeks ahead before school resumed at the end of the month, with the two young siblings eager for upcoming plans that included a shopping excursion, a picnic, and a trip to the cinema to see the latest Steven Spielberg blockbuster, ET.

On January 4, 1983, Colin and Diane instructed their two daughters to prepare for bedtime as the sun began to set over Meadow Way, a quiet residential street in the lower middle-class suburb of Hackham West. Located 30 kilometers south of Adelaide Central Business District, the Bell residence was an unassuming small family homestead typical of the area. A single-story, cream-brick building with a fenced-in backyard and small front lawn that faced directly onto the street. At 8.30pm, Louise dressed in part of the new pajama set she had received for Christmas, a pale yellow, sleeveless cotton top dotted with small yellow flowers. She chose not to wear the matching shorts as she found them too uncomfortable.

The young Bell daughters said goodnight to their parents and retired to the small bedroom they shared at the front of the house, which held two single beds pushed against adjacent walls, separated by a chest of drawers. The bed heads lay underneath a large window that overlooked the front lawn. At 10.00pm, Diane went to check on her daughters and found that Louise was still awake. Noticing that the curtain and window were open above Louise's bed, Diane instructed her eldest daughter to close them before wishing her goodnight and heading off to bed in the room next door. Diane awoke at 6.00pm the following morning of January 5th. As she walked down the short hallway towards the front door, she peered into her daughter's bedroom and noticed the youngest

Rachel was still sleeping, but Louise was not in her bed. She checked the lounge room, kitchen, bathroom, and backyard, but there was no sign of her eldest daughter anywhere. Diane woke her husband, Colin, who rushed into his daughter's bedroom where he made a horrifying discovery. The curtain and window above Louise's bed were open and the mesh fly screen appeared to have been cut from the corner of the window frame and was flapping in the breeze. He raced outside, checking the neighbour's swimming pool before heading down the street to the primary school, desperately searching for any sign of his daughter. Failing to find Louise, Colin returned home, distressed to find she hadn't shown up during

his brief absence. He turned to his wife and said, that something is terribly wrong. Police arrived at the Bell's Meadoway property to conduct a search for Louise and question her family about her possible whereabouts. Six-year-old Rachel Bell, who had been sleeping soundly in the bed next to her sister, hadn't heard Louise get out of her bed at any time throughout the night or morning. Likewise, neither of her parents had heard a sound, despite their bedrooms being separated only by a very thin wall, and both bedroom doors remaining open all night. Notably, the window leading into the 10-year-old's bedroom was in

full view of the street, shielded only by a handful of sparsely established trees and shrubs. Other than the tear in the mesh fly screen covering the window, there were no signs of forced entry or of a struggle having taken place. Upon initial inspection of the torn screen, police believed the wire had been pushed out of place from inside the bedroom. This led them to consider the possibility Louise was responsible for the breakage herself, and had likely left home on her own accord and would soon return. However, given Louise's asthmatic medical history, they proceeded with a full-scale investigation amidst concerns for her safety. By 11am, a team had gathered at the nearby

Christie's Beach police station to formulate a plan, enlisting the services of various departments, including high-ranking police officers, the special task and rescue force, country fire service, and the state emergency services. They established a police command post at the nearby Hackham West Primary School, where Colin Bell made a brief appearance, telling the media, We love Louise very much and want her to come home. It doesn't matter if she's done anything wrong, just some knowledge that she's alright would be a relief. We are worried that she may have an asthma attack if she is in trouble.

Three helicopters swept the nearby coastline as law enforcement, volunteers, and Louise's relatives and friends combed the surrounding suburbs, checking everything from stormwater drains to rubbish bins. The possibility that the young girl had simply run away from home was dismissed, when over 100 members of the multiple emergency service departments failed to uncover any sign of Louise after six hours of intense searching. By the next day of January 6, police declared Louise's disappearance a major crime. The police technical services team was unable to find any scientific or physical evidence to

suggest Louise had been abducted from her bedroom, leading investigators to maintain the belief that the young girl had voluntarily left home, but had ran into foul play shortly thereafter. Rachel Bell drove around with police to point out all the locations that her older sister was known to play, but there was no sign of Louise at any of her favourite hangouts. Police stations across the state were issued with a description of Louise, who was approximately five foot tall and of average build, with short brown hair, brown eyes, lightly freckled skin, and was likely wearing floral yellow pyjamas, but may have taken a change of clothes with her.

Investigators conducted door knocks of the area and interviewed anyone who had been in recent contact with the Bell family to see if they could uncover any leads. In the days before Louise's disappearance, the local milkman recalled having to jump some tent wires that had been sitting across the concrete path leading to the Bell's front door. However, on the morning of January 5, he noticed the tent wires were no longer sitting on the front path, but had instead been bunched together and moved aside on the lawn, clearing the way. As the search for Louise gathered pace, Colin and Diane Bell remained at home in case their daughter reappeared, where any news came through. Although police had initially advised the couple

not to speak to the media, in a bid to raise awareness, Colin and Diane invited members of the press into their home to make a public appeal for information. They said they hadn't been able to sleep, spending many hours with police going over Louise's photographs, school reports, and anything at all that might provide some sort of clue. Sitting solemnly on the couch in their lounge room, an emotionally distraught Colin Bell broke down in tears as he told TV news reporters, I'm convinced she's not hiding anywhere, and if someone is watching this, don't harm her, please don't. Diane sat by his side, visibly shaken as she timidly asked her daughter to

please come home. Colin urged residents of South Australia to check their backyards, sheds, and unoccupied shacks for Louise, before pleading, quote, to anyone who might have her, even if they just leave her in a phone box a hundred miles from here. Please do it. If they fear this has gone too far and don't want to get caught, please don't harm Louise. Leave her where we can find her. A large publicity campaign was launched with hundreds of posters featuring Louise's photograph and the physical description distributed throughout suburban shopping centres, with newspapers, television, and radio stations asked to promote the campaign.

Posters of Louise's smiling face were plastered on the front of public transport buses throughout the Adelaide metropolitan area, urging anyone with information to come forward. 10 detectives were assigned to work on the case full-time, as an additional 35 police officers conducted numerous searches around the Bells property and the surrounding Hackham West area. The police technical services team conducted further tests on the mesh fly screen from the Weezer's bedroom window, and stated they were unable to determine whether the screen had been torn from within the bedroom or cut from outside the home. Police staged a re-enactment to determine the logistics of someone reaching in the bedroom window and snatching Louise from her bed, and

concluded it would have taken an adult male perpetrator six feet tall or higher, just 30 seconds to lift the child and carry her out. They also theorised Louise may have been enticed to exit the house, either via the window or even the front door, although her parents dismissed this theory, saying their daughter was well aware of stranger danger. The Bell family and investigators who were working tirelessly on the case continued to hold onto the hope that Louise would be found alive, but braced themselves for the worst. Major crime squad detective G.J. Edwards said, There is always hope, but as time goes by that hope must diminish.

The sad part is we just have nothing on how she left home. There is no positive information which could indicate the circumstances of her leaving home or what has happened to her since that time. On January 12, one week after Louise vanished, the South Australian government offered a $5,000 reward for anyone with information about her whereabouts. The reward was not as substantial as the community had hoped, but given the lack of evidence to confirm without question whether or not a crime had occurred, it was the best the government could offer. Acting South Australian Premier, Mr Wright said, You don't know what's happened to this poor 10 year old girl, whether she has run away from home

or is lost in a bush. We will increase the reward the moment the police are able to tell me they are now convinced there is a crime, but at present we want information on the whereabouts of the child. The day after the reward was announced, Colin Bell received a phone call. The unknown mail caller claimed to have taken the wheeze and demanded $30,000, threatening to kill the child if the money wasn't paid. The call was soon determined to be a hoax. The caller identified as an unemployed 19 year old from the nearby suburb of Mitchell Park, who was charged with the crime of demanding money with menaces. A second phone call from someone claiming to have information about the wheeze was

made at 9pm on January 17, four days after the initial hoax call. Strangely, this call was placed to a Hackham West resident who lived on Underbank Grove, just two streets away from the Bell's home on Meadow Way, but the recipient of the call had no relation to the Bell family. The unknown mail caller spoke with a slight European accent and claimed he had the wheeze bell in his custody. He sounded noticeably upset, pausing to take deep breaths as he explained that the wheeze was in need of medical assistance, alluding that her injuries were the result of sexual assault. He said the wheeze was happy with him and did not want to go home, but insisted it was a matter of life or death, describing her medical condition as a desperate situation.

The caller explained that he had chosen a phone number at random and was unwilling to contact emergency services for help in case that phone call was traceable. To prove that he was telling the truth, he advised a pair of Louisa's earrings could be found underneath a brick on the corner of South Road and Beach Road in Hackham West, a main intersection just one kilometer from the Bell's property on Meadow Way. Police were immediately informed of the call and rushed to the location specified by the anonymous caller. Sure enough, on the corner of the South Road and Beach Road intersection, they found a broken brick with a pair of small silver hoop earrings hidden underneath. Colin and Diane Bell confirmed the earrings belonged to Louise as they featured a repair her

grandfather had made to the catch on one of the items. Certain Louise was wearing the earrings on the night of her disappearance, there was now no doubt she had met with foul play and was in grave danger. In a subsequent press conference, investigators said it was unclear whether the person involved was known to the Bell family, but given the information received during the anonymous phone call, they remained confident that Louise was still alive and was being held captive in the Adelaide area. Attempts to trace the phone call from the perpetrator were unsuccessful. The recipient of the mysterious call had scribbled down as many notes during the conversation as she could, but nothing listed led to the identification of a suspect. However, investigators now had

some information to go by. The suspect had a European accent and it was described as pleasant sounding and well-spoken, with a very good command of English. Days later, on January 20, police received a report from a member of the public who was prompted to call authorities after spotting a man acting suspiciously in the Deep Creek area, 85 kilometers south of Adelaide. The man was in the company of a young girl and the pair were seen with a blue car. Police rushed to the area, but failed to uncover any sign of Louise or her captor. Six weeks went by with no further contact from the alleged perpetrator. Then, on February 28, the underbank Grove resident who had received the phone call that led authorities to the

discovery of Louise's earrings was once again involuntarily involved with the investigation. The woman awoke at 6.45 am and went to collect the milk and newspaper from her front yard when she noticed what appeared to be an old rag laying on her lawn. She paid the item no attention and carried on with her morning routine. Hours later, at around 9 am, she returned home after dropping her son off at school when the rag caught her sight once more as she noticed that was neatly folded. She picked it up and realized it wasn't a rag at all, but a sleeveless cotton pajama top dotted with yellow flowers. It had multiple tears down each side and was drenched in water.

Thinking nothing of it, the woman placed the item of clothing inside an empty pop plant container with the intention of later throwing it away. Half an hour later, she was hit with a stark realization. Louise Bell had been wearing a floral yellow pajama top on the night she went missing. Police were notified of the discovery and presented the item to Colin and Diane Bell. The couple noticed the label from the inside collar of the top was missing, confirming that it belonged to their daughter. Diane herself recalled previously cutting the large red label from the garment after Louise had complained it was itching her neck.

Having now identified Louise's earrings and pajama top, police were no closer to finding the child or her abductor. At the suggestion of police, the woman who found to Louise's pajama top agreed to be hypnotized in a bid to revive any memories that could assist with the investigation. Under hypnosis, she recalled that when she first left her house to collect the milk and paper at 6.45 am, she noticed the head and shoulders of a clean shaven man with collar length blonde hair hiding behind a brick wall, less than 100 meters from her home. After returning home from dropping her son off at school, the woman also recalled she had seen

the leg of a man in a nearby walkway. This information led to the theory that the perpetrator had been hiding close by so he could watch as the woman discovered the pajama top. Authorities were convinced the perpetrator was taunting them by distributing Louise's belongings throughout Hackham West with the intention of them being found. It appeared he derived pleasure from this twisted game of cat and mouse. Examination of Louise's pajama shirt revealed it had been removed from her body in such a way that suggested her hands had been bound together at the time. In addition, traces of algae and soil on the waterlogged pajama top were found to contain

a unique blend of microbiology found exclusively in the Oncomperinga River, an 88 kilometer long waterway that stretches southwestern from the Mount Lofty Ranges and ends in Port Norlonga, located just eight kilometers from the Bell's family home in Hackham West. An inlet and surrounding riverbanks in Port Norlonga were searched but resulted in no trace of Louise or her abductor. Nevertheless, investigators believed the close proximity between the locations where Louise's earrings and pajama top were found, as well as the source of the algae and soil samples found on the ladder, indicated the perpetrator either lived nearby or had not taken the schoolgirl far. The reward for information regarding

Louise Bell's whereabouts received a significant boost when a group of anonymous satellite businessmen donated an additional $10,000 for her safe return, raising the total sum of the reward to $15,000. Catholic priest Reverend Father Robert Aiken offered himself as a mediator for the Bell family and made a public plea for the person responsible for Louise's abduction to return the young girl to her family. He invited the perpetrator to make confidential contact with him anytime via phone, at the church, or any other location, reassuring he was just as concerned for the perpetrator's well-being as he was for Louise's. When the priest was asked if offering his services to the potentially dangerous man

put his own safety at risk, Father Aiken replied, I have no dependence. This girl is just beginning life and I don't mind putting myself in danger if it's going to help someone. Father Aiken's invitation yielded no response. Meanwhile, police continued with their investigation, door knocking over 2,500 homes and conducting interviews with over 8,000 people. Despite these efforts, months passed with no compelling leads or discoveries. Then, crucial information was offered from an unexpected source, when several inmates at the now defunct Adelaide Jail alleged they knew who was responsible

for Louise Bell's disappearance. According to four prisoners, in April of 1983, a fellow inmate serving time for an eight-month prison sentence for a string of child sex crimes confessed to murdering Louise. The inmate was 36-year-old father of four, Raymond John Gheesing. Gheesing was not unknown to investigators. He had been interviewed just days after the incident, as he was a known sex offender, who up until just before Louise's disappearance had lived only 500 meters away from her residence in Hackham West. At the time Louise went missing, Gheesing had only just relocated to the Outer City suburb of Torrensville, 29 kilometers away. A link between the suspect and Louise Bell was established via information provided by one of

Gheesing's ex-wives. Prior to his move across town to Torrensville, Gheesing served as president of the Hackham West Community Group and had given the Bell family an application form for membership. When cleaning out Gheesing's belongings after their separation, his ex-wife found a piece of paper with Colin Bell's name and address written on it, passed on by another member of the community group to whom the Bells had expressed an interest in joining. Further investigation revealed the Onkaparinga River was a favorite fishing spot of Gheesing's, and a pair of sneakers found in the back of his vehicle contained the same microbiological substance as that found on Louise's pajama top. Based on Raymond John Gheesing's alleged jailhouse confessions, previous residency

within the Hackham West area, known association with the Bell family, convictions for child sex offenses and the forensic evidence that put him in the vicinity of the Onkaparinga River, police charged him with the abduction and murder of Louise Bell. In November 1984, Gheesing's good trial in the South Australian Supreme Court were only two of the inmate's statements regarding his alleged confession were considered admissible. The prosecution used these as the backbone for their case, and argued that multiple sources claimed Gheesing had showed a consciousness of guilt regarding Louise's disappearance. Although he didn't have a European accent, his well-spoken manner matched the voice described

by the Hackham West resident who received the phone call that led investigators to Louise's earrings. The only physical evidence linking Gheesing to Louise's disappearance was the microbiological substance found on his sneakers that was also found on Louise's pajama top. Nevertheless, the circumstantial evidence against him was strong, and after 24 hours of deliberation, the jury delivered their verdict. Guilty. Raymond John Gheesing was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Louise Bell. Gheesing continued to maintain his innocence over Louise's murder, and 17 months into his life sentence, he appealed his conviction. During the appeal hearing, one of the two inmates who had testified against him at trial

retracted their testimony, admitting Gheesing had never confessed to the crime. In another blow to the original trial, the appellate judge determined the statements given by the second inmate who claimed Gheesing had confessed were a complete fabrication. Both witnesses were deemed to be unreliable and untrustworthy, rendering their evidence inadmissible. Without these jailhouse confessions, which formed the entire backbone of the prosecution's case, the highly circumstantial case against Gheesing weakened dramatically. Chief Justice King, who was overseeing the appeal, said, quote, If the evidence is disallowed, the inevitable consequence is that the trial is miscarried,

and the verdict must be set aside. On April 12, 1985, Raymond John Gheesing's conviction for the murder of Louise Bell was quashed by the South Australian Court of Appeal, and he was cleared of all charges relating to her disappearance. Minutes after the hearing came to an end, Gheesing was released from custody, his wrongful conviction referenced as a miscarriage of justice in the Australian legal system. Yet, his release served as an opportunity for Gheesing to continue to harm others. As years later, he was found guilty and sentenced to seven years' prison for child sex crimes committed against two sisters over an eight-year period.

With Gheesing eliminated as a suspect in the Louise Bell investigation, her case was reopened and her disappearance was once again marked unsolved. In December 1985, almost three years after Louise Bell went missing, a coronial inquest was conducted to examine the cause and circumstances leading to her disappearance. During the inquiry, police confirmed they were no longer actively looking for a suspect, but were instead focusing their investigations on finding the schoolgirl's body in order to provide closure for her family. Although detectives had no suspects, they described the likely perpetrator to be a tall, strong man who was very psychologically abnormal.

Following the two-day inquest, state coroner Kevin Ahern handed down his findings, concluding that Louise had been abducted from her bedroom during the night of January 4, 1983, in what was likely a sexually motivated attack. He also suggested the perpetrator could be an exhibitionist, given his premeditated actions in exposing certain clues to authorities, such as Louise's pyjama top and earrings. Coroner Ahern said that there was nothing to suggest Louise's disappearance was connected with any other missing children's cases in South Australia, and he found it, quote, very disturbing to realise there are people in the community of

such abnormal mentality. The coroner added that while Louise's body had not yet been located, his official finding presumed she was no longer alive. Determined to get on with their lives, Colin and Diane Bell had not spoken to the media since the early days of the investigation, and were distraught to discover the inquest into their daughter's disappearance was being conducted so close to Christmas. In a reluctant comment to add a late newspaper, the advertiser, Colin Bell said, I just want to be left alone with my family. What's left of it? It's been a tremendous strain on all of us. Only the offender can know what we've been through, and it's water of the ducks back to him. We just want to get our lives back together.

After the coronial inquest, four years went by with no new information regarding Louise Bell's disappearance, and the case went cold, until a new line of inquiry eventually came to light. On December 30, 1989, a 13-year-old boy was riding his bike in Port no Longa, when the occupant of a white Volkswagen Combi van tricked him into entering his vehicle. The teenager was then bound, gagged, and blindfolded, before the assailant threw the boy's bicycle into the back of the van. After driving nine kilometers south towards the rugged coastline of Maslund's beach, the assailant wiped his captive's bike down and abandoned it against a gate to create the

illusion the teen was in the area. When the alarm was raised that the teenager was missing, the discovery of his abandoned bike led police to presume he had drowned, and a land and sea search of Maslund's beach ensued. In reality, the teen was being driven to his abductor's property in Hackham West, where he was held captive overnight and subjected to repeated acts of sexual abuse. At midday the following day, the assailant temporarily left the property, giving the brave captive time and opportunity to free himself from his binds. He ran to a house next door, where he raised the alarm and called police for help. The assailant returned home a short while later, oblivious to the fact his captive had escaped,

and police were awaiting his arrival. He was promptly placed under arrest. The man responsible for the teenager's attack was 41-year-old Dieter Fenig, a mild-mannered German-born maths and science high school teacher who was married with two daughters. Upon learning his captive had escaped, Fenig admitted to the brazen attack, but said he had only taken the boy because he felt lonely, telling police, quote, I just wanted someone to hug. Dieter Fenig was held in the Christie's Beach police station, where he placed a phone call to his wife admitting he had been thinking about committing the crime for months. Whilst Fenig was in police custody, law enforcement received a phone call from a

woman who believed the school teacher could be responsible for another crime. Eleven months prior to Fenig's arrest, on January 18, 1989, 10-year-old Michael Black left his house in the rural Riverside town of Murray Bridge, located 76 kilometers east of Adelaide. Michael hopped on his bicycle and rode towards Sturt Reserve, a popular Riverside recreation area. Michael was looking forward to an afternoon of fishing, taking with him a fishing rod, canvas bag, and his beloved family dog. Sturt Reserve was one of Michael's favorite fishing and swimming spots, where the lush green lawns and calm waters provided the perfect place to cast the line.

Various witnesses spotted Michael at the reserve throughout the day, with the last known sighting occurring just before 3pm. Later that afternoon, his fishing rod, bike, bag, and thongs were found neatly stacked together further upstream at the much quieter fishing spot of Tierley Reserve. His shirt was found in a willow tree even further upstream, where his dog was spotted barking frantically and running up and down the riverbank. No witnesses had seen Michael at Tierley Reserve, and his parents confirmed it was an area their son did not like to frequent, as he was forbidden from venturing there without parental supervision. Although he was a competent swimmer, an extensive

underwater search of the area was conducted by police divers, as they believed Michael may have drowned. His body wasn't found, nor did it rise to the surface after three days, as was expected in the case of death caused by drowning. According to officers in charge of the investigation, the possibility that Michael's body lay undiscovered in the water was incredibly slim, and he was officially declared a missing person. While Dieter Fenig was in custody for the abduction and assault committed against the 13-year-old boy taken from Port Nollunga, a witness reported that Fenig had been at her house around the time of Michael Black's disappearance. When a story about the missing boy aired on the news,

Fenig remarked he had been at Sturt Reserve on the day Michael was last seen, and he had helped the young boy with his fishing rod. Police interviewed Fenig's wife, who confirmed her husband had been away from home during the time of Michael Black's disappearance, leaving for a three-day trip in his convivant to study physics in preparation for an upcoming teaching job. According to Fenig's daughter, her father said he lent Michael a knife to help him scale a fish and asked the young boy to return the knife to his van once he was done. In addition, multiple witnesses confirmed having seen a white combie speeding away from Tierley Reserve on the day Michael vanished. Police identified many

similarities between Michael's unsolved case and Dieter Fenig's recent crimes against the 13-year-old boy. They suspected Fenig made efforts to mislead police by setting up Michael's bicycle to appear as though the child had drowned, just like he had done when committing the following abduction 11 months later. Subsequently, Fenig was charged with the murder of Michael Black. Given the location of his home in Hackham West, he also became a person of interest in another high-profile unsolved case, the disappearance of Louise Bell. There were multiple factors pinpointing Dieter Fenig as a suspect for Louise's abduction. Firstly, the 10-year-old had attended school and played on the same basketball team as one of Fenig's daughters, and the two were familiar

with one another. Fenig was also known to frequent the Onkaparinga River in his canoe, a key location of interest in Louise's abduction due to the algae and soil samples found on her pajamas. Additionally, Fenig was an insomniac known by family members and neighbors to walk the streets late at night. He lived on Holly Rise, a street just seven minutes walk away from the Bell property on Meadow Way, with the two homes connected by a series of quiet laneways that would have provided ample opportunity for him to transport the young girl without being seen. However, Fenig provided police with an alibi for the night of Louise's disappearance. He had been on holiday with his family visiting relatives in Swan Hill, a riverside town in

the neighboring state of Victoria. His wife and daughters had been staying in one caravan while Fenig had been staying in a separate rental caravan on his own. Investigators tracked down the caravan rental company and discovered Dieter Fenig had actually returned his caravan on January 4, putting him back in Adelaide during the night of Louise's abduction while his family remained in Swan Hill. This was confirmed by a former neighbor who had been instructed to water the Fenig's garden while the family was in Victoria. In the days following Louise's disappearance, the neighbor noticed that Dieter Fenig had returned home early, so we went over to notify him about the events of the previous few days. When Fenig opened the door, he was

noticeably dishevelled and was alleged to have remarked, there goes my alibi. In February 1991, a thorough search for the remains of Michael Black and to Louise Bell was conducted at Fenig's property on Holly Rise. Floorboards in two bedrooms were pulled up and a section of the backyard and a rear shed were excavated, but no human remains, physical evidence, or anything else of interest was uncovered. For the kidnapping and sexual assault committed against the 13-year-old boy from Port Nollonga, Dieter Fenig pleaded guilty, but professed his innocence for any other crimes. With the strong circumstantial evidence against him, he stood trial for the murder of Michael Black, entering a plea of not guilty. In a highly controversial move,

the judge allowed propensity evidence, otherwise known as similar fact evidence, to be presented at trial. This meant Fenig's other related convictions were permitted to be referenced during his current trial and used as evidence against him. Permitting similar fact evidence is rarely allowed due to concerns the defendant may be unfairly judged, but the presiding judge for the Michael Black murder trial felt it essential that jury be made aware of Fenig's prior criminal history involving children. Based on circumstantial evidence and statements from over 100 witnesses, Dieter Fenig was convicted of Michael Black's murder and sentenced to 38 years in prison. He remained a person of interest in Louise Bell's disappearance, but police had no concrete evidence to link him

to the crime and the case eventually went cold. During the earlier years of the Louise Bell investigation, the suspect pool included convicted killer couple Valmay Beck and Barry Watts. The couples known crimes are covered in case 101 of case file, but investigators nationwide believed Beck and Watts might have been responsible for the unsolved disappearance of a number of young women in Australia throughout the 1980s. Prior to her death in 2008, Valmay Beck was interrogated at length about Louise Bell, but she failed to reveal any information that solidified her or Barry Watts were involved in the crime. Passing away without the deathbed confession, many had hoped for. By mid-2009, 26 years had passed since Louise vanished in the middle of

the night from her own bedroom and her cold case was reopened with the hopes that advances in forensic technology could lead to new opportunities in the investigation. A team of investigators were assigned to undertake a comprehensive review of the case and re-examine all available evidence. Efforts proved fruitful, with forensic experts identifying and extracting several previously undiscovered traces of DNA evidence on the pajama top Louise had been wearing on the night of her abduction. The technology wasn't quite advanced enough to link the DNA to a suspect, but in 2012, Louise's pajama top was sent to a leading forensic institution in the Netherlands, allowing for a new DNA testing technique known as the low-copy method to be used.

This was a significantly more advanced technique than the testing method available in Australia at the time, allowing for a DNA profile to be extracted from sweat or just a few skin cells. The testing of the unidentified DNA found on Louise's pajama top resulted in a match. It belonged to a prisoner currently serving time in the Port Lincoln prison on the air peninsula of South Australia at a likelihood ratio of higher than a billion to one. The prisoner was not unknown to the investigation. He had been considered a strong person of interest in Louise's disappearance since 1989, but failure to uncover concrete evidence at the time withheld an arrest. The DNA on Louise's clothing belonged to Hackham West Local and convicted child killer,

Dieter Fenig. Back in 1991, Fenig's former Hackham West property was searched for clues regarding the Louise Bell investigation, but efforts resulted in no worthwhile discoveries. Twenty-one years later, in 2012, police returned to the address, prepared to conduct a more extensive excavation of the yard in the hopes of finally uncovering Louise's remains. With assistance from the Australian Federal Police, state-of-the-art radar equipment was used to detect abnormalities underground, with special attention paid to three distinct concrete slabs at the rear of the property. Concrete cutters were used to remove the slabs, with police then using sifting pans, hand trails and shovels to dig around and examine the soil underneath.

Four days of extensive searching ensued, overseen by a heavy media presence, as the community anticipated answers to the decade's long mystery as to what happened to Louise Bell. Small fragments of bone were found, but were later determined to have belonged to animals. Overall, the dig uncovered nothing of significance. Police continued with their inquiries, following up on over 550 statements taken from family members, witnesses and other members of the public throughout the original investigation. In similar circumstances to the wrongful conviction of Raymond John Geasing, two separate inmates who had served time with Dieter Fennig during his 38-year sentence for

the murder of Michael Black came forward, declaring that the former teacher had confessed to Louise's murder. Fennig was allegedly drinking bootleg alcohol and smoking cannabis with a fellow inmate during an in-house Christmas celebration when he started sobbing and confessed for killing Michael Black. He said he couldn't tell authorities where Michael's body was located because, quote, there is a chick there. When the prisoner asked what chick, Fennig replied, Bell. He allegedly admitted that he took the young girl and killed her by accident, leaving the pajama top on the front lawn of the underbank Grove resident because he felt guilty for what he had done. Using a prison computer, Fennig brought up a map of Hackham West and

showed the inmate how close the distance was between his former home and the Bell property. He claimed that Louise exited her house via the bedroom window and went with him willingly. A ordained Baptist minister serving time for fraud also alleged Fennig had confessed to Louise's murder while seeking his spiritual guidance. The minister claimed Fennig's whole body shook when he started talking about the crime, saying he hated the name Bell because it reminded him, quote, of something that's eating at my heart every day. Fennig allegedly told the minister he wasn't concerned about the crimes he was in jail for, but rather for the things that hadn't yet come to light, claiming he knew everything about Louise

Bell, including the location of her body. He said he had picked her up, carried her away, and only decided to kill her when she wouldn't calm down or cooperate. The minister encouraged Fennig to confess to police, but he refused, saying, I know I'm not going to make it out of prison, why should I bother? He later showed the same inmate and manuscript he had been writing, which told the story of a warrior attempting to rescue a young girl. The girl refused to believe the warrior genuinely wanted to help her, and for her lack of trust, she ends up dying. Police were able to recover copies of the manuscript from Fennig's cell. On November 18, 2013, 65-year-old Dita Fennig was arrested for the murder of Louise Bell.

Deputy Police Commissioner Grant Stevens addressed the media, quote, clearly this particular matter has had a massive impact on the family. They are devastated by this crime, and the fact that we have conducted this arrest today will in some respects provide a degree of closure. It's good news, but it's tinged with that degree of sadness that the family are now going through another episode of this particularly gruesome story. Given Fennig's prior convictions and known reputation as a child killer, officials were concerned that he may not receive a fair trial. It was argued a jury would find it impossible to overlook his well-known and established depraved character, impacting their verdict

regardless of the evidence presented. The wrongful conviction of Raymond John Geasing for the same crime three decades earlier stemming from false confessions provided by inmates ensured the courts and prosecution were treading extra carefully this time around. To avoid the risk of an unfair trial, it was decided that Fennig would face court in front of a judge alone, with no jury present. Celebrated criminal barrister and Supreme Court Judge Justice Michael David, who was well versed in the intricacies of the case and other trials that resulted in a miscarriage of justice, temporarily came out of retirement to oversee the trial, which commenced in September 2015, two years after Fennig's arrest.

Prosecutor Sandy McDonald opened her arguments by saying there was no doubt that Louise was no longer alive. Quote, in the early days there was still hope. Over three decades later, Louise Bell is not coming home. Louise Bell is dead. She was murdered. She was taken from her bedroom in the middle of the night in the most brazen and audacious way. McDonald said the biggest mystery in the case was how Louise got out of her bedroom. Given the difficulties of shifting a 30 to 40 kilogram child from their bed without waking her sister in the same room or parents in the adjoining room, McDonald said it was far more likely that Louise was enticed from her room by someone she knew and recognized rather than a stranger.

During the trial, witness accounts were heard from the inmates who Fennig allegedly confessed to, as well as former neighbors, colleagues and family members who said the accused had demonstrated an unusual interest in the crime. One former colleague alleged Fennig encouraged him to join in on nightly runs, saying, it's amazing what you can see through windows. During a conversation with another former colleague, Fennig's coworker expressed her disbelief that the schoolgirl had been taken from her bedroom without anybody seeing or hearing a thing. Fennig calmly replied that he believed that was very possible as he often walked the streets at night and never saw another living soul. Yet another colleague claimed Fennig told them he was a suspect in the case,

which prosecuted Sandy McDonald labelled an important piece of evidence. Quote, Why on earth would a father, teacher, a family man be telling his colleague and friend that he was a suspect in the abduction and murder of a little girl when he's not? It makes no sense, unless he's getting some sort of perverse pleasure drawing attention to himself, continuing to talk about it. One of Fennig's daughters who had been a classmate of Louisa's testified against her father, saying he had a habit of changing the subject whenever she questioned him about Louise. Her father always claimed who had been interstate with the family during the critical time period over Louise's abduction when she knew he had returned home

alone from the holiday early. Fennig's ex-wife also gave evidence against him, confirming her former husband had indeed returned to Adelaide early in January 1983, while the family continued on with their interstate holiday without him. When they returned home, Fennig cooked them dinner, which she described as exceptionally unusual. Quote, Dita never made anything, he wouldn't even make me a cup of tea. One of Louise's classmates provided a statement via video link saying she had seen Louise walking home with Fennig and his daughter up to six times in the year leading up to her abduction. Louise's younger sister Rachel testified that she saw Fennig's convivant parked on their street

in front of a neighbour's house in the years following her sister's disappearance. In addition, the underbank Grove resident who had received a phone call from the abductor that led to the discovery of Louise's earrings claimed a German-born Fennig's voice matched the European accent of the unknown caller. A taxi driver also testified that a man with a slightly European accent asked him to take him for a bizarre drive-by of the bell home in the days following the 10-year-old's disappearance. Halfway through the trial, Fennig suffered a heart attack in prison and was rushed to hospital where he underwent surgery and was placed in an induced coma. The future of the trial looked questionable until he made a full recovery and was cleared to

return to court three weeks later. Although the witness statements and jailhouse confessions provided strong circumstantial evidence, Fennig's DNA on Louise's pajama top provided a compelling piece of physical evidence. Defense lawyer Paul Charman argued that this evidence wasn't foolproof as there had been inconsistencies and contradictions in the results of testing conducted by different labs, techniques and software. Initial testing of DNA found on Louise's pajama shirt in an Adelaide laboratory had revealed a likelihood ratio that the DNA belonged to Dieter Fennig was 6400 to 1, a stark contrast to the billion to one ratio determined by the lab in the Netherlands. Despite the court receiving an in-depth explanation of how the Dutch forensic team

achieved the precise results of their low-copy DNA profiling, Charman argued. While scientists say they can justify the varied results from a scientific point of view, that doesn't mean your honor can accept they proved the DNA case beyond a reasonable doubt. He asked the court to be mindful that Fennig's DNA was not found on Louise's windowsill or anywhere else at the crime scene. The defense team clung to this argument throughout most of the trial before presenting another theory to explain how Fennig's DNA appeared on Louise's pajamas. In November 1982, less than two months before Louise's abduction, she attended a pool party at the home of her basketball coach as part of the team's end of season breakup.

In attendance was another of Louise's teammates, Dieter Fennig's daughter. The defense argued the defendant's DNA could have been passed onto Louise and subsequently onto her pajamas via contact with his daughter during the pool party, school, or basketball games in a process known as secondary transfer. But the prosecution destroyed this theory when it was confirmed that Louise had received the pajama top as a Christmas present a month after the pool party. Louise had had no physical contact with Fennig's daughter since obtaining the clothing. The shirt had also been machine washed prior to the schoolgirl's abduction, which would have removed any DNA passed on via secondary transfer.

The defense attempted to discredit the inmates who Fennig had allegedly confessed to, asking one of them if they were lying to receive attention. The inmate, who had been diagnosed by a psychiatrist as having an antisocial personality with a history of manipulative behavior, responded to the accusation in a hostile manner, introducing concerns about his reliability. Yet, the same psychiatrist agreed that this disorder would not impact the inmate's ability to provide a reliable witness statement. The prosecution pointed out that the two confessions were provided entirely separate of one another, with no opportunity for collusion between the two inmates. In addition, both had

gone to police with information about the confessions prior to Fennig's DNA match being found on Louise's pajamas. The unique nature of the judge-only trial allowed for multiple adjournments and various sittings, resulting in a trial that lasted for close to a year, ending in July 2016. Although Justice Michael David could not determine the exact circumstances of how Louise left her home the night she disappeared, he believed a forceful abduction would have almost certainly woken another family member. Therefore, he found it more likely Louise was enticed out the window by someone she was familiar with. 33 years after 10-year-old Louise Bell went missing, Justice David delivered his verdict to the packed courtroom, finding

Dieter Fennig guilty for her abduction and murder. In an unusual move, Justice David implored the accused to lead authorities to the bodies of both children he had been found guilty of killing, Louise Bell and Michael Black, saying his sentencing may or may not be affected by Fennig's cooperation in fulfilling this request. After the verdict was delivered, a media release provided by the Bell family was read outside the court by a detective who had worked on the case. Quote, Today's verdict leaves us feeling relieved, and while it is a significant outcome, it is not the end of this difficult journey. Our beloved 10-year-old daughter was taken from her own bedroom, a place where she should be safe and has never come home. Words cannot describe

the impact this has had on our lives. Today is the culmination of our struggles to find answers for Louise. That is what makes today's decision so important. It is a small victory for Louise. We would like to thank everyone for their persistence and efforts in trying to return Louise to us and in prosecuting this matter. While today is a significant milestone, we want our daughter back, so I would appeal to anyone with information that might assist us in finding Louise to come forward now. While this afternoon's outcome is significant, it is only part of this terrible event. We still want to be able to lay Louise to rest. The Bell Family made it clear this would be the only statement they would be providing to the

public. They also appealed for their victim impact statements to be suppressed from the media at Phoenix Sentencing amidst concerns the publication of their feelings would cause unnecessary hardship. To appease their request, the court agreed the Bell Family did not have to provide victim impact statements. They have not spoken publicly about the case since. South Australian police confirmed that despite the guilty verdict, the case would not be closed until Louise's remains were recovered. Detective Superintendent Desbray quote, I would appeal for anyone with information that might assist us to find her, to search your conscience and to come forward now. It is time to do the right thing.

By the day of his sentencing on December 6, 2016, Fennig had not accepted the judge's invitation to reveal the location of Louise or Michael's bodies. Upon delivering his sentence, Justice Michael David clarified he was not punishing Fennig for failing to fulfill this request, but for committing the most evil of crimes. Quote, the shock and anxiety that your offense caused to the South Australian community cannot be compared to the distress that must have been suffered by the parents and family of Louise Bell. The effect of my sentence will be that you most certainly spend the rest of your days in jail. Dita Fennig was sentenced to 35 years in prison without parole for the murder of Louise Bell.

In addition to the sentence he was already serving in relation to the murder of Michael Black, this brought his non-parole jail time to 60 years. In May 2018, Fennig appealed his conviction, reverting to the argument that his DNA could have been accidentally transferred to Louise's pajama top via contact with his daughter. His lawyer Paul Charmon argued there was no evidence to confirm how the DNA was placed on the victim's clothing and called the guilty verdict against his client, legally unsafe and unsatisfactory. Charmon requested the DNA be tested against convicted kidnapper Roman Hines, who had recently been sentenced to 22 years in jail for abducting,

brutalising and sexually assaulting two foreign backpackers in Salt Creek in February 2016. Like Fennig, Hines also had a German ancestry and had lived in proximity to the Bell residence in the 1980s. The appeal was denied and Fennig's life sentence was upheld. News of Fennig's convictions sparked shockwaves across South Australia, as residents reflected on the impact the case had on society over the past three decades. One of Louise's cousins spoke to the media about how the tragedy had impacted his life. Despite being just six years old when his cousin went missing, he explained, I grew up in the shadow of it. I'm overprotective with my children. I've always had roller shutters.

I've always owned a dog. You always just thought, how could someone do this? How could someone get away with murder? And you'd wonder if someone would come to take you as well. His sentiment was shared by countless others who grew up under the blanket of fear and paranoia created by Louise's 1983 disappearance, which has been described as a turning point in which families became more conscious of locking their doors and windows and taking more stringent precautions to protect their children, even within their own homes. Deputy Police Commissioner Grant Stevens explained, When a child is taken, we look at our own families and we wonder just how safe our own kids are. And we hope that something like this never affects our family or people we

are close to. It cuts to the core of those basic principles that a man's home is his castle, and you have a right to feel safe there. Dr. Alan Perry, a criminology lecturer within the law faculty at the University of Adelaide, spoke to Interstate newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald in 1984 and described the cultural shift he noticed in Adelaide residents following the spade of crimes committed against children and teens that occurred throughout the state. Dr. Perry, quote Adelaide was a relaxed, open city in 1973. People left their cars unlocked on the street and would leave their front doors unlocked at night. It really was just a big country town. In 10 years, there has been a considerable deterioration in the quality of life. People

have become fearful, defensive, suspicious. I don't know anyone who goes to bed with the front door unlocked now. It's a changing attitude rather than a change in the place. That is the saddest aspect. Adelaide has changed. It has lost its innocence. And once you lose it, it's lost forever. The pajama top intentionally placed by Dieter Fenig on the front lawn at underbank Grove remains the only piece of DNA evidence directly connecting him to the murder of Louise Bell. During a Channel 9 television series titled City of Evil, Nigel Hunt, an investigative reporter for Adelaide newspaper, the advertiser said, quote, irony can be a wonderful thing. The fact that it was Fenig himself that gave police such a vital

piece of evidence way back in 1983 is extraordinary. As of early 2019, Louise Bell and Michael Black have never been found. The search for their remains continues.