ColdCaseDetective
ColdCaseDetective
Terrors of the Scrubland: The Unsolved Tynong and Frankston Murders
Allison Rooke, Joy Summers, Beretha Miller, Catherine Headland, Ann-Marie Sargent, and Narumol Stephenson, all courageous people with humble beginnings, were diverse and determined women all from various walks in life from the Melbourne area in Victoria, Australia. Their compassionate souls and easygoing lives were cut short by unexplainable, unsolved murders in the 18 months between May 1980 and October 1981, leaving all who knew them around the Tynong North and Frankston communities grasping for answers in a sea of evidence that drowned us all in doubt…
As a hope to provide more substantial reasoning built upon observable evidence and situational analysis, this is an examination of the Tynong North and Frankston serial murders, and the confounding mystery across the scrubbed wilderness of Melbourne, Australia ...
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[Cheryl Goldsworthy Interview]
Researched and written by TJ Ruesch
Episode narrated by William Earl
Music by CO.AG
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Alison Rook Joyce Summers birth, the Miller Catherine Headlands and Marie sergeants. And narrow-minded, Stefansson all courageous people with humble beginnings were diverse and determined women from various walks of life. In the Melbourne area of Victoria, Australia. They're compassionate souls and easygoing lives were cut short by unexplainable unsolved murders. In the 18 months between May, 1980 and October, 1981, leaving all who knew them around the tea Nong North and Frankston communities grasping for answers in a sea of evidence that drowned us all in doubts as a hope to provide more substantial reasoning built upon observable evidence and situational analysis. This is an examination of the teen on North and Frankston serial murders and the confounding mystery across the scrubbed wilderness of Melbourne Australia. This is cold case detective The first victim in the teen Ong North and Frankston slangs was Alison Rook, a 60 year old Melbourne citizen residing in a red brick flats that sat along HANA streets in Frankston North. There is sadly very little information out there regarding Alison and her life leading up to the tragedy. However, we do know she was widowed at the time of her death and living alone. It can be fairly speculated that Alison was fiercely independent and unafraid of the challenges, both mental and emotional that living widowed can bring. It's also heavily theorized that while she did live by herself, Alison was communicative unfriendly with her Hannah street, flat neighbors informing them of her plans and keeping them up to date with her activities around Melbourne. It was through these regular interactions that her neighbors first realized something might have happened to Alison. When one night she never returned from her errands. Alison seemed to have disappeared until a couple of months later when her body was discovered. The second victim in the serial motors was 75 year old birth, a Miller much like Alison Bertha was an elderly woman who was no longer married. In contrast though, Bertha did have a roommate living with her. Brother-in-law William Ross, the pair resided in a house on Cardinia streets in Glen Iris, a community about 45 kilometers North of Frankston. Birther was a quiet yet active elder methodical in her schedule and consistent in her actions. She was a devout Christian and it a point to attend
Speaker 2:Church every Sunday morning to her congregation. She was another kind soul who focused on learning the good word unique in that she did not let her age or status in life dictates the way she treated others. However, in a tragic twist, it was a routine trip to church on the Glen Iris Metro that ended her life in a devastating fashion. When she disappeared one Sunday in August of 1980 only to be found dead four months later, the third victim of the T young North and Frankston saga was Catherine Headlands. A 14 year old immigrants from the United Kingdom. She was born in 1965, but left England as a mere one year old to move to Australia with her family. They picked a modest home on Allen street in Barrack, a low key suburban neighborhood that still featured dirt roads and Katherine quickly assimilated to Melbourne life whilst living with her mother and older brother, Katherine had no trouble making friends at school and grew, especially close to her. Then best friend Cheryl Goldsworthy during her year five at Barrack primary, Cheryl would late to describe Catherine as a strikingly, pretty young lady with a nose for trending fashion. Catherine was unathletic teenager, confident in her abilities and love to ride bikes around town, along with Cheryl and a few other friends on weekends and warm summer days, the crew would head to Akuna park and swing ropes over the Creek bed, turning their nature excursions into small scale adventures. These bonding activities expanded into high school and Cheryl and Catherine were inseparable wearing leather friendship, bracelets on their
Speaker 1:Wrists and ankles. By the time she was 14 Catherine ventured into the dating scene, entering a relationship with fellow students, John McManus, the two grew close to themselves while Catherine security part-time job at the Coles supermarket located in the fountain gate shopping center. Sadly, it would be an innocent mid morning commute from McManus his house to work at Kohl's in late August of 1980, that led to Catherine sudden disappearance and impending death after her body was on earth, along with birth, the Miller and the fourth teen on North and Frankston murder victim and Marie Sargent in the spring of 1980 and Marie was an 18 year old high school graduates living with close friends of her family on railway road, in the suburb of Cranbook. After moving out of her mother's place as a teenager like Alison and Bertha before her and Marie's life was not well documented while she was determined to make a better future for herself. She struggled finding employment directly out of high school. The prospective job, market's not kind to a young female adults without any further education. Nonetheless Ann Marie was not discouraged and fought for a job while collecting unemployment insurance from the Commonwealth employment service. It would be a routine journey from the CES office that saw Ann Marie vanish into thin air only to be found murdered with Bertha and Catherine, as previously mentioned the fifth victim in the te Nong North and Frankston ordeal was narrow Mon Steffenson. Now mom was born in Thailand in 1946 and remained in her Homeland throughout most of her life. She married and gave birth to a couple of children, raising them with the help of her family after their birth father left the pitcher in the late 1970s, narrow mall Mets, Wayne Stevenson, a dairy farmer hailing from Victoria Australia vacationing in Thailand. The two quickly entered the relationship and eventually married in 1978. In August of 1979. Norman made the incredibly difficult decision to leave her family and move with Wayne back to Australia. The couple settled down on a farm in deans Marsh, a community 134 kilometers West of Melbourne, while Narromine struggled with the separation from her children. She and Wayne did their best to make friends with fellow Victoria residents and sparks social activity. One of their favorite pastimes was attending concerts in Melbourne and in mid autumn of 1890 narrow Mon and Wayne made plans with a friendly couple to attend one together. The next day, the Stevenson's friends invited them back to their Melbourne
Speaker 2:Flats for a bit of wine and socializing. However, narrow mom was dealing with a particularly difficult bounce off separation anxiety and never went in with her husbands. This decision would tragically prove to be fatal when narrow Amman disappeared from the car that night and was later found dead over two years later. Another chapter in the never-ending horror story, the sixth and final victim in the teen on North and Frankston serial murders was joy. Kamel summers Joey's life was similar to that of Alison's. She was a 55 year old widow herself living in a flat on Norfolk present to Frankston North Amir, one kilometer away from Alison's flats on Hanna street, despite their proximity, the two women had no knowledge of the other's existence. However, Joey kept mostly to herself, but did enjoy shopping in the company of others. In fact, she and her friend William Cotter held the weekly tradition of shopping together every Friday, whether it be for groceries or more casual window shopping. However, when on one Friday in October, 1981, William, couldn't go with joy because of previously scheduled doctor appointments, joy built up the courage and went alone. Unbelievably. The one time joy ventured out on her lonesome was the final time she was seen alive after disappearing near her bus stop only to be found debts a month and a half later completing the 18 months of terror brought down by one of Australia's most potent, yet mysterious serial criminals. Let's now turn to the timeline, those evil late teen months, that led to the murders of Alison joy birther. Catherine and Marie are narrow Mon on the morning of May 30th, 1890, Alison Rook wakes up and checks her calendar. The daily to-do list comprises of two errands, grocery shopping, and a visit to her real estate agents office to pay a bill. However, when Alison gets into her car to drive to town, she discovers her car is malfunctioning and cannot be safely driven. Instead, she makes plans to catch a bus at the Frankston Dandenong road station and ride public transportation into town at around 11:00 AM. Neighbor's spot, Alison leaving her red brick flat on Hunter streets and walking towards the Frankston Dandenong bus stop. Everything appears to be normal, but night when Alison does not return home, her neighbors grow concerned and called the police to inform them that she may have gone missing. When Alison still does not show up the following day on Saturday, May 31st, an official investigation launches police trace Alison's theoretical steps after interviewing neighbors and pay visits to both the grocery store and the real estate agents office. They find that Alison neither made an order at the markets nor contacted her realtor, leading them to believe that Alison radish, between the neighbors spotting her stroll to the station and getting on that first bus. The driver,
Speaker 1:The specific bus helps confirm these suspicions telling police. He couldn't recall Alison ever stepping foot on his vehicle. Five weeks passed by without any leads coming to life until Saturday, July 5th, 1980. When a male Melbourne resident finds a decomposed naked female body while walking his dogs hidden in the shrubs along McClelland drive, or authorities arrive on the scene and identify the body as Alison rock, a$50,000 award is posted in the hopes that the public may have answers about a month later at 10:15 AM on Sunday, August 10th, Bertha Miller calls out to her. Brother-in-law William who's in the shower and informed him that she is leaving for church. That she'll be home later and he didn't wait for her. At lunch seconds later, she departs her Cardinia street, home and heads towards the tram at high street, a weekly tradition at the same time, birth his longtime friend, Jesse Moore prepares to leave her home on nearby Burke road. Jesse and Bertha would always meet on the tram at the Burke road. Stop and ride into church together after birth the court, the 10:47 AM tram on high street, sometime between 10, 15 and 10 47, an unidentified shopkeeper spots Bertha on her 400 meter walk to the high streets. Terminus. This is the last confirmed sighting of Bertha Miller between 10 47 and 11:00 AM. Jesse Moore boards, the trauma Burke road. But her friend is nowhere to be found a startling discovery that breaks this Sunday tradition later that morning when birther never arrives at church nor makes it back home to Cardinia road. The police are alerted and a search begins for the missing 75 year old woman. A few weeks later on the morning of Thursday, August 28, 14 year old Catherine Hedland prepares for a jam packed day, plowing to hang out with her boyfriend and then work her first mid week shift at the local cold soup market. As a part of the school holiday at 9:30 AM. Katherine leaves her home to meet up with her boyfriend, John McManus and his house on high street in Barrack between 10 and
Speaker 2:11:00 AM. Catherine hangs out with John
Speaker 1:And a few of his friends. The group sits around watching television and listening to records at around 11, 10:00 AM. Catherine kisses, John goodbye, and leaves the crew to head to work. She walks to the bus stop of the corner of high street and Manaca road, a reasonably short distance from the McManus residence and only about a 10 minute walk. She plans to ride the 11:20 AM bus,
Speaker 2:And doesn't have a moment to waste when the clock strikes noon, not same day. Catherine does not show up at work, not wanting to be especially tardy Catherine's obstinance leaves her manager and coworkers in a state of worry. They give her an extra few minutes before calling around to her friends and family to see if anyone had seen her. Every call leads to nothing and Catherine is officially reported as missing again. The police launched an investigation with barely anything to go on besides the fact that the driver and passengers off the 11:20 AM bus at Monica road, never saw Catherine board earlier that morning, meaning she disappeared during the 10 minute walk from her boyfriends. Another month passes until October the sixth arrives sometime that Monday morning, 18 year old Ann Marie Sergeant visits, her birth mother who lives on Cranbourne drive. Marie hasn't been living with her mother recently, but had some errands to run and wanted to say hello. And Marie spends a short time with her mum before leaving for the unemployment office in the Dandenong suburbs to pick up a benefits payments prior to her departure. However, Ann Marie tells her mother that she'll be back afterwards to pick up some clothing as the morning turns to afternoon. And Marie traverses to Dandenong via hitchhiking, or is at least later thought to have hitchhiked a ride from a stranger. She successfully arrives at the Commonwealth employment service building and lodges a form, creating a paper trail of her visit later that same day Annmarie fails to return to either her mother's house or to the family, friends, where she was staying. The police get involved on look for Anne Marie, but are unable to locate a trace after her meeting at the C E S office just under two months later on the night of Friday, November 28th, 1980, 34 year old Norman Stefansson and her husband Wayne. Stefansson traveled to Melbourne to attend a concert with a couple of friends, the evening's activities. Go ahead without incidents and Gnomon and Wayne make plans to return to the Melbourne area. The following evening, thus on Saturday, November 29th, 1989, Ramon and Wayne returned to Melbourne 18 kilometers North of the city. When they arrive. However Norman grows visibly upset and refuses to exit the car and joined Wayne up in the flats with their friends. As the evening progresses now remains in the car by her lonesome while Wayne and the other couple drink, wine, coffee, and chit chat among themselves. Wayne does come downstairs to check on Norman on three separate occasions. The first time resulting in no change. Strangely enough, though, the second time Wayne goes back down, he finds Norman walking up and down the streets without reason. The third time Wayne discovers Narromine on the phone. Speaking Thai to an unidentified man with a European accent. This time Wayne climbs into the car with his upset wife and sits there in the street with her until almost Dawn. When he decides he's had enough and returns to the flat to sleep, leaving normal and wants more alone in that vehicle.
Speaker 1:A little after 6:00 AM. Wayne gets up from his very brief slumber to check on narrow. Mom wants more yet. When he returns to the car, he finds it empty and narrow Amman gone with the help of his friends. Wayne scans, the surrounding streets, but finds no trace of his wife. Law enforcement launches an investigation of their own, but they to come up with nothing barely even a week passes before authorities receive their first massive find in the teen on North and Frankston cases. On Saturday, December 6th, 1980, a local garage owner on his friends go to a secluded sand quarry to dump lamb, awful on a Bush path, leading from brew road tine on North two kilometers off princess highway. They aren't there for very long before. They discover the decomposing bodies of both the Miller and Anne Marie sergeants and the disappearances transform into gruesome homicides. The next day on Sunday, December 7th, forensic officers expand their excavation of the quarry and on earth and additional naked and decomposed body. This one belonging to Catherine Hedlands from here. However, the case grows cold and inactive until 10 months later on Friday, October 9th, 1981 on this day, 55 year old Joyce Summers to science to head out to the local grocery store by herself. After her longtime shopping partner, William Cotter, double books with a doctor's appointment at around 1:00 PM. Neighbor's spot joy, leaving her flats and walking to the bus stop just 100 meters away at the intersection of Chile streets and Frankston Dandenong.
Speaker 2:20 minutes later at 1:20 PM. Joy is last seen waiting at that same bus. Stop
Speaker 1:By a passive passer-by. It is unconfirmed. If she ever boards the incoming bus, when joy failed
Speaker 2:Return home got nights and doesn't return Williams calls a missing persons alert is sounded by authority.
Speaker 1:Yes, and yes. Again, another search begins police interview
Speaker 2:The bus driver from that day, but he cannot recall
Speaker 1:Seeing joy or picking her up along his afternoon route. They also pay a visit to the local meat butchers, but joy never showed up or placed an order that Friday six weeks
Speaker 2:Slater and unidentified male subjects collecting firewood close to McClelland drive in Frankston. North finds the naked and decompose
Speaker 1:Using body of joy. Summers it's concealed behind dense scrub. Lauren
Speaker 2:Forcement is called to the scene immediately and they quickly realized Joy's resting place is only three kilometers from the original discovery sites of Alison Rook, nearly 15 months pass and police are still stuck at square one with five bodies, one missing woman and an infinite number of unanswered questions. The body counts rises from five to six. When on Thursday, February 3rd, 1983, former VFL footballer Barry Davis stops to repair a blown tire on his trailer, near the Bush path. The long princess highway in Frankston North, while he's on the scrubbed shoulder, he spots a naked and decomposed body about 50 meters from the road forensics arrive on scene, take the body for inspection. And it's learned to be narrow-minded Stevenson. Finally confirmed dead after vanishing from the park street flats in Brunswick over the next 37 years. Investigators scratch and claw for answers related to the sets of mysterious murders in the teen on North and Frankston brushed lands, pulling together very few clues and even fewer suspects despite their continued efforts, they are unable to keep the cases from complete
Speaker 1:Lee freezing over
Speaker 2:For the first time in cold case detective main investigations. The major case point I have for you in this case is that there truly isn't one. I have to tell you this isn't a lazy cop-out or re researching failure. There are genuinely no massive clues police sketches or key pieces of evidence recovered at the crime scenes in any of the murders. However, it might be argued that this consistency or lack thereof, depending on your perspective is a clue in itself the killer, or as we will detail later, killers may have been so precise and surgical that they cloaked themselves in perfect anonymity in the shadows that the barren wilderness provides. The biggest key in deciphering the teen on North and Frankston murders probably lies in the killer's M O and victim profiles. All of the victims were females who were accessing public transportation or attempting to hitchhike traveling by themselves and were found decomposing in the thick brush, stripped of all clothing and possessions assigned from birth and Miller, who was still clothed. All six bodies were in a state of decomposition that prevented the coroner from determining a specific cause of death, or if the women were sexually assaulted prior to their death. This part is obviously by design at the hands of the killer, they were careful not to leave behind evidence on their clothing and disguise the corpses. So they would rot before proper forensics could determine that fates. What doesn't make sense is the demographics and the locations of the women's burial sites. Most serial killers will target victims all of the same age group, or at least in a general range. That makes sense. However, this killer or killers targeted two teenagers, two middle-aged women, and two elderly women, five of them, white Australia,
Speaker 1:And one Asian. The two teenagers
Speaker 2:Were buried with the eldest victim, one
Speaker 1:Middle-aged woman, and one elderly woman were buried close by in another city. And the final middle-aged woman was from Thailand and was buried away from the other five. If this is confusing, it may to be by design and attempt to throw off the police by changing their victim selection. And suggesting there may be multiple killers, or it could be that there were multiple killers and the Frankston murders happened separately. Still. This would mean one of them targeted a 75 year old, an 18 year old and a 14 year old and anomaly not usually seen in serialized slangs, both the Miller Catherine Headland and Anne Marie Sargent are confirmed to have been killed by the same person as the experts who studied the cases have confirmed as much. But outside of that, there exists no certainties and different law enforcement agencies disagree with how the other three murders should be grouped. Thus, with all of that in mind, it's easy to understand how these homicides have puzzled, both detectives and amateur slew, the link for almost 40 years. It is incredibly frustrating. We don't have as much as a footprint or a subject sighting to dissect and analyze, but there is hope such a thing could exist. If you have any information related to these murders, all these victims that could be considered a clue. Please let the proper authorities know the families and friends of those lost are desperate for that major case points, just like us. Let's now turn to the most common theories surrounding the unsolved teen long and Frankston murders with the lack of evidence detailed in these six murder cases, it goes without saying that the theory surrounded Lamar quite vague and built upon mostly circumstantial evidence. It has left the suspect pool barren and spotty. While authorities have interviewed thousands of potential eye witnesses and plausible persons of interest. This has all been mostly routine investigative work through the process of elimination rather than hunting down an elusive suspect. That is likely the culprit, regardless, no matter how cloudy the results may seem in four decades worth of sleuthing. There are a few notable suspects theorized by both police and curious followers of the Frankston and teen on North sagas that are worthy of closer inspection. One of the first big names associated with the murders was infamous Australia,
Speaker 2:An armed robber and serial killer bundalee depths notable for both the silk Miller police slayings and the murder of two prostitutes in the late 1990s. The first slain woman, Donna and Hicks was working in Western Sydney and shots in April of 1995 by Bon Dolly, who then dumped her body in a sand quarry in new South Wales. The second victim Kirsty hearty was a teenager working in Melbourne when she met Ben Dolly along the princess highway road on June 17th, 1997, bundalee paid her for sexual intercourse before murdering her on an isolated Bush path in upper Beaconsfield and leaving her partially naked body hidden in the scrub. Her body had been found prior to major decomposition and a gunshot wound was discovered on the back of her head as well as leftover remnants of semen that proved incriminating DNA, linking bun Dolly to the crime scene. Even in the silk Miller case files Bhandari made suspicious remarks regarding his past saying verbatim on investigation tapes quotes. If you put the rod in her mouth and blew her brains away, when you put the rod in their mouth and close their mouth, there is no noise. I've seen it, I've done it. All of these details are circumstantial at best when connecting to the teen on North and Frankston murders. But we should recognize that Bon Dolly's early modus operandi matches succinctly with our killer, both targeted unsuspecting women along busy public roads and left their naked bodies conceal the either in sand quarries or thick brush tracks, just offset public roads. Not only that, but Ben Darlie had extensive knowledge of the Eastern Melbourne area of one point living in NAR Warren, the exact location where Katherine Headland works at her grocery shop job, just South of where Ann Marie Sargent was last seen. And by a road birth, a Miller would have used when taking the tram on errands. It also just so happens that these were the three women who were found semi buried together in the sun quarry off brew road to could all these facts be nothing more than a coincidence. It is sadly very likely as investigators have failed to find any direct evidence linking bundalee
Speaker 1:To the 1980 1981
Speaker 2:Murders. However, because his DNA has been used to solve other cold cases and police are adamant his crimes range beyond the four he sentenced to prison for there is a chance he's responsible for at least some of the murders. As long as he's alive, the opportunity for a confession or new evidence to come forth, always exists. Another serial criminal with potential connections to the murders is thought to be Raymond Edmonds, better known by his nicknames, the Don veil rapist and mr. Stinky,
Speaker 1:This name is attributed to him due to his
Speaker 2:Should smell from working on various dairy farms. Raymond
Speaker 1:Was convicted in 1985 for the murder of two teenagers, uh, being a model and Gary Haywood murders that took place in Victoria in 1966, over the next 20 years, Raymond avoided police despite committing countless sexual assaults, rapes and possible. Murder's still unsolved to this day. In fact, at certain points between the late sixties and April, 1980, Raymond worked on farms in[inaudible] an area just Southwest of the teen on North sand, Cory dumpsite in officer an area just East of Katherine Headlands home and boyfriend's residence. And in Chelsea Heights, a community just North of Frankston, where Alison ruck and Joyce Summers lived. These details like those have been Dolly depths are considered to be strongly coincidental. And Raymond is generally crossed off most people's lists of suspects when considering he moved to new South Wales in April of 1981 month before Alison rock went missing and the crimes began. However, we don't think this should completely disqualify his status as a suspect. In fact, moving away so close to the kidnappings and murders could be argued as a sign of guilt, rather than as an alibi. Maybe Raymond had decided to move to the new South Wales region as a cover for his future planned crimes, returning to the roads he traveled between Frankston and Tino North, where he was confident about his understanding of the local geography, but with a safe house, hundreds of miles away he could run back to after each crime was committed. It would also give reason as to why the six bodies were so heavily decomposed. If Raymond traveled across States with the women and kept them for lengthy stretches at a time before returning to Melbourne, it would answer why none of the women could be analyzed for causes of death. It should be noted that this is highly unlikely,
Speaker 2:Was not the most intelligent of criminals and leaving behind zero DNA samples after littering. His previous crimes with
Speaker 1:Such evidence makes little sense, but we felt it should at least be discussed as a potential theory in a case with so many empty paths towards justice. One thing
Speaker 2:Is agreed upon by many investigators, is that the chances the killer knew most, if not all of the victims are
Speaker 1:High while there aren't many people
Speaker 2:In Frankston and teen on North that would fit that bill one man suspected of involvements with 17 year old, Gary Miller, Gary was a nephew of 75 year old birth, the Miller, but also knew Catherine Headlands while he had no truly malicious background to suggest he could be a murderer. Police were at least interested in hearing his side of the story. Gary told investigators he was employed at a nearby factory and would have been at work during the weekly disappearances or authorities weren't fully convinced and investigated the clock in system at this factory, learning that it could be beaten with the right intellects, thus showing a small crack in Gary's alibi. However, Gary's time as a prime suspect was more due to the fact that the police had no other leads to pursue and really wanted this to be that man, admittedly, knowing two of the six victims was a greater percentage than most suspects, but being a mid teenager, the idea that Gary could drive around in broad daylight, picking up both young and older women, discreetly is a stretch of the imagination. In addition, Gary was interviewed by experts, cold case officers years after the bodies were found and cleared off any involvement. So if it wasn't the nephew who else could have enticed berth and Miller into a car with a lonesome man, Bertha was actually the arm to Venn Victoria police commissioner, Miller. And this her background was more available to reporters. And those covering the cases back in the 1980s, the Miller family was adamant. Bertha would never climb into a stranger's car without a good reason. And wasn't very trusting of those. She didn't know to begin with one of birth. His friends actually told investigators that two weeks before her disappearance, she was approached by a man at the same bus stop. She vanished from who spotted her, holding a Bible on her way to church. He asked her about her religious standings and spiritual connection to Christianity and Bertha told her friend, she felt open to discussing her faith with him as a results, some of b irth, h is family and friends. Wonder if this man returned to the bus stop two weeks later and offered a ride now more than just a random stranger at the bus station, if this theory proved correct, this man could be the key to the whole case
Speaker 1:In a similar vein remains
Speaker 2:The sole biggest suspect in the T Nong North and Frankston murders investigation. A man named Harold Jenman pinned down by police early on, but never convicted. Despite curious signs, he knew more than he led on how Harold exactly found himself on law. Enforcement's radar is on certain, but it probably had something to do with his notoriety around Melbourne for being a nuisance. Harold was a self-proclaimed good Samaritan who would be constantly asserting on, wanted help on fellow residents and tourists claiming he just wanted to be friendly, but often coming across as intrusive and irritating, eventually he was caught attempting to solicit prostitution from a young lady along princess highway and became a focal point in the minds of police. When he was brought in for questioning. Harold said he frequently offered rinds to women along the Frankston Dandenong road in 1980 and 1980
Speaker 1:81, right? Where and when Alison Rook and Joyce Summers vanished. Not only that, but when police had Harold drive them along the bus route where he picked up ladies two of the nine stops, he selected where the stops Alison and joy used the day they went missing. The detectives quickly picked up on this anomaly and asked Harold, if he'd ever heard of sky road, the location where those two women's corpses were recovered, Harold claimed he wasn't familiar with it. Police weren't so sure and looked into Harold's employment records discovering he had actually worked as a projectionist at a local in situated, literally on sky road. Thus Harold was taken to the sky road dumping sites where he struggled to compose himself sweating profusely, and very obviously avoiding the exact spots where the two bodies had been concealed, also hidden in Harold's employment. History were other key positions that linked him to geographical areas of interest. In the case. At one point, Harold worked as a barman at the teen Aung hotel, bringing him into contact with countless Melbourne locals. He was also a truck driver with a designated route along brew road, a road near the bodies of Bertha, Katherine and Dan Murray, who were tossed in a sand quarry where most interestingly Harold had previously held employment as well. This all sounds very promising, but of course, like all of the previous mentioned suspects Harold's connection is circumstantial at best. It also should be noted that after Harold's official police interview on December 3rd, 1981,
Speaker 2:In which he
Speaker 1:Failed to polygraph tests, the disappearances halted, Harold maintained his innocence all the way up until his death at age 88 in August of 2020, but did hurt his own public image. Just prior to that, when in 2017, he came out with a widely reported statement that he was not guilty and had no involvement, just moments after police had bumped the reward for the murders up to$1 million per victim. Again, this could be a coincidence, but that in 2017, Harold was not a widely considered suspect from the vantage point of the public. And his statements only hurt his role in the case. Unfortunately, his death puts a wrinkle in the investigation and without any new physical evidence coming to lights, he will remain just a suspect. Post-mortem in the end, theorizing single suspects is almost a fruitless endeavor in these cases as many experts and investigators agree, the
Speaker 2:Murders could have had multiple assailants while the three sand quarry victims are basically a lock to all have the same killer. The same can't be said about the other three women, Alison and joy probably share a killer too, based on their similarities in age and location. Now, Armand is the true outlier and cold case studies done on murder have produced inconclusive results in regards to her connection with the other five women, why would her killer have simply placed her on the side of the princess highway? When the road to the son quarry was a mere few meters away, why was her body barely concealed in comparison with the other camouflage attempts? And why was her age and ethnicity so different to the other women targeted was all of this, a real attempt by the killers to throw detectives off the sense or did narrow Amman die at the hands of another murderer who disguised the aftermath to make it look like a part of the previous slayings. These are all questions we must ask ourselves and maybe answers will seep out of the woodworks, but until then we will classify her death as part of the teen on North and Frankston murders until proven otherwise, before we divulge our hypothesis of the teen on North and Frankston on salt, serial murders, we want to make it known that our conclusions presented in cold case detective are purely logical speculation based on evidence circumstance and factual subtext. We are only privy to the same information presented in each episode. And we do not attempt to promise certainty or an expert guarantee on the findings we reach in closing, we simply observe research and report in the case of Alison Rook, Joyce Summers, Bertha Miller, Catherine Headland, and Marie Sargent and Narromine Stevenson. We believe each woman was systematically kidnapped and killed by a lone perpetrator sought out, not because of their ages or appearances, but because of their isolated circumstances, the scenario of a serial killer targeting victims of different ages, sizes and races is very rarely seen throughout crime history, but it is not impossible. Sometimes we pay too much attention to what the victim has looked like rather than what they were doing. We believe this killer was hunting specifically for women traveling by themselves, using public transportation, because trying to kidnap someone from their personal car introduces too many risks in getting caught. Yes. Now I'm on vanished from the passenger seat of a personal vehicle and was not using a bus or train the night she went missing. However, we must remember she was seen walking up and down the streets while her husband was away and it is possible. She wandered off on her own before the sun came up, seeing as though there were no signs of a struggle in the car the next morning. Now Roman then probably ran into the killer, may be hitchhiking to go home after pleading to leave her friends
Speaker 1:All evening. In terms of the other women, they may have been approached by their killer prior to getting kidnapped the perpetrator canvassing, the specific bus stops and roadsides whilst grooming his victims to attract them to someone they wouldn't label as a stranger was the killer good friends with all six women, almost certainly not, but he had to be personable enough as to not arouse suspicion. The killer would have had extensive knowledge of the Melbourne suburbs, as well as the surrounding wilderness, probably working at or near the sun quarry or as a bus driver and lived in a remote area. He could take his victims back to stripping them of their belongings and dumping their bodies. The killer was obviously sadistic and a conniving actor. Being able to simply flip a switch, to turn from friendly citizen, to unspeakable monster. All of these attributes combined, it really does seem like Harold Jenman was the perfect suspect. He fits nearly all the speculated criteria and was never forensically cleared. He was the favorite person of interest in the minds of law enforcements and his strange behavior, both at the crime scenes and in private following the investigation leads us to believe he knew more than he let on. As of now, we have no one else to turn to unless a new suspect emerges from a clue stuck at the bottom of a filing cabinets.
Speaker 2:We are hoping with everything we have,
Speaker 1:That that clue exists. All that DNA evidence gathering techniques continue to evolve and something of forensic use can be pulled from the remains of the victims to provide them the justice they deserve. While we wait for that vital lead to surface, we will honor the memories of Alison joy, Bertha, Catherine
Speaker 2:Ann, Marie, and naira Mon with utmost
Speaker 1:Dignity, Catherine and Ann Marie were so young and brilliant with their entire lives left before them to live. They were just taking their first footsteps into a larger world and deserved their chance to make their dreams a beautiful reality. Narrow Mon and joy were middle-aged and lively still with so much to provide to the world. Naira Mon had children back home in Thailand. She loved with all of her hearts. And so courageously took care of despite her distance family was almost certainly the final thing on her mind before she died. Joyce May have lost her husband, but she didn't let the widowed life stop her from waking up each day, dedicating her life to finding purpose and happiness in all she did. And with all she interacted with Alison and Bertha were older and narrower to the end of their lives than the beginning. But what beacons in that communities, why he's role models to their neighbors? Alison was a dear friend, even to those she barely knew and left behind a legacy of compassion and kindness. Burford lived with a fiery and faithful spirit sharing bits of her soul to anyone who would listen while spreading creativity and knowledge across generations of her own family. All six lived lives worthy of appreciation and facts, securing legacies of hope and grace that no one can take away. Whether it be in teen on North or Frankston Victoria, two worlds made colder for that absence. This is cold case detective, Thank you for listening to this episode of the cold case detective podcast, should you wish to delve deeper into the mystery? You can follow the case file link included in the show notes, which contains important photographs, documents, maps, and further reading relevance to the case. If you would like to support the show you can do so by leaving a five star rating wherever you listen, it really helps us expand our reach and bring awareness to the cases we cover. If you would like us to investigate a specific case, perhaps even one close to home or that of a loved one, please fill out the submission form in the show notes. Thank you for listening. And I'll see you in a fortnight with a new episode.