Casefile True Crime - Case 131: Mr Stinky

Episode Date: November 16, 2019

During the 1970s and 80s, a series of terrifying sexual assaults occurred inside homes throughout the Victorian suburb of Donvale. The unidentified perpetrator was initially referred to as The Donvale Rapist, but after several survivors described him as having a distinctly offensive odour, he was given a new nickname – ‘Mr Stinky.’ --- Episode narrated by the Anonymous Host Episode researched and written by Milly Raso and Erin Munro A special thank you to Louise Raso and Andrew Rule for their assistance in the creation of this episode Creative Director: Milly Raso For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-131-mr-stinky

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Find this title and over 800,000 more at Audible.ca. There's more to imagine with Audible. Please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website. Sheperton was used as a popular river crossing during the 1850s gold rush, allowing miners to travel east from the Bendigo and Ballarat gold fields. By the 1960s, the township had grown exponentially due to a large number of southern European immigrants that settled in the area in the previous century. Sheperton became the central entertainment hub for surrounding rural communities

following the opening of a drive-in movie theater, the Star Bowling Alley, and the development of a new Civic Center, which gave the 15,000 locals a venue to hold public events, concerts, and dances. On the night of Thursday, February 10, 1966, the Civic Center was hosting a rock and roll concert dubbed the Mod Spectacular. A range of popular music acts were built for the event, drawing in a crowd of 1,500 local and regional teenagers, including 16-year-old Abina Margaret Medill.

Affectionately known to friends and family as Bina, she was raised on a farm in the nearby township of Vantara by her parents, Fred and Dalma. The couple had five children, one son and four daughters, and Abina was their middle child. Their son, Rodney, planned to carry on the family tradition of farming, but the couple felt their daughters needed a wider range of educational, employment, and social opportunities, so they decided to relocate to Sheperton in the early 1960s. Regarded as a spirited, vivacious teenager who always wore a smile, Abina now lived with her family in a violet-colored weatherboard house close to the center of town.

The Medills were parishioners at a Presbyterian church called St Andrews, and Abina played badminton and tennis at the church's fellowship association. She had recently left high school to start a full-time job as an office clerk at Sheperton Motor Panels, the city's largest panel beaters. Upon finishing work on February 10, 1966, she headed straight home to get ready for the mod spectacular with her younger sister, Roslyn. Abina dressed in a matching blouson skirt, paired with new white sandals and a white shoulder back. At 8.40pm, Fred Medill drove his daughters to Sheperton's Civic Center,

picking up the girl's two friends, Janice Frost and Ray Croxford, on the way. The group of four were excited for the night ahead. Unable to get a park near the center, Fred dropped the girls off nearby and headed home, comforted by the fact that Abina had arranged for her boyfriend, 18-year-old Ian Urquett, to drive her and her friends home after the concert. Ian, his brother, and his two sisters were raised by their strict Scottish father on a fruit farm just outside Sheperton following the death of their mother 13 years earlier. Driven to succeed and described by his sister Heather as a workaholic,

Ian's proficiency for motor mechanics earned him an apprenticeship at a local Ford dealership. His brother, David, had also been offered a role there, and the siblings worked alongside each other. Eager for some independence, Ian moved out of home shortly after commencing his new job and rented a room in a boarding house near the center of Sheperton. He was regarded as a jovial person with a mischievous side and an inclination for pulling playful pranks. Abina Medill was Ian's first real girlfriend, and he already held strong feelings for her. As he was working late at the dealership that Thursday, he was unable to take her to the mod spectacular, but had arranged to meet her there, later in the night.

18-year-old Gary Charles Haywood had been dating his girlfriend Gail for almost a year. Although most of Sheperton's youths were heading out to the concert that evening, shy and soft-spoken Gail opted to forgo the event, preferring to have a quiet night at home instead. Her boyfriend agreed to do the same as he was broke and his paycheck wasn't scheduled to arrive until the following day. Gary dropped Gail off at her house shortly before 6pm, and she assumed he would spend the evening at home as they had discussed. Gary did return home briefly to eat a quick meal, but then decided to attend the concert after all. Tall, handsome and popular, Gary was the oldest son of the prominent and successful Haywood family

and was employed as a panel beater at their vehicle repair business, the same place where a Beena Madill worked as a clerk. Fun-loving and kind-hearted, Gary enjoyed horse-riding and had previously been a scout leader. He was close with his family, especially his younger brother, 14-year-old Alan, whom he often took on outings. Alan adored Gary and had helped him restore his prized possession, a dark green-colored FJ Holden sedan. Gary meticulously cared for the vehicle and enjoyed driving it around town, relishing the attention it generated. Before Gary headed to the mod spectacular, he and Alan washed his beloved car, and as 7pm arrived, Gary prepared to leave,

dressing in black trousers, a brown jumper with an orange checked shirt underneath, and desert boots. Alan begged to join him, but Gary gently denied his little brother's request. Upon arriving at the Civic Centre, Rosalind Madill immediately headed in to watch the concert. Abena did not follow her younger sister inside. Instead, she and her friend Janice walked around the corner where they had agreed to meet Abena's colleague, Gary Haywood. Gary had parked his FJ Holden outside the front of the Star Bowling Alley on Friar Street and was in the company of three friends, Victor, Paul and Lindsay. The four were sitting inside the vehicle when Abena and Janice arrived. The girls got in and Gary drove the group a short distance

to Victoria Park Lake, close to the heart of the city, arriving a little after 9pm. The park lands surrounding the water had been a grazing paddock before they were transformed into public gardens with a swimming pool built into the lake itself. At night, the area was a popular lover's lane for local teens and young adults. When Gary pulled up, there was a station wagon with two couples inside, parked nearby with its lights on and another car next to it. Gary parked by the pool and the boys drank beer and offered Abena and Janice cans of vodka with orange juice. Janice had one and Abena drank a few, making her somewhat giddy and unsteady. The girls got out of the car to get some fresh air and visit the public toilets close by.

As the boys were becoming rowdy, Janice expressed the desire to walk back to the Civic Centre, concerned that Gary appeared the most affected by the alcohol. Abena was reluctant to make the almost 2km long journey on foot as she was wearing new shoes. They returned to the car and within half an hour of arriving at the lake, Gary agreed to drive everyone back to the Civic Centre. He and Lindsay entered the building to watch the concert, while Abena, Janice, Victor and Paul went for a walk around the block. When they returned, they climbed back into the holden where Gary was waiting. Janice was growing increasingly frustrated, complaining to Abena several times that she

wanted to leave as Paul was, quote, molesting her. At around 10.30pm, she exited the vehicle, leaving Abena in the back seat and walked to the Civic Centre alone. To her relief, she spotted her boyfriend and after a short while, the couple decided to leave, driving past the location where Gary Haywood had last parked his FJ Holden, only to notice it was now gone. Ian Urquhart was eager to impress his girlfriend Abena and wanted to be on time to pick her up before the mod spectacular ended at 11.20pm. After leaving work and freshening up at home, Ian walked over to the Taverna Coffee Lounge to join some friends.

His friend and housemate Peter Hazelman then drove him to the Civic Centre, where they spotted Abena's sister Roslyn. When she explained that Abena was out driving with Gary Haywood, Ian became noticeably angry. He knew Gary worked with his girlfriend, and struck with jealousy, he shouted that he would, quote, kill the bastard. I'll belt him. Ian and Peter took Roslyn home, where they learned Abena was not back yet. The young man drove around town on the lookout for Gary's FJ Holden, and failing to spot the car, returned to Abena's house and waited out front for her return. Alma Medill had been visiting friends for the evening. When she arrived home after 1am,

she was surprised to discover her daughter Abena hadn't yet returned from the concert. In a panic, she woke her husband Fred to express her concern. When Abena failed to show up by 2am, Fred drove to Shepardon Police Station to alert them to his daughter's absence, but the building was deserted as the two night shift officers were out on patrol. He returned home to try calling the police instead, and managed to get through to night patrolman Constable Frank Eyre. In the three years Constable Eyre had worked in Shepardon, his job had been mostly routine. The evening of February 10 was shaping up to be another uneventful night, until he received a call from Fred Medill expressing his concern for his daughter

Abena. Constable Eyre and his partner Constable John Quirk arrived at the Medill house to get the particulars, then headed out to check popular horns to see if Abena was at any. After a fruitless search, the policeman returned to the Medill house, where her family had since learned that Abena was in the company of Gary Haywood. Police drove to the Haywood residence and informed Gary's father Charlie of the situation. The bedroom Gary shared with his younger brother was checked, but his bed was empty. Charlie and Alan Haywood joined Fred Medill and the Constables in searching for the young pair. Checking cars parked outside motels and other locations they thought the teenagers might be. They found no sign of them and by 3am

Fred Medill headed back to the police station to formally report his daughter as missing. The link between Gary and Abena puzzled both families. Although Gary had worked with and befriended Abena, he never mentioned her to his father, nor had Abena spoken of Gary to her family. Charlie returned home and started contacting his son's friends to see whether they could shed more light on the night's events. Witness reports revealed that as Abena sat in his car at the Civic Centre, Gary asked his friends to get out so he could drive her back to the lake and park by the banks of the Gulban River, the spot known locally as a lover's lane. Gary promised his friends he would return later to take them home and gave them a set of his keys

and Abena's wristwatch as a guarantee of their intention to return. The pair were last seen driving off together in Gary's FJ Holden. Gary kept his word, returning to the Civic Centre within half an hour, but his friends had since departed. When the concert ended shortly before 11.30pm, a witness saw Gary drive past the centre, but didn't notice if there was anyone else in the car. Constable's air and quirk searched for hours with no results. They suspected the teenagers had spent the night together and there was no cause for alarm. Constable Quirk's shift ended at 5am, so Constable Air gave him a lift home before returning to the police station. As he drove back towards town, he sighted Gary's green FJ

Holden parked haphazardly in Windham Street opposite Victoria Lake. It was about 5 feet from the curb, its engine was cold, the tank was half empty and its windows were down. A blue checkered rug Gary kept folded in the back seat was missing, as were the ignition keys. Charlie Haywood knew his son loved the car and would never abandon it in such a careless manner. The discovery of Gary's vehicle sparked a widespread police search, one of the largest in Victoria at the time. They were assisted by the missing teens' families, with the Haywoods even taking their pet terrier along to see if she could detect Gary's scent. Friends, locals and out of towners alike volunteered as well.

Some speculated the couple had run off together, but those who knew them didn't believe this to be the case, describing Gary and Abinah as casual acquaintances. Both were well known and highly regarded in Shepparton and neither had expressed a want or need to leave. Moreover, those who knew Gary were certain he would never abandon his beloved Holden. After the car was discovered, the Haywood family drove it home and parked it on their front lawn. Later that morning, Gary's brother Alan started his regular routine of washing the vehicle, spraying its boot with water from a hose. Realising his son's actions could destroy valuable evidence, Charlie quickly stopped Alan before he progressed any further.

Ex-homicide squad detective Peter Parkinson was considered Shepparton's toughest cop. He took charge of the investigation into the disappearance of Abinah Madill and Gary Haywood. Described as old school, aggressive and at times excessive, Detective Parkinson was results-driven and uncompromising in his job. He was already familiar with Gary Haywood and knew how much he loved his car, as he lived around the corner from the family and regularly saw the young man washing it when he passed by. Mindful that Gary would never ditch the Holden by choice, one of Detective Parkinson's first actions was to seize the vehicle and examine it for evidence.

Two unidentified fingerprints pointing downward were detected on top of the driver's side door, an important discovery the police kept under wraps. On the morning of Saturday, February 12, an elderly man was cycling along a bridge spanning Castle Creek located 22km south of Shepparton and adjacent to the Galbin Valley Highway. He spotted a woman's white leather shoulder bag lying in the dry creek bed below and took it to the local police station. It contained a £1 note, some change, a powder compact, key case, a handkerchief and tissues, as well as a metal disc engraved with the word Billy. The name of Beena Madill was printed on the bag's inside lining alongside her Maxwell

Street address. Suspecting this indicated the 16-year-old had met with foul play, police began piecing together their theory that a Beena had been killed and her body wrapped in the rug missing from Gary's car. Given this spotlighted Gary as a possible suspect, three detectives aggressively grilled his father Charlie, trying to find out whether he was concealing his son from authorities. Meanwhile, the Haywoods home was undergoing a thorough search. Police also questioned Gary's girlfriend Gail, but she could offer nothing of value. By Monday, February 14, additional police resources arrived from Melbourne, including a search and rescue team,

police divers and a light aircraft. More than 100 volunteers were now involved in the efforts to find the pair, including all the employees of the Haywoods panel beaters. Although no bodies had been located, Melbourne's Homicide Squad also arrived in Shepardon to assist in the investigation. By now, the story had reached the front page of the Shepardon news and was even making headlines in Melbourne. Rumours spread that a fight at the mod spectacular might have something to do with Gary and a Beena's disappearance. Police appealed for a group of Melbourne rock and roll fans who had attended the show to come forward, but the lead went nowhere. On the sixth day of the search, the questioning of a local 16-year-old led detectives to the suburban strip of St Andrews Road,

where they found an undergarment under a rock. It was initially believed to have belonged to a Beena, but this was later disproved. After further questioning, the youth was released. Although police had been able to quickly determine that the underwear did not belong to a Beena, the story still went public, causing great pain to her family. The search continued for another two days, extending to the rough country along the Gulban River and into the thick bushland around Shepardon. State forest employees took to horseback as fixed-winged aircraft scoured from above, and police divers submerged themselves in the numerous waterholes throughout the region. Volunteers and officers trekked through wild

six-foot-high grass, with one police officer remarking. If the two teenagers had been murdered and their bodies dumped in the long grass, searches could pass within a few feet of them and not know it. Their efforts were hampered by the number of snakes in the area, with searches killing 13 in a single day. Saturday, February 19 marked nine days since the teenagers had vanished. The region's annual duck hunting season commenced, and shooters were asked to keep an eye out for clues. In particular, the checked blue rug that was missing from Gary's car. Friends of the teenagers were summoned to the police station and underwent intense questioning, while a spade of alleged sightings were reported from all over Victoria and Australia,

placing the couple in far-flung locations such as Mildura, Corraine, Seil, Wadonga, and Sydney. These supposed sightings gave the Medill and Haywood families hope that their children were still alive. 16 days after Abinah Medill and Gary Haywood vanished, two 17-year-old high school students, Peter and Philip, set out from Melbourne to the small riverside town of Merchison East for a weekend of rabbit shooting. Peter's family originally hailed from the town, and he still visited his grandparents there regularly. At 11am on Saturday, February 26, they arrived at Merchison East Railway Station, more than 30km southwest of Shepardon, and headed to Peter's grandparents' home for morning tea. Afterwards, they set off down the gravel-packed river road,

cutting across a paddock and climbing over a barbed wire fence to enter the lightly timbered state forest along the Gulban River. The land was leased from the government by a local farmer, and the teens regularly camped on the property during their shooting trips. Upon entering the bushland, the pair noticed a peculiar odor in the air which they presumed was emanating from a dead animal. They carried on, and approximately an hour later returned the same way as they came. It was on their return track that Peter and Philip discovered the source of the odor. The severely decomposed body of a young woman was lying face up in the paddock, her legs apart, and her arms near her sides. She was naked from the waist down and had sustained

severe head injuries. Peter alerted the owner of the farmland, who contacted police. When they arrived, the owner informed them that he too had smelt something near a collection of trees in his paddock, about 300 meters from where the female body was bound, but had also assumed it was a dead animal. When examining this area, the police discovered the clothed body of a male under a 30-foot red gum tree. He had a single bullet wound to his left temple. The bodies were those of Abinah Medill, who had been sexually assaulted, then beaten to death, and Gary Haywood, whose skull contained a .22 caliber bullet. The area was immediately cordoned off as members of the Forensic Science Division,

the Search and Rescue Squad, the Homicide Squad, and Sheperton's Crime Investigation Division began the laborious task of searching the 90 acres of paddocks around the crime scene. 64 meters west of Abinah's body were two pairs of her stockings, each tied tightly in a loop of 50 centimeters. Matching fibers found on Gary's trousers indicated that his legs had been bound with the stockings. His jumper was discovered near the stockings, and in addition to being covered in grass seeds, leaves, and bark, there were traces of blood on it. Abinah's skirt and girdle were found neatly folded nearby, with one white shoe next to the pile and one on top. There was also a second-fired .22 caliber cartridge case,

indicating that the killer may have shot at Gary twice, but only hit him once. And a black piece of plastic, which detectives believed might have been part of the murder weapon. The keys to Gary's holden were not at the scene, nor was the rug he kept in the car, and his upper dentures were also missing. Investigators ascertained that the assailant had abducted the pair at gunpoint near Victoria Lake. Dust on Gary's car matched samples taken from the paddock, meaning the killer had driven or ordered the teens to drive to the area where their bodies were later found. It appeared as though Gary struggled with his captor before either running off into the thicket of trees or was marched there before being tied up and executed.

The perpetrator then returned to Abinah, who was either restrained or unconscious, and proceeded to rape her before bludgeoning her to death. The careless way in which Gary's car was left back in Shepardon suggested the killer had driven it back into town and abandoned it, before or after discarding Abinah's handbag near the Goulburn Valley Highway. Investigating police described the murders as beyond comprehension and the most brutal killing they had ever encountered. The families of the two victims were extremely distraught. Gary Haywood's mother, Margaret, lost a great deal of weight and struggled to maintain the will to live. His brother,

Alan, was left terrified, thinking the killer would come after him next. Abinah Medeal's father expressed his shock at her murder in his formal police statement, writing, I cannot think of any reason why any person would want to harm my daughter. An extra team of detectives arrived in Shepardon as officers worked upwards of 16 hours a day to hunt down those responsible. The double homicide had left the small and otherwise quiet city reeling and pressure to find the culprits was intense. A $10,000 reward for information was on offer and a rug matching the one that was missing from Gary's car was displayed in the window of a major store in the middle of town. One individual came to police attention

after a matching rug was spotted in his home. The man, Ian Stanley Loffel, was in his late 30s and told police he had stolen the rug from a dark blue holden with South Australian registration plates parked outside a pub in Marupna, a town six kilometers west of Shepardon. Police spoke with local mechanics to see if they'd seen any vehicles similar to the one Loffel described and found a match. Convinced this was a promising lead, police tracked the vehicle down to a car yard in South Australia, only to find its drivers had airtight alibis for the night of February 10. Police suspected two or more people had committed the crimes. The region's fruit picking season was at its peak and they considered the possibility that the murderers could be among

the thousands of workers temporarily in town for casual employment. When investigators asked local orchardists to report any suspicious workers, hundreds of tip-offs came in, but none led anywhere. As such, police were inclined to believe the murders were committed by locals, as the remoteness of the crime scene indicated the killers were familiar with the area. They were soon concentrating on the town's teenagers in particular. There were reports of a party held near the Gulburn River, close to the west side of Victoria Lake on the night of the murders. It involved a car race and ended in a fierce brawl between attendees when one vehicle hit another. Police believed Gary may have been present and participated

in the brawl and was then killed by his opponents for revenge. One senior detective told the media, we feel some of the young people in Shepparton know something of the movements of Gary on the night he was murdered. Although many people have come forward and volunteered information, most of the youths we have interviewed have been those we have sought out ourselves. We believe they are not telling all they know. No one raised as much suspicion as Abina's boyfriend Ian Urquhart. He was viewed as a prime suspect due to his jealous outburst after learning Abina had left with Gary Haywood, whom he then threatened to kill over the matter. At the time, the Melbourne Homicide Squad had a

reputation for being hard officers who were tough on criminals, often beating a confession out of a suspect if necessary. Ian was regularly summoned to the station for formal police interviews, during which he was verbally abused, slapped and kicked by detectives. They believed he was assisted by his friend and housemate, Peter Hazelman, who drove him around on the night of the murders. Peter was also questioned and subjected to aggressive treatment at the hands of the police, as were several of their other friends. Despite these heavy-handed tactics, Ian did not admit any involvement in the crime. Detectives presumed he was too tough to crack,

with one remarking to a uniformed officer that he had, quote, belted and belted Urquhart, but he will not confess. When Ian's older sister Heather noticed how miserable he was, she asked what the police interviews involved, but he seemed ashamed and refused to answer. Ian confided in friends that he was very scared of the police and what might happen to him. He began burrowing a car from his father or a friend in order to camp out instead of returning home where officers could find him. One day, he arrived home and informed his family he was, quote, going to tell them he did it, to stop the police from hurting him, even though Victorian laws at the time meant

to confession would have most likely resulted in his execution. Heather convinced him not to confess. The funerals for Gary Haywood and Abinah Medill took place on Friday, March 4, 1966, marking the largest memorial services Shepardon had ever seen. Gary's was held at St. Brendan's Catholic Church at 1 p.m., while Abinah's was at Scott's Presbyterian Church two hours later. The city came to a standstill as shops closed for the day, and people gathered to watch while each procession passed by. Both churches were filled to capacity, with mourners spilling out onto the streets. During Abinah's funeral, a grief-stricken Ian Urquhart was sighted standing at the rear of the church with his sister Heather. He had bought a dozen red roses and a card that read,

with all my love, Ian. The siblings kept their distance to avoid drawing attention to themselves, but once the congregation noticed their presence, suspicious glances and tense whispers were exchanged amongst them. Abinah and Gary were both laid to rest at Shepardon Public Cemetery, their graves located just 20 meters from one another. Several months later, in mid-1966, having failed to obtain the confession they expected, police officially ruled Ian Urquhart out of their investigation. Two detectives visited the home of his sister Heather to inform the family, and reluctantly acknowledged that their questioning of Ian had been particularly tough due to the seriousness of the

case. Despite Ian being cleared, the media, community, and some police members still believed him to be guilty. Harassment remained a part of his daily life, leading him and his alleged accomplice, Peter Hazelman, to relocate into state. Ian moved to Western Australia, picking up work on an oil rig before travelling to Singapore for further work. Peter worked on an oil rig off the Victorian coast for two years, but then returned to Shepardon. The town's attitude towards him had not changed, prompting Peter to relocate again, eventually settling in the Northern Territory's capital city of Darwin. The black piece of plastic found at the crime scene was identified as the plug that screwed into the butt end of an American Mossberg-22 self-loading rifle.

Forensics confirmed the firearm was used to execute Gary Haywood and Bludgeon Abinah Medill, though there were four semi-automatic models that the recovered shells could have come from. Mossbergs were obtainable from most Australian gun dealers, but it wasn't a particularly common weapon. Anyone knowing the whereabouts of any Mossberg semi-automatic firearms were asked to contact the police. Some were confiscated, including a sawn-off version from a 20-year-old who lived close to where the bodies were found. Manufacturers in the United States were asked to supply records of rifles imported to Australia, and police tracked down owners from local gun sellers' records. Once a rifle was found, police fired it to compare against the shell casings,

with a total of 353 Mossbergs being tested throughout the investigation. Inquiries began in Shepardon and its surrounds, later expanding to all parts of Victoria and eventually throughout Australia. During this time, a police constable attended a farm in Artmona, a locality in the Gulburn Valley 10km west of Shepardon. He was looking to question a 22-year-old man named Raymond Edmonds after his name came up in one of the investigation's many tip-offs, although the exact reason for the visit was never recorded. The property owner advised the constable that Edmonds, who had lived and worked on the land for the past two years as a share farmer, was no longer in the district as he had recently moved with his wife and their

three young children to Mayrong, a small community in southern New South Wales. The property owner provided a forwarding address for Edmonds, and the constable thanked him, adding, we'll get the boys up there to pick him up. After the constable left, the property owner recalled Edmonds owned a 22 semi-automatic Mossberg rifle which he used to go rabbit shooting, and presumed this detail was the reason for the officer's visit. An inquest into the unsolved murders of Gary Haywood and Abina Madill was held in June 1970, four years after the teenager's bodies were found. It had been postponed by the case investigators and when asked why, senior constable Peter Parkinson explained. Inquiries have been at

many stages looking good and to then come to utterly nothing. At many stages we have had great hopes of solving it, but without result. By this stage, inquiries had been made across the country, in Queensland, New South Wales, and South Australia, as well as overseas in the United States. Accepting the breakthrough they were hoping for remained out of reach, the inquest into the double homicide was finally scheduled to commence on Tuesday, June 9. Frank Madill spoke at the inquest, describing his daughter as a normal girl of her years who followed the modern teenage trend. He couldn't think of a reason why anybody would want to harm her. Charlie Haywood described his son as a regular boy who respected his parents and always did as

he was asked. When called to the stand, senior constable Peter Parkinson told the coroner that 3,478 individuals had been interviewed and investigations were still ongoing. After hearing evidence from 16 witnesses, the coroner was unable to offer new evidence or insight, announcing that Gary and Abina were murdered by a person or persons unknown in the early hours of February 11, 1966. Despite being officially cleared, Ian Urquett's name was mentioned at the inquest, with evidence put on the record that he was, quote, very annoyed upon learning Abina had gone driving with Gary. Ian was living in Singapore at the time of the inquest and was not called to give evidence.

He had built a new life for himself overseas, earning good money working as a maintenance specialist on offshore drilling rigs. Two years later, on Friday, February 11, 1972, almost six years to the day since his girlfriend was murdered, Ian Urquett and a colleague returned to Singapore following a work trip to Sumatra. They disembarked their flight shortly after midnight and left the airport in Ian's vehicle, a cream-coloured MG sports car. While driving down a highway, Ian crashed the vehicle at high speed, killing both himself and his passenger instantly. His funeral was held at Scott's Presbyterian Church, the same place where Abina had been farewelled. One ex-homicide detective involved in the case

commented that Ian got his, quote, just deserts, still believing he was guilty of the crimes. Located nearly 200 kilometres south of Shepardon, is the Melbourne suburb of Donvale. In the 1960s, Donvale was characterised by dense bushland, farms and orchards, but by the early 70s, the area was changing, with clusters of residential homes cropping up in place of the large blocks of rural land. On the evening of Monday, July 26, 1971, 25-year-old Suzanne was at her Donvale home with her three children while her husband was out visiting France. After putting the children to bed, Suzanne decided to mop the kitchen floor, and at around 10pm, she went to fetch some clean water from the laundry.

When she entered the hallway, she was confronted by a man she initially took to be her husband, until she noticed his face was covered in a mask made from a stocking. He raised his right hand, which held a long butcher's knife, causing Suzanne to scream. The masked intruder told her to keep quiet and explained that he didn't want to hurt her, before backing her into the kitchen and demanding money. He then ordered her to undress. Anticipating what would happen next, Suzanne disclosed that she had recently given birth and still had stitches. The assailant replied that he was just going to tie up her hands and feet, then leave, and ordered her to sit on the floor. After he finished restraining Suzanne's hands

behind her back with a stocking, he tied her ankles together, then began rubbing her breasts. She screamed loudly, and the man fled. Suzanne managed to untie herself and immediately phoned the police. Two detectives arrived within minutes and soon realized that the assault shared a number of similarities with a rape committed in Donvale 11 days earlier. The suburb of Greensboro lies roughly 17km northwest of Donvale. Four years after the attack on Suzanne, 23-year-old Kathy was spending the night of Friday, January 31, 1975, in her Greensboro home with her two children, while her fiance was away interstate. Kathy and her son were both sleeping in her bed, while her infant daughter slept in a cot in the

nursery. At approximately 4.10 in the morning, Kathy was woken by a noise she thought was her daughter rattling the side of her cot. She listened quietly for several minutes, before hearing the sound again from the direction of the laundry. She switched on her bedroom light, and saw a man standing in the doorway of the bathroom, brandishing a 12-inch knife up high in his right hand. Kathy screamed, then told the intruder that a friend was staying over in the guest room and had likely heard her and called the police. The man responded, It's a lie. No one will see you for a couple of days until your husband gets back. He forced her back to her bed, placed a blanket over her terrified son, and raped her.

Police collected small amounts of evidence from the scene, including the perpetrator's fingerprints consisting of a small count loop on the right-hand index finger and a scarred right-hand pinky. These matched fingerprints recovered from the 1971 Don Valle assault. Two years later, on Monday, February 14, 1977, another sexual assault was reported, this time roughly 55km south in the suburb of Chelsea Heights. The crime scene yielded the same distinctive fingerprints as the Don Valle and Greensboro attacks. Investigators were well aware they were dealing with a serial rapist. Between 1971 and 1979, there were 12 assaults, attempted rapes, and rapes throughout Melbourne attributed to an

unknown attacker police had dubbed the Don Valle Rapist, named after the location his spree had begun. Many of the victims were married women who were either home alone or with their young children when the Don Valle Rapist struck. He appeared to stalk his victims, waiting until he knew they were alone or vulnerable before launching an attack. Police were certain he deliberately targeted young mothers in order to control his victims by threatening to harm their children. Descriptions provided by survivors allowed for the creation of a composite sketch of the rapist which was circulated widely among the police and public. The suspect was between the ages of 34 and 44, had a pasty fair complexion, stood between 5 foot 4 inches to 5 foot 10 inches

tall and had sandy light brown or reddish-blonde hair with long bushy sideburns. As more details came to light, police tasked a sculptor with creating a bust of the perpetrator. The first time a three-dimensional likeness was made of a wanted man in Australia. Eight survivors and two witnesses from the most recent crimes helped design the sculpture, which took 45 hours to build. A hairdresser coloured and combed a wig and a makeup artist added skin tones to the bust, which police nicknamed Boris. Boris was used to gain the public's assistance in identifying its real-life counterpart, who was described as having soft hands, being well-spoken and often going barefoot. A few survivors thought he had a slight accent that

might have been Scottish or Northern English. Another descriptor that appeared in several survivor's statements was that their attacker had an offensive odour, described as a combination of strong cigarette smoke, body odour, bitumen or diesel. As such, a newspaper sub-editor dubbed The Unknown Rapist, Mr Stinky. In 1982, five individual sets of fingerprints associated with the state's most notorious unsolved crimes were prominently displayed in the Office of the Victoria Police Fingerprint Bureau, in the hope that staff would memorise and recognise them instantly. Among them were the fingerprints belonging to Mr Stinky. The Bureau had no computers, so the team of 67 men and women would spend every day sifting

through hundreds of polaroid photographs taken at crime scenes to find matching characteristics with prints on file. On Monday, July 12, Sergeant Andrew Wall decided to examine some fingerprints from cold case files and came across the ones lifted from the top of the driver's side door of Gary Haywood's F.J. Holden sedan 16 years earlier. The prints, which were suspected to belong to Gary Haywood and Abinah Madill's killer, showed impressions of an individual's right middle and ring fingers. They immediately appeared familiar to Sergeant Wall, who quickly realised they matched those belonging to Mr Stinky. Although this breakthrough didn't bring authorities any closer to identifying Mr Stinky, it offered them a new suspect in the double homicide.

On January 4, 1983, the development saw the reward for information about the crime increase from $10,000 to $50,000. In May the following year, a new task force was formed to identify and apprehend Mr Stinky. Headquartered at the offices of the Victorian Police Academy in the Melbourne suburb of Glen Waverly, the team comprised of four detectives who were led by Detective Senior Sergeant Dennis Hanna. Within two weeks, they added a 13th rape to the list of attacks attributed to Mr Stinky. This most recent assault had occurred several weeks earlier and within a kilometre of the task force's base. Given the perpetrator was still active, the team understood the urgency of their task. People who had crossed paths with the 13 survivors were examined in an

effort to find a connection between them. A computer database was created of individuals who had been in shepherden in the 1960s and Melbourne's eastern suburbs during the 1970s, with investigators planning to cross-check the extensive lists to see if there was any overlap between the categories. Details from other cases were also studied to uncover more potential victims or perpetrators. Mr Stinky's fingerprints were circulated to police stations throughout Australia and in July 1984, two detectives were sent to the Central Fingerprint Bureau in Sydney to spend a week searching through their databases for a match. Though their efforts came up dry, they left copies of Mr Stinky's prints for Sydney detectives to keep on file.

With no significant progress achieved by the end of 1984, the task force was disbanded and its detectives were ordered to return to their normal duties. The town of Aubrey is nestled on the northern banks of the Murray River, which acts as a watery border between the states of New South Wales and Victoria to the south. On Saturday, March 16, 1985, local resident Pat Halpin was operating a cash register in the electrical goods department at Aubrey's Walton's department store, where she'd worked for 30 years. In between serving customers, Pat would gaze out the large display windows nearby, people watching and keeping an eye on passers-by. As lunchtime drew near,

she noticed a beefy man with a pop-belly and sandy-coloured hair sitting in a Ford station wagon outside, parked parallel to the curb. He was wearing a blue singlet and had the driver's seat tilted back in a reclining position. Pat looked away, but found her attention drawn back to the man several minutes later. She noticed that he had a tense expression on his face before realizing he was masturbating. Pat alerted a number of other employees and the store's manager called the police. Two police cars containing three constables arrived at approximately 12.30pm and parked at the rear of the store to avoid alerting the man to their presence. Constable Glenn Taylor approached the vehicle and tapped on the window, shocking the car's occupant.

The man initially denied any wrongdoing, but grew quiet when he realized he had been caught. When asked what his name was, he replied, Raymond Edmonds. While the other two officers took statements from witnesses, Constable Kevin Savage took Edmonds into custody and charged him with willful and obscene exposure. He had his fingerprints taken in accordance with New South Wales law, which dictated that all offenders be fingerprinted. On Monday, March 18, 41-year-old Raymond Edmonds pleaded guilty in an Orbrie Court and was fined $400 before being released. As per standard procedure, Edmonds' fingerprints were sent to the Central Fingerprint Bureau in Sydney for filing.

Several days later, at around 5pm on Thursday, March 21, Raymond Edmonds' fingerprints were examined by a senior detective working late at Sydney's Central Fingerprint Bureau. The index fingers were strongly defined, while a scar cut across the little finger on the right hand. He immediately recognized them as matching a set of prints that Victorian detectives had left at the office eight months prior, that belonged to a serial rapist and suspected killer known only as Mr Stinky. Raymond Edmonds was born in Melbourne on March 12, 1944. As his birth mother was young and unwed, Edmonds was adopted by a married couple named Harold and Tamaevis Edmonds, though he wouldn't

learn of his adoption until his teenage years. He was the couple's only child and they doted on him, leading some of the family's relatives to believe he was spoiled and undisciplined. By the time Edmonds was six years old, he started exhibiting signs of being withdrawn and struggled to connect with others. Harold Edmonds was a businessman who bought and sold farms and his family often relocated to various towns throughout Victoria for his work. In the mid-1950s, when Edmonds was 13 years old, the family made their sixth move since his adoption. Around the same time, his father purchased him a gift, an automatic Mossberg 22 rifle with a fold-down grip. As a child, Edmonds had issues with bedwetting which continued through to his

early teens. On one occasion, Mavis took her son to see a doctor for a diagnosis. The doctor found no physical cause for the problem, but noticed that Edmonds only had one testicle. He prescribed a drug to treat the issue, but later confessed to Mavis that he had prescribed the incorrect medication, one that was used to accelerate puberty. Mavis shared this information with friends, but little else is known about the matter as the doctor's records were not retained. As a teenager, Edmonds didn't form any close friendships with other boys his age and was almost exclusively fixated on sex and young women. When he was 16 years old, he impregnated a girl who gave the child up for adoption.

At 17, Edmonds was seduced by an older woman who was a friend of his family. They participated in experimental and violent sex, and she encouraged him to watch sex acts between herself and her girlfriend. Years later, Edmonds admitted, quote, That was when my problem started. In the mid-1960s, the family resided in Yerrawonga, a township roughly 270km northeast of Melbourne, on the border of Victoria and New South Wales. It was there that he met Leslie Crawford, a tall, blond teenager two years his junior. The pair had an on-and-off relationship until Leslie broke up with Edmonds towards the end of the year. They reunited several weeks later,

and on Leslie's 16th birthday, they conceived a child. Leslie's parents disliked Edmonds and offered to support their daughter and her baby themselves, but Leslie chose to stay with her child's father in the hopes they could have a happy life together. The couple married in September of 1961 and moved to a dairy farm where Edmonds and his father worked. Edmonds was unfaithful to Leslie from the outset of their marriage, but was also extremely jealous of any attention she received. When their first child was born, he refused to visit his wife in hospital, and she briefly returned to live with her parents. The couple reconciled again and soon had a second child.

Edmonds had a violent temper that could erupt at any time, and he often took his anger out on the animals he worked with. He earned a reputation for animal cruelty after he almost beat a counter death with an iron chain, an incident that deeply disturbed those who witnessed it. On another occasion, he killed a farm dog that had taken an instant dislike to him. In retaliation, a furious co-worker leapt on Edmonds and stabbed him in the arm with a knife. Leslie was also a victim of Edmonds' violence. He beat and raped her often, and abused her emotionally and financially by humiliating her in front of other people and withholding money. By the time Leslie was 19, she was pregnant with the couple's third child.

Around this time, she walked in on Edmonds molesting their three-year-old daughter. Leslie began to scream, and her husband simply exited the room in silence. Like his father, Edmonds never stayed in one place for too long. By 1966, Edmonds and Leslie lived with their three young children on a dairy farm in Artmona, a rural area 10km west of Shepardon. On the evening of February 10, 1966, the night Gary Haywood and Abina Madill went missing, Edmonds went out for the evening, and didn't return. The next morning, Leslie heard the news about the two missing teenagers on the radio and felt a twinge of suspicion, wondering where her husband had been the night before,

but ultimately dismissed her concerns. During the investigation into the double homicide, a police officer visited the farm in Artmona to question Edmonds, only to discover he and his family had since relocated to New South Wales. The officer indicated they would alert their interstate counterparts that Edmonds was wanted for questioning, but the lead wasn't pursued further. By 1968, Leslie had given up any hope that her husband would change. She returned to live with her parents, and as punishment, Edmonds refused to let her have any contact with their children, and she didn't see them for four years. Several years later, Edmonds began a romantic relationship with his living housekeeper, Colleen, who had two children.

By 1971, the couple had a child together and moved to the inner Melbourne suburb of Richmond, where Edmonds took a job as a tram conductor. He officially divorced Leslie and married Colleen. By mid-1975, Edmonds was working as a night patrolman for a security firm in Melbourne's eastern suburbs, but was eager to relocate again. He moved to a farm in the Gippsland town of Officer, which was close enough to commute to Melbourne for work. At the end of 1976, he took another farm share job at a property in Chelsea Heights, a Bayside suburb in Melbourne's south. Police in Melbourne were notified as soon as the detectives in Sydney matched Edmonds'

fingerprints to those of Mr Stinky. Suspecting he was still in Orbury, arrangements were immediately made for investigators to travel there. But before that could happen, he was tracked to a factory in the Melbourne suburb of Hyatt. At 7.50 am on Friday, March 22, 1985, detectives Dennis Hanna and Ken Mansell went to the factory and instantly recognized the man behind the front desk in the foreman's office as Raymond Edmonds. He remained calm as the detectives told him he was being taken into custody for questioning over the murders of a young Shepardin couple in 1966. At the time, Victorian law only permitted police interviews to run for a maximum of six hours,

so time was of the essence for the detectives. State laws also allowed people to decline having their fingerprints or footprints taken, but Edmonds consented to both. Although his fingerprints matched those taken from Gary Haywood's vehicle, he staunchly denied any connection to the double homicide. When asked if he had been in Shepardin at the time, he evasively replied, I might and might not have been. He also denied responsibility for any of the rapes that occurred throughout Melbourne in the 1970s, but as the interview progressed, his confidence began to fade. He refused to look the investigators in the eyes, averting his gaze and giving listless responses. Shortly after 10.30 am, Edmonds finally cracked, stating, I've asked myself why many times,

I don't want to hurt anyone anymore. Although he wasn't religious, he asked the detectives to contact a priest whom he could confess his crimes to, who could then relay the information to police. A Catholic priest was summoned and the pair spoke in privacy for 15 minutes before the detectives were called back into the room, with Edmonds agreeing to repeat his confession. On the night of February 10, 1966, Edmonds claimed he went to Shepardin and met a large group of people outside a hotel on the town's main street, who introduced him to Gary Haywood and Abinah Medill. When the rest of the group left to attend the mod spectacular concert at

the Civic Centre, Gary and Abinah invited him to go for a drive in Gary's car. During the course of the drive, Edmonds claimed that Abinah climbed into the backseat and they engaged in consensual sex, which made Gary angry and jealous. As he drove, Gary revealed he was carrying a .22 caliber automatic sawn-off rifle and started shooting out the driver's side window. They eventually arrived at the rural Riverside Village of Merchison, where Edmonds and Gary went for a walk. They got into an argument about Abinah and Edmonds shot Gary. When he returned to the car and told Abinah that Gary was dead, she tried to run away, but Edmonds chased her and beat her to death. He claimed he had ditched the murder weapon near her body, despite it never being recovered from

the scene. Edmonds concluded his confession by saying, I'm fit and healthy, but I must be sick in the head. I think I need destroying. The detectives showed Edmonds a film made in 1966 that recreated the movements of Gary Haywood's car on the night of February 10. He identified the teenagers F.J. Holden as well as various local landmarks. While this confirmed he had knowledge of the crime, the detectives didn't believe his version of events in the slightest, as many key details didn't add up. Physical evidence indicated the victims had been tied up, but Edmonds claimed he had no memory of doing this. In addition, several witness statements placed Gary and Abinah away from the hotel during the period

Edmonds claimed to have met them there. He also denied ever owning a firearm and claimed the rifle belonged to Gary Haywood, but Gary's family established he had never owned a gun. Raymond Edmonds was formally charged with the double homicide. He was also charged with three counts of rape and two counts of assault with intent to rape in relation to five attacks committed by the Donvale rapist. When his wife Colleen asked if he really murdered the two teenagers, he admitted, yes. Word of the arrest spread through Shepardon, providing both relief and sorrow to the families of the victims and those wrongfully accused. At the time of Gary Haywood and Abinah Madill's murders, Edmonds was 21 years old and worked at

a dairy farm in Art Mona that belonged to the Gorn family. He got along well with the family's 16-year-old son, Stuart, and the pair often went out shooting foxes and rabbits together. In 1985, Stuart was in his mid-30s and still resided on the dairy farm. When he heard the news that Raymond Edmonds had been arrested for the infamous double homicide, he immediately recognized his name and recalled that a detective had visited the farm following the murders looking for Edmonds. At the time, the Gorn family had assumed his name must have come up when police were looking for Mossberg rifle owners. News of the arrest also prompted Stuart to remember that years earlier, he had found a cut-off piece of a gun stock and a telescopic sight from a rifle

in a shed that Edmonds had used during his time on the farm. He called the Shepardon police to report the discoveries. This information was hugely significant for investigators, as they had not retained records of the officer visiting the farm in 1966 to question Edmonds and were unaware that he ever owned a Mossberg rifle. On Sunday, March 24, detectives visited the Gorn's dairy farm to collect the items. Stuart showed them a spot where he and Edmonds used to shoot targets and the decision was made to dig for ballistic evidence. A large quantity of soil was excavated from the area, revealing 9 22-caliber cartridge cases that matched those found near the bodies of Abinah Medill and Gary Haywood 20 years earlier. Forensic evidence also confirmed

that the pieces of the gun stock and the telescopic sight would fit a .352K model Mossberg. Despite Edmonds' confession, he was yet to enter a plea and was reminded in custody while detectives continued building a case against him. They traced his movements over the years and discovered that unsolved sexual assaults had occurred in every area he had resided. Investigators believed Edmonds was responsible for 27 other rape and assault cases, but he had since retained a lawyer and refused to respond to any subsequent questioning. Without a formal interview, police were unable to press charges. They conducted extensive interviews with Edmonds ex-wife Leslie and his current

spouse Colleen, uncovering detailed information about his violent and sexually abusive tendencies. Leslie admitted that she had intuitively believed Edmonds could be responsible for the murders of Gary Haywood and Abinah Medill from the start, but refrained from going to the police because she didn't truly think he was capable of the crime. She had also been concerned that her suspicions would be dismissed as an unhappy wife trying to get her husband in trouble. Investigators compiled 260 pages of statements taken from 66 witnesses and managed to debunk Edmonds' original confession, confirming that his father had given him a Mossberg rifle when he was a teenager. A 5,000-word summary of the case was prepared ahead of Edmonds' committal hearing,

with detectives outlining their theory that the accused had kidnapped his victims when they were sitting in Gary's holden near Lake Victoria. He then held them at gunpoint, forcing Gary to drive to Merchison East, where he restrained him with stockings before raping Abinah. Gary likely managed to break free, prompting Edmonds to shoot him before finally killing Abinah. On Monday, October 21, 1985, Edmonds' committal hearing commenced at the Melbourne Magistrates Court, where he pleaded not guilty to all seven charges. Evidence was presented over five days, after which the magistrate concluded there was enough evidence for the case to proceed the trial. While awaiting trial, Edmonds changed his plea to guilty of all charges.

On Thursday, April 3, 1986, he appeared at the Melbourne Supreme Court to receive his sentencing. The State of Victoria abolished capital punishment in 1975, meaning had Edmonds been caught in 1966 when he carried out the murders, he would have faced the death penalty. Instead, for the murders of Gary Haywood and Abinah Medill, he was sentenced to two terms of life imprisonment, with no minimum term. Sentencing for the three rapes and two attempted sexual assaults took place on Tuesday, October 28, 1986. Justice Alistair Nicholson remarked, You chose women who were alone or who were caring for young children as your prey. You attacked them at night in what must have been horrifying circumstances. In four cases,

you had a knife. The fact that you raped these women with children in bed with them just didn't matter to you. You treated women as some sort of inferior species upon which you could inflict your desires. He then sentenced Edmonds to an additional 30 years. Following his older brother's murder, Alan Haywood had been consumed by thoughts of vengeance. In a 1987 interview with the journalist and author Andrew Rule, Alan revealed how his family had struggled to cope in the aftermath of the violent crime. Though his father was still alive, his mother's health deteriorated following Gary's death, and she passed away nine years later. For months after the murders, Alan carried a sawn-off rifle in his school bag,

terrified that his brother's killer would pursue him next. He practiced shooting and became a crack shot, hoping the opportunity for revenge would one day present itself. When Raymond Edmonds was arrested, Alan thought his chance had finally arrived and considered attending the committal hearing to execute the murderer himself. His wife talked him out of it by pointing out that revenge was futile, as he would only be putting his family through more suffering and destroying his own life. In 1988, Andrew Rule published a book about Edmonds' crimes titled Cuckoo. In it, he described how a number of Edmonds' survivors experienced ongoing trauma and suffered personal

losses as a result of his crimes, but found support in one another and the detectives who investigated their cases. Since his capture, Raymond Edmonds has been considered a suspect in several other high-profile, cult cases. During his first police interview on March 22, 1985, Edmonds became morose and began to make references towards the murders of two other young women, but the six-hour interview limit was reached before the detectives could question him further. The first was 17-year-old Bronwyn Richardson, who was abducted outside a supermarket in Aubrey in October 1973. Her semi-naked body was discovered in the Murray River two days later, with an autopsy revealing she had been raped and strangled. Her clothes were folded neatly nearby,

in a similar manner to the way a Benham-Adil's clothing had been found in 1966. Several men have been charged with Bronwyn's murder over the years, but the case has never preceded the trial. The second crime took place on Thursday, January 3, 1980. 39-year-old Elaine Jones was camping with her husband, Alan, and their two children in the Riverside town of Toquemore, near the New South Wales and Victorian border. She walked to a shop two kilometers away to buy chocolates and cigarettes, but never returned. The following morning, Alan and their seven-year-old daughter discovered Elaine's naked body in the Murray River while out in their dinghy. She had been sexually assaulted, her skull was fractured,

and her throat had been cut. As Alan attempted to pull her body into the boat, he suffered a heart attack and died, resulting in their daughter having to swim to shore alone to seek help. Raymond Edmonds was reported to have been camping 17 kilometers away on a loopner island at the time, leaving the campsite the same night that Elaine disappeared. Edmonds has also been linked to the unsolved disappearance of eight-year-old Ella Wase Warlage, who was abducted from her home in the Bayside suburb of Beaumaris on the night of Monday, January 12, 1976. Her home was 14 kilometers northwest from the Chelsea Heights farmhouse that Edmonds moved into later that same year. In 2003, an inquest into Ella Wase's disappearance

mentioned that Edmonds had been investigated in relation to the case, but no conclusive evidence was uncovered proving his involvement. He has also been listed as a person of interest in the slayings of six women in Tainong North, covered in episode 46 of case file, but was ultimately dismissed as a suspect. Demandatory process in New South Wales of fingerprinting all offenders was crucial to the eventual apprehension of Edmonds. At the time, Victoria lacked a similar policy, and had Edmonds been arrested across the border, he may have gone undetected. Since then, Victoria has been an early adopter of forensic advancements, and was the first state

in Australia to introduce widespread criminal DNA testing in the early 1990s. In 2002, Victoria was also the first to introduce the requirement that all offenders of serious crimes provide DNA samples. In 2017, the cold case team of Victoria's sexual crime squad launched a review of the investigations into crimes suspected to have been committed by Raymond Edmonds. In January 2019, he was charged with 31 historical offences relating to 11 different incidents that took place across six Melbourne suburbs beginning in 1971. The charges included eight counts of rape, three counts of indecent assault, one of abduction of a female by force, two counts of false imprisonment,

one count of grievous bodily harm, and ten counts of burglary. On Wednesday, September 11, 2019, the now 75-year-old Raymond Edmonds formally pleaded guilty to all of the new charges. Two weeks later, he was sentenced to an additional 23 years and five months on top of his existing life sentences. Following the announcement of these charges, Detective Inspector Steve Wilson of the sexual crime squad told the media, I want victims to feel heartened that we are charging someone this week over incidents that occurred as much as 47 years ago. It is never too late for you to speak to police, to come forward and tell your story or make a report. I also want offenders to understand that police won't give up

trying to provide these victims with the justice they deserve. you