Evelyn GREENUP
NSW Police
A $250,000 reward is on offer for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the deaths of children Evelyn Greenup, Clinton Speedy-Duroux and Colleen Walker.
The deaths of three persons in their prime and the fact the killer has not been brought to justice had caused considerable distress to the Bowraville community where all three children lived.
The loss of three children within the space of five months was particularly devastating for this tight-knit community.
The lives of these three young people have been cut tragically short and their loss has left a tragic mark on their families and friends.
Sixteen-year-old Colleen Walker disappeared on 13 September, 1990 and her weighted down clothing was later found in the Nambucca River.
Although her body has never been found, she is presumed dead.
Four-year-old Evelyn Greenup is believed to have been murdered on 4 October, 1990.
Her remains were found in bushland in April 1991.
And sixteen-year-old Clinton Speedy-Duroux was murdered on 1 February, 1991.
His remains were located in bushland a few weeks later.
The three deaths were investigated by Strike Force ANCUD.
A $50,000 government reward was offered in relation to the murder of Colleen Ann Walker in May 1995 and increased to $100,000 in March 1997.
Rewards have not previously been offered in relation to the other children.
Detectives investigating the children's deaths have conducted extensive enquiries but have exhausted all leads.
It's hoped that this substantial reward, linking all three cases for the first time, will hopefully now persuade somebody who can help to contact police.
Police want to help the families of these three children put the tragic past behind them and rebuild their lives.
Any information you have about this is worth giving to police, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem.
You can provide information to police via any of the methods below:
Any information provided will be treated in the strictest confidence.
Your help may give police the clue they need to close this case and provide some comfort for the families of victims.
See also Colleen WALKER and Clinton Speedy-Duroux
FIFTEEN years ago Jay Thomas Hart had a friendly relationship with Bowraville's Aboriginal community, and often partied with them on "the Mish".
They accepted him, and he joined regular gatherings at the Mission, sometimes held at the home of Muriel Stadhams, or "Auntie Mooney", where large amounts of alcohol and marijuana were consumed.
But yesterday, Hart, 40, went on trial for the murder of Ms Stadhams's granddaughter, Evelyn Greenup, 4, whose skeletal remains were found in nearby bushland, six months after a party at her home in October 1990.
Hart made two admissions to men back in 1990 and 1992. They were Hilton Walker, to whom Hart said he had "bodies buried out on the Congarinni Road" in a marijuana plantation, and a prisoner, to whom he confessed "banging her head against the wall", the NSW Supreme Court heard.
In opening the trial, the Crown prosecutor, Peter Barnett, also told the packed court - two minibuses of Bowraville residents attended the hearing at Port Macquarie - that Evelyn's remains were found in bushland off the western side of the road, about five kilometres from the mission, in April 1991.
A coroner's report could not determine the cause of death but noted that a skull injury was consistent with a forceful penetration by a sharp instrument, Mr Barnett said. He said Evelyn had not been seen by anyone apart from the accused since she went to bed with her "extremely intoxicated" mother, Rebecca Stadhams, about midnight after the party on October 3.
Evelyn's grandmother will tell the court she saw Hart in the hallway of her home, at 6 Cemetery Road, after the party was over about 2.30am and told him to go home, Mr Barnett said.
She later heard her granddaughter "crying out" and got up to see what was wrong, but was unable to open the child's bedroom door, he said. "The child continued to cry out and then Ms Stadhams heard what she describes variously as a strange noise, like a thud or the window shutting and the child went quiet. She returned to her bed."
Muriel Stadhams, the Crown witness, is expected to give evidence today.
About 3.30am, a woman sleeping in another room, Fiona Duckett, got up and saw Hart come from the room in which Evelyn and her mother were sleeping, Mr Barnett said.
The defence barrister, Terence Golding, said Mr Hilton was "just a drunk, and in fact did not reveal … this [alleged] conversation [with Hart] until some 14 years after he said it occurred". Mr Golding said the prisoner witness had been convicted of perjury.
He said "a large number" of people had sighted Evelyn the day after the party, including Sylvia Blanch who said she saw Evelyn come into her shop about 7am.
Mr Barnett said there had been three sightings which were not genuine.
Mr Golding also told the jury to note that Evelyn's death was a long time ago. "Human memories fail, they dim … people may reconstruct completely false or mistakenly some incidents which they're attempting to recall many years ago."
Mr Golding said this was "compounded in this case because many of the witnesses in this case at the relevant time were either drunk or they were very drunk". He said Hart did not dispute being at the party.
The trial continues.
CAROLINE JONES, PRESENTER: Hello, I'm Caroline Jones. Tonight, a triple murder that's remained unresolved for 15 years. In the small town of Bowraville on the north coast of New South Wales, three children went missing within a few months of each other. Despite a coroner's inquest and two trials, nobody has ever been found guilty of their murders. Local people have never given up on their campaign for justice, and more recently they've been joined by a Sydney doctor who moved to Bowraville for a sea change and found herself drawn into the effort to solve this painful mystery.
DR VIVIENNE TEDESCHI: Before I came to Bowraville, I had never heard of Bowraville. At least, I thought I had never heard of Bowraville but, in fact, in my subconscious I had, and that was because of the three murders 16 years ago. But I'd forgotten the name Bowraville, so I had no subconscious ideas about what it would be like until I drove through the town and I saw all those veranda posts, and I thought, "Oh, this place is so quaint." But I could never imagine, at that stage, living here for the rest of my life. I first came to Bowraville in 2001 to have an experience of rural medicine. I had a work opportunity here. At the end of the year we were planning to go back, and a week before I went back I met someone who's now my husband, fell in love and came back and stayed. People had told me that it's really difficult in a remote or a rural area to make friends and become a local, but because of my profession, I think it's a little bit easier. You get close to people very quickly, and within months I loved it. Gradually, I came to know each of the affected families, and it brought to mind everything that I'd read previously many years earlier about the murders.
‘7.30 REPORT’ – FEBRUARY 1991: When two farmers stumbled upon the badly decomposed body of Clinton Speedy earlier this week, it confirmed the worst fears of the Aboriginal community. The 16-year-old disappeared just over three weeks ago, and he was the third.
ABC NEWS - FEBRUARY 1991: 4-year-old Evelyn Greenup disappeared in September, her 16-year-old cousin Colleen Walker a month later.
DR VIVIENNE TEDESCHI: I've always been really distressed by these murders. There's been no-one found guilty of these crimes, and I think that that's a horrific tragedy for these Aboriginal children and their families. Initially, I felt, as their doctor and friend, I could just offer moral support and caring, talk about it, cry with them, just be there. I initially didn't foresee any actual involvement. As time went on, I felt it more and more and more intensely. I became a little bit obsessed. And over these four years, even though I wasn't there at the time, I think I've come to know a huge amount about the circumstances of the children's death, and I'm convinced that justice still has to be done and can be done, from what I've learnt. The first child to disappear was Colleen Walker.
DET. INSP. GARY JUBELIN, NSW POLICE: Colleen Walker was last seen alive following a party out in the Aboriginal community on the outskirts of Bowraville township. That was on 13th September, 1990. There was a large gathering of people there, and the last positive sighting of Colleen was walking away from a group of people at that party on that night.
PAULA CRAIG, COLLEEN WALKER'S SISTER: Colleen never went anywhere without letting Mum know wherever she was, and I remember Mum coming down and asking did anybody see Colleen. Like, it was just mainly family going looking and asking questions about where Colleen is or where she was. When people said they didn't see Colleen, I know Mum started to panic. I'm Colleen's younger sister. I was 15 at the time when she went missing. I don't know if it sunk in to myself, like, until a while after that that she was never going to come home or never going to see her again.
DET. INSP. GARY JUBELIN, NSW POLICE: There was two schools of thought - she was a 16-year-old girl, and whether a 16-year-old girl has inadvertently decided to go to another location without telling people or acting irresponsibly, I would suggest. There was that school of thought, but there was also the concern that something had happened to her.
PAULA CRAIG, COLLEEN WALKER'S SISTER: I remember the police not taking it too serious when Colleen went missing. Like, there was never any search parties. No-one searched for her but family. They told Mum awful things like, "Oh, she probably just went walkabout," you know.
DR VIVIENNE TEDESCHI: Nothing was taken seriously and, as anyone who knows the law and criminal investigation, it's your first 48 hours that count, and those initial 48 hours were lost. A lot of the people who are black live on what used to be a mission, but it's still retaining the name "the Mish". A few weeks later at a party at the Mish, Evelyn Greenup was asleep in a room with two of her little siblings.
REBECCA STADHAMS, EVELYN GREENUP'S MOTHER: We had a party out at my mother's house and I was drinking, put her to bed. When I got up the next day, she wasn't there. Still have good dreams about her. Still see her in my mind and every day. I would wash up and then I would just...my tears would just start rolling out of my eyes. Even if I'm just walking along the road, tears will start coming out of my eyes.
MICHELLE STRAEDE, EVELYN GREENUP'S AUNTY: We knew something was wrong. Someone...we started thinking there's somebody killing our kids, because Colleen had gone, then Evelyn, and because Evelyn was always with the family. She never went with anyone she didn't know.
DET. INSP. GARY JUBELIN, NSW POLICE: A 4-year-old girl obviously doesn't wander off on her own. It's hard to get a sense whether they had linked those two crimes together at that particular point in time. We had a 16-year-old girl disappear, two and a half weeks later we had a 4-year-old girl disappear. Granted, from a very small community, but at that stage I don't think people came to terms with the full ramifications of what was occurring in that area.
DR VIVIENNE TEDESCHI: A couple of months later, 31st January 1991, there was a party near the mish, up that end of town, and Clinton Speedy attended that party, and after the party, went to a certain other house to sleep and was never seen again.
THOMAS DUROUX, CLINTON SPEEDY'S FATHER: We started looking around town. Couldn't find him anywhere. I rang the police then and reported him missing. They were pretty concerned about the third one going missing because he was a boy that, you know, could handle himself. He was a pretty big, solid boy, he wasn't a little kid and if there had to be something go wrong, well, it had to be something really wrong.
PROTESTER, '7:30 REPORT' - FEBRUARY 1991: Why do you stand there and say you want information from us when the black people gave you the information...
MICHELLE STRAEDE, EVELYN GREENUP'S AUNTY: Oh, it was boiling point then. It was outrage. We wanted somebody to give us answers. I hate to say it, but if it was white kids, I feel that there would've been a lot more done. I don't know why. But black Aboriginal kids don't seem to rank high on the priority of police.
POLICEMAN, '7:30 REPORT' - FEBRUARY 1991: To do this investigation properly, we've got to have you people onside and working with us.
PAULA CRAIG, COLLEEN WALKER'S SISTER: My feelings is if they did the proper investigation and a search when Colleen went missing, then it mightn't have happened to the other two kids.
DET. INSP. GARY JUBELIN, NSW POLICE: I think that there was a distrust and it was probably just a, perhaps, a perception of distrust between the Aboriginal community and police.
MICHELLE STRAEDE, EVELYN GREENUP'S AUNTY: There was a lot of mistrust there so some people didn't come forward, and they wasn't quite sure if what they had to say was correct, or was useful or anything. So a lot of them didn't talk, also.
ABC NEWS – FEBRUARY 1991: Homicide squad detectives were called in when locals stumbled across the body yesterday afternoon.
DET. INSP. GARY JUBELIN, NSW POLICE: The first positive confirmation that they'd met foul play was the finding of Clinton's remains. The fact that the three children disappeared from a small community, and the circumstances in which they disappeared, police certainly entertained the possibility that we were searching for a serial killer.
ABC NEWS – APRIL 1991: Then, the grim discovery yesterday of a child's skull and today more skeletal remains.
DET. INSP. GARY JUBELIN, NSW POLICE: Evelyn's remains were found a month or two after Clinton's. Colleen Walker's clothes were found weighted down in the Nambucca River. And the circumstances in which those clothes were found, was that a man was fishing and happened to snag the clothing. Her remains have never been found to this day.
DR VIVIENNE TEDESCHI: The murders of these children have had an enormous effect on the town of Bowraville in many ways. There'd be very few people there who could say they have no connection to a deceased child. When I lived in Sydney, I didn't know anyone who was touched by tragedy. And here, these people became really close to me. I grew to really care about them. And I started to see their pain. The pain was tangible. It was around me every day so my awareness of it grew by the minute. One can't help thinking, "There but for the grace of God go I." And I don't know that I would survive something like that if it was my children.
ABC NEWS APRIL 1991: A 25-year-old man has appeared in a north coast court charged over the murder of Bowraville teenager Clinton Speedy.
PAULA CRAIG, COLLEEN WALKER'S SISTER: The initial reaction was, like, they've got somebody and we're going to get some answers and going to get a bit of closure and we might even find where Colleen is. It was a happy moment to hear that they've actually got somebody.
THOMAS DUROUX, CLINTON SPEEDY'S FATHER: It looked like everything was going alright ‘cause I sat in there and listened. And it seemed everything was going fine at the time. Then it just came out with a 'not guilty' verdict. Everyone looked at everyone else and...just couldn't believe it.
THOMAS DUROUX, CLINTON SPEEDY'S FATHER, IN BUSH: Er, this is the place where they found the body. Some blokes who were getting wood came across the body. And they rang the police.
DR VIVIENNE TEDESCHI: Those that know the details of the case, including many people in the legal fraternity, have suggested that it was a big surprise that Clinton's case led to acquittal. Clinton's case was a very, very strong circumstantial case, and I think a conviction was expected by many.
THOMAS DUROUX, CLINTON SPEEDY'S FATHER, IN BUSH: It's tough. It's very tough to come back out here like this. I really didn't feel like coming down here first up, but now it's... I feel a bit better for coming down and having a look now.
THOMAS DUROUX, CLINTON SPEEDY'S FATHER: Yeah, well, once he got off, there was sort of not a great deal of things we could do. We were just looking for more answers from the police and trying to get an understanding of what went on. There was no... we couldn't understand anything.
DET. INSP. GARY JUBELIN, NSW POLICE: I wasn't involved in the investigation at that stage, nor was I involved in the court proceedings. The matter was reviewed by police after it was brought to the attention by the community. Following that review, a decision was made to reopen the investigation. Each matter had to be investigated individually, but certainly the circumstances, you would have to draw the natural conclusion that there is a link between the matters. It certainly was an eye-opener, and they've taught me a lot of things and coming from being a homicide detective working in the city where most of my work was, what I found about this was the emotion that was attached to the investigation. There was so much pain, so much sorrow, shared not just by one family but a whole community. We would be speaking to witnesses that would be relaying events, some eight or nine years previous, and they'd break down in tears and that was the type of emotion that they were holding.
DR VIVIENNE TEDESCHI: Relationships between the Aboriginal community and the police certainly got a lot better when Gary and his partner, Jason Evers, took on the cases in 1997. Gary Jubelin stands alone as the most wonderful policeman I have ever met. One always has this feeling that a policeman, or a police person, just has to get on with the job, but he has such compassion.
DET. INSP. GARY JUBELIN, NSW POLICE: We had about a dozen detectives working on it initially. After about 18 months working full-time on the investigation, it was downscaled. We, at that point in time, were struggling. We didn't have sufficient evidence for any person to be charged. That's when I heard from a lady called Leonie Wilmshurst. Leonie was Clinton Speedy's sister-in-law. She was married to Clinton's brother, Marbuck.
LEONIE WILMSHURST, CLINTON SPEEDY'S SISTER-IN-LAW: The families are never going to heal until they get some closure. so I decided to start writing letters and demanding some answers and causing a bit of aggravation just to let people know that we hadn't forgotten about it, and that it was never going to be forgotten about until we had some answers. I think it was the beginning of a big thing for me. It just, it's totally consumed my life.
DET. INSP. GARY JUBELIN, NSW POLICE: Leonie's letter just came at the right time where I was starting to question, "Am I just banging my head against a brick wall?" We had doubts that, "Is it just getting too hard?" And it touched the chord with me. I could see, "Well, there are people still out there that care." So we’ve made an undertaking to continue on with our investigation, and that sort of... it motivate’s probably not the right word, but it helped us, it gave us energy to continue on with our task.
ABC NEWS - AUGUST 2004: A man considered the prime suspect in the murders of three Aboriginal children has faced an inquest 14 years later. Police believe ***** was responsible for killing the children who lived at a settlement at Bowraville on the state's mid-north coast.
DR VIVIENNE TEDESCHI: This inquest was to look into the circumstances surrounding the deaths of Colleen Walker and Evelyn Greenup. And as a result of that inquest, a man was charged with Evelyn Greenup's murder, who, in fact, was the same man who was charged and acquitted of Clinton Speedy's murder in 1994.
MICHELLE STRAEDE, EVELYN GREENUP'S AUNTY: When he was charged with it, we thought, "Oh, finally. Oh this is good. This is, we're getting somewhere." We could see light at the end of the tunnel. That something was going to happen.
ABC NEWS – FEBRUARY 6: On the first day of the trial the prosecutor revealed two alleged confessions by the accused, the first made while drinking with members of the Aboriginal community.
DET. INSP. GARY JUBELIN, NSW POLICE: I certainly was hopeful. I was hopeful that the evidence we had would have been sufficient for a conviction. But it was one of the most emotion-charged murder trials I have been involved in. There was a large amount of people sitting in court every day hanging on ever word that was said.
ABC NEWS – MARCH 3: A man has been acquitted of killing an Aboriginal girl on the state's mid-north coast 15 years ago.
MICHELLE STRAEDE, EVELYN GREENUP'S AUNTY: And my heart just fell...to my toes. I was just, I was so devastated. I felt like jumping up and screaming and swearing and cursing him.
DET. INSP. GARY JUBELIN, NSW POLICE: They obviously acquitted him because they didn't think there was sufficient evidence to convict the person. From a personal point of view I found it disappointing, but my disappointment was only a small portion of what the community felt.
REBECCA STADHAMS, EVELYN GREENUP'S MOTHER: I was really wild and really angry, you know. I had a water container in my hand and I just felt like throwing it out the window at him. But...just walked out of the courtroom just nice and calm, you know, didn't want to make a big scene and that, there.
DET. INSP. GARY JUBELIN, NSW POLICE: One of the questions that came out and came out very strongly was where do we go to now? Are we gonna walk away from this and is it gonna remain unsolved forever? A person had been charged, two occasions and two acquittals - where do we go now?
DR VIVIENNE TEDESCHI: The way the law is in New South Wales, that was the end of it, the person's acquitted. There was no point of law to appeal on and we're left sitting there feeling helpless. We slowly formed a little group called Ngindajumi, which means 'truth be told'.
PAULA CRAIG, COLLEEN WALKER'S SISTER: The hardest thing, I think, was that in Evelyn's trial no-one could mention Colleen or Clinton and let people know that there is a bigger picture to all this, that there was actually three kids murdered. There was no mention to the jury... I don't think anybody was allowed to even mention the other two kids.
DR VIVIENNE TEDESCHI IN SYDNEY: Today more than 20 people from Bowraville and surrounding areas on the mid-North Coast have come to Sydney to have a meeting with Dr Col Gellatly, the head of the Premier's Department. And we're going to be speaking about current new legislation that may effect the arrival of justice in our case.
DR VIVIENNE TEDESCHI: What we'd really like to see now is a change to the so-called double jeopardy principle. Now, this principle up to now has meant that if a person is acquitted of a major crime they can never be brought to trial again. A change to this principle would actually mean if there was fresh, new and compelling evidence that wasn't produced at the original trial then this person could be brought back to trial.
DET. INSP. GARY JUBELIN, NSW POLICE: If there are any legislative changes that would impact on the way matters can be investigated I will certainly explore that. We're currently working on some fresh information that's only recently come to my attention. From my point of view as the officer in charge of these investigations, the investigations into the murder of three children, do I think I know who's committed these murders? Yes, I do.
LEONIE WILMSHURST, CLINTON SPEEDY'S SISTER-IN-LAW: For me, resolving this issue has become more urgent because my partner, Marbuck, was diagnosed with a terminal illness in 2004. He was diagnosed with motor neurone disease. It's very difficult to see someone that you love go downhill like that. Having a sick husband is what motivates me to campaign more. Realistically, he may not be alive to see a retrial, if that is what's going to happen. But at least for him to see that some progress is being made and that we're one step closer would be really good. Marbuck just felt it's not right, it's not fair and he always wanted to see justice, you know, for his brother's murder, and it just felt like it was never going to happen.
REBECCA STADHAMS, EVELYN GREENUP'S MOTHER: Wonder what she would have looked like today. The only photos we have of her are when she was four years old. She had brothers and sisters that she'd never even met yet. The only there's to look at it is her photos. They say, "That's my sister Evelyn." And I say "Yeah, that's your sister Evelyn. She would have been 20 this year." Yeah, it did, messed up my life...a lot. I've got other kids with me you know, they keep me going.
PAULA CRAIG, COLLEEN WALKER'S SISTER: I always thought that me and Colleen would grow older together. And it's just like there's a piece of my life's been taken away because we've never had that chance to do things what sisters do together. I know our lives will never be the same. This person just took her life and took all of our lives when she went missing, so, I mean, a bit of us went with her.
DR VIVIENNE TEDESCHI: I've often wondered myself what me, a white woman, is doing in all of this. And, in fact, it's not about me, it's never been about me. It's about these black people and their children and their tragedy. And I'm really peripheral to the whole thing. I'm quite unimportant. And yet being here, I just want to help. And then when I'm not needed to help I can step back and just care and be their friend.
LEONIE WILMSHURST, CLINTON SPEEDY'S SISTER-IN-LAW: It would look funny to some people, saying, "What's these two white ones doing?" All I can say is that I've lived with Marbuck for nearly 13 years. We've got two boys. I'm doing it probably for exactly the same reasons is that Vivienne wants to help, is that we want to see justice and colour shouldn't matter.
LEONIE WILMSHURST, CLINTON SPEEDY'S SISTER-IN-LAW, IN SYDNEY: We met with Dr Col Gellatly, who is the head of the Premier's Department, today. I'm really pleased with the outcome of the meeting. Yes, the double jeopardy law is set to be introduced at the next session of Parliament. Yeah, I'm very excited about it - if it goes through. I mean, I've been told that a million times that it's coming, but I think to have someone so high up actually say it might mean that it's actually going to happen.
DET. INSP. GARY JUBELIN, NSW POLICE: Certainly at this stage, at this point in time, with the murder of these three children no-one has been called into account. So I'd have to say, no, justice hasn't been done. But what I can say and I think this is, if any comfort the community can take and the relatives can take, they know that people are in there really trying for them and trying to bring justice to the matter. No, we won't give up. You can't give up. It's not an option - three kids have been murdered. We've given an undertaking to the community. We can't give up on this. I sit here very comfortably sending a message out to the person that's murdered these people that we will do everything in our power, and I'm talking the whole of the New South Wales Police, to bring to justice the person that murdered three children. The pain's still very raw in that community. I think it would be extremely positive if it was resolved. I think it would bring closure and the community could move on.
But she didn’t see beyond the early hours of October 4, 1990. The four-year-old disappeared from her
mother’s bedroom and was never seen alive again.
Six months later her remains were found in bushland about four kilometres from her home in Bowraville on the NSW mid-north coast. Evelyn was murdered.
And she wasn’t the only one. On September 13, 1990, her cousin Colleen Walker, 16, was last seen at a party on the Bowraville Aboriginal Mission.
The only trace of Colleen was in April 1991, when a fisherman found her clothes in the Nambucca River. They had been weighted down with rocks.
Evelyn and Colleen’s cousin Clinton Speedy, also 16, disappeared from a caravan on the mission on February 2, 1991. His skeletal remains were the first found.
He and Colleen would have been in their mid-30s today. Had they lived.
But they didn’t. And the world for their grieving families has never been the same since.
Despite the ongoing efforts of NSW Police Force Homicide detectives from Strike Force Ancud, no one has ever been convicted of the three murders.
The same man has been tried before the NSW Supreme Court twice. Once for Clinton’s murder in February 1994 and once for Evelyn’s murder in March 2006. Both times he was acquitted.
The overwhelming grief felt by the three victims’ families has not eased in 20 years. But they have continued, relentlessly, to fight for justice.
In 2006, they campaigned the NSW Government to change the double jeopardy legislation, which would allow the same person to be tried again if fresh and compelling evidence was found.
While they were successful in having the law changed, an application to the DPP to have the matters tried again was refused.
This has not stopped the families. They have sought the assistance of The Public Interest Law Clearing House, a senior counsel and international law firm Allens Arthur Robinson.
Working on a pro bono basis they have been providing legal advice and assistance to the families in their efforts to seek justice for the murder of their children.
Currently the matter is before the NSW Attorney General. The families have been waiting for an outcome for the past seven months.
The families have been tireless in their pursuit of justice for their children. Leonie Duroux, Clinton’s
sister-in-law, believed it was the least they could do.
“We just want the authorities to take it seriously,” she said. “Three children from the same street were murdered. Where is the justice? It is hard to describe the pain. Nothing will bring Clinton back, but we owe it to him to do what we can.”
Evelyn’s aunt, Michelle Stadhams, said: “We want justice for our kids. Evelyn’s life was taken so early, she did not get a chance to live life or make an impact on the world. Justice would provide healing for the family and
community.”
Colleen’s mother Muriel Craig said her family’s grief had never stopped.
“Twenty years have past and the pain does not go away. We need to know what happened to her and find her,” she said.
Chris Fogerty, spokesperson for law firm Allens Arthur Robinson, explained why they took on the case and made the pro bono application for the families.
“This is a case that deserves wider attention and our team working on the matter is very committed to assisting the families in whatever way it can,” Mr Fogerty said.
“But there are sound legal reasons why they can’t comment on the nature or content of the work they are undertaking at this time.”
The matter is currently before the NSW Attorney General John Hatzistergos.
The man has been acquitted twice on murder charges following the deaths of three Bowraville children 20 years ago.
“The matter is currently being reviewed and is not yet resolved; as such, the Attorney General cannot provide any further comment on it,” a spokesman for Mr Hatzistergos said yesterday.
Colleen Walker, 16, Evelyn Greenup, 4, and Clinton Speedy, 16, were murdered in late 1990 and early 1991 at Bowraville.
The remains of Clinton Speedy and Evelyn Greenup were later found near the town.
The clothes last worn by Colleen Walker, weighted down by rocks, were found in the Nambucca River by a fisherman. Her remains have never been found.
Despite the efforts of NSW Police homicide detectives from Strike Force ANCUD, no-one has been convicted of the murders.
The same man was tried for the murder of Clinton Speedy in 1994 and for the murder of Evelyn Greenup in 2006.
He was acquitted on both occasions but the families of the three victims have continued their efforts to have him tried again.
In 2006 they campaigned successfully to have the NSW Government to change the double jeopardy legislation, which prevented anyone from being tried twice for the same crime.
The changes made four years ago mean that the same person could be tried again, if fresh and compelling evidence was found against the person and if in all the circumstances, a re-trial was in the interest of justice.
“We want justice for our kids,” said Evelyn Greenup’s aunt, Michelle Stradhams.
“Evelyn’s life was taken so early.
“Justice would provide healing for the family and community.”
The new legal push by the three Bowraville families is being assisted by The Public Interest Law Clearing House, a senior counsel and international law firm Allens Arthur Robinson, working on a pro bono basis.
“This is a case that deserves wider attention,” said spokesman for Allens Arthur Robinson, Chris Fogerty.
“Our team working on this matter is very committed to assisting the families in whatever way it can.”Late on Friday 29 October 2010, New South Wales Attorney-General John Hatzistergos announced what could be one of the most significant decisions in Australia's criminal law history. Twenty years after three Aboriginal children were murdered in the small mid-north coast town of Bowraville, the Attorney-General rejected a submission requesting that he retry a man acquitted of two of the murders and indict the same man for the third murder.
The Attorney-General's power to apply to the court for a retrial constitutes an exception to the 800-year-old principle of double jeopardy. That exception was introduced by the NSW legislature in December 2006, following a lengthy campaign waged by the families of the Bowraville murder victims.
Sixteen-year-old Colleen Walker disappeared in September 1990 after a party at an Aboriginal housing estate in Bowraville known as "the Mission". Three weeks later, four-year-old Evelyn Greenup was kidnapped from the bedroom in which she was sleeping with her mother and two brothers, three doors from the house at which Colleen Walker was last seen.
Following another party at the Mission in January 1991, 16-year-old Clinton Speedy disappeared from a local man's caravan, where he and his girlfriend were sleeping. Clinton Speedy's body was found two weeks later, dumped alongside a bush track, seven kilometres from Bowraville. A blanket and pillow slip from the caravan were found with Clinton's body. Evelyn Greenup's body was found off the same dirt track, three kilometres closer to town. No attempt was made to conceal either body. Both appeared to have suffered significant blows to the head.
Colleen Walker's body was never found, but her clothes were discovered by a fisherman, weighted down by rocks at the bottom of the Nambucca River in the vicinity of the same dirt track.
In April and October 1991, a local man was charged with the murders of Clinton Speedy and Evelyn Greenup respectively. There were significant similarities in the facts of the three murders which tied the accused to each of the victims. In each case, police identified an alleged sexual motive concerning either the victim or someone who was with the victim at the time of their disappearance.
However, in 1993, Justice Badgery-Parker decided that the trials for the two murders should be held separately. Accordingly, evidence of the murders of Colleen Walker and Evelyn Greenup was not admissible in the 1994 trial for the murder of Clinton Speedy. The accused was acquitted.
The man was eventually tried for the murder of Evelyn Greenup in 2006 following a coronial inquest, but again was acquitted. No charge has ever been laid in connection with Colleen Walker's death.
Detective Inspector Gary Jubelin has worked closely with the victims' families since a 1997 reinvestigation of the three murders. Jubelin recalls meeting with the families after the 2006 acquittal to discuss their options. He explained that, since the brief in relation to Colleen Walker's death was insufficient to warrant a charge, there was no other legal avenue to pursue a conviction of the accused man due to the principle of double jeopardy. The families' response was, "how do we get that changed?"
The Crimes (Appeal and Review) Act 2001 now provides for an acquitted person to be retried for a serious crime where there is "fresh and compelling evidence" and "it is in the interests of justice". In commending the 2006 Bill which introduced the double jeopardy exception, the leader of the National Party and Member for Oxley, Andrew Stoner, reflected on the Bowraville murders, stating that "the changes to the legislation ... give some hope to those families that justice may eventually be done".
Fourteen months ago, armed with the advice of Queen's Counsel, the Public Interest Law Clearing House requested that our firm draft submissions on a pro bono basis seeking the Attorney-General's intervention.
The families submitted that a court should, for the first time, have been presented with the evidence of all three murders together, because: since the 1993 decision to split the trials, the threshold for admissibility of similar fact evidence has been reduced with the introduction of the "tendency" and "coincidence" rules; evidence with respect to each of the murders would now be admissible under those rules in a trial for all three murders; if deemed admissible, that evidence would constitute "fresh" evidence as required and when viewed together, the evidence is "compelling" and it is "in the interests of justice" that a person suspected by police of killing three children over a five-month period, in similar circumstances, should be tried on the facts of those murders together.
At 4:30pm on the last Friday of October, eight months after the submissions were lodged with the Attorney-General's office, the families were informed that the matter would not be pursued. The Attorney-General expressed doubt as to the probative value of the evidence and was not satisfied that there were reasonable prospects of a conviction.
The Attorney-General's decision as to whether an application was warranted in this case was entirely discretionary. Nevertheless, this was an opportunity for the Attorney-General to test this important new legislation and allow a court to assess the significance of the evidence. It is an opportunity that this Attorney-General has passed up.
The families have since expressed their frustration at yet another setback. One fully appreciates that the Attorney-General's discretion should only be exercised in extraordinary circumstances, but the families argue that the circumstances of this case are extraordinary. The families were alarmed that Jubelin, who compiled the bulk of the relevant evidence during the 1997 reinvestigation, was not consulted as to the probative value of that evidence by either the DPP or the Attorney-General before their respective decisions to reject requests for a retrial.
Remarkably though, the families' resolve to continue in their pursuit of justice appears not to have waned. Our reading of the legislation is that the families would be entitled to submit an application in the future to the NSW Attorney-General.
For a group of families who have forever changed our justice system, that system has yet to provide the justice they have sought for 20 long years.
**Oscar Shub is a partner and Brendan Ferguson a lawyer at Allens Arthur Robinson. They were both a part of the legal team that drafted the submission to the Attorney-General on behalf of the Bowraville families.
Watch Online: Bowraville's Unfinished Business
Two of these children, four-year-old Evelyn Greenup and 16-year-old Clinton
Speedy-Duroux, were murdered. Colleen Walker, 16, is still missing, presumed
dead.
Over the years, the grieving families of these three victims have continued
their efforts to have the same man retried for the deaths. They believe the
circumstances surrounding all three deaths should be put before the Court at
the same time.
Now, changes to double jeapardy laws mean the families' hopes may be realise.
They hold hopes the Attorney-General will use his power under new retrial
laws to have the cases reopened.
Video journalist Kodie Bedford spoke with relatives of these lost children
in Bowraville about the pain they still suffer.
UPDATE
The families of the three Bowraville children whose deaths remain
unsolved have called for a parliamentary inquiry after New South Wales
Attorney-General John Hatzistergos rejected their application to pursue a
further trial.
Leonie Duroux, the sister-in-law of murder victim Clinton Speedy-Duroux,
said the families were very upset by the Attorney-General’s decision.
“We’ve got no justice. We kept our silence since the submission [was made].
We have been dignified, done all of the right things hoping the system would
give us a chance. All we wanted was a day in court,” Ms Duroux said.
The families argue the Attorney-General did not fully investigate the
matter.
“During the time the Attorney-General had the submission he didn’t make any
contact with the detective who has been investigating the case [and] no
contact with the witnesses,” she said.
“He didn’t come to Bowraville. For such an important decision he should’ve
visited the place”.
It’s been 20 years since three Aboriginal children disappeared over the
course of 5 months from the northern New South Wales town.
Sixteen year old Clinton Speedy-Duroux and four-year-old Evelyn Greenup were
murdered, their bodies found four kilometres apart in bushland just outside
the community.
Colleen Walker, 16, is still missing and presumed dead after her weighted
down clothes were discovered in the Nambucca River seven months after she
vanished in September 1990.
A Bowraville man was charged over the murders of Clinton and Evelyn but he
was separately tried and acquitted in both cases. No charge has been laid
for Colleen’s death.
The families have continued their efforts to have this same man retried,
believing the circumstances surrounding all three deaths should be put
before the courts at the same time.
In 2006 the State Government modified the double jeopardy law, allowing the
NSW courts to over ride this principle, which says an acquitted man cannot
be tried twice.
High profile law firm Allens Arthur Robinson made a submission to the
Attorney-General on behalf of the families to have the case reopened under
these new laws.
It took eight months for the Attorney-General to reach his decision.
In a statement to Living Black, lawyers acting for the families expressed
their disappointment.
“This was an opportunity for the Attorney to test this important new
legislation and allow a court to assess the significance of the evidence. It
is an opportunity that this Attorney has passed up”, lawyers Oscar Shub and
Brendan Ferguson said via a spokesperson.
The lead detective in the case Detective Inspector Gary Jubelin said he
would be meeting with the families in the near future.
“It is my intention to properly assess the information supplied by the
Attorney-General, then seek advice and see if there is anything further that
can be done to find justice of the families of the three murdered children.”
The Attorney-General released a statement last Friday saying he was
concerned nobody has been brought to justice over these deaths.
“Decisions of this type however must be made objectively and on the basis of
all the available evidence,” Mr Hatzistergos said.
“The Crown Advocate, The Director of Public Prosecutions and Solicitor
General have all considered this matter, and are of the view that there is
no reasonable prospect of success.”
The families of the three victims have said they will not give up but
conceded they are running out of options.
“If there was a change of parliament we could resubmit the submission [to a
new Attorney-General]”, Ms Duroux said.
“We’re not giving up just yet. We’re going to keep on fighting.”
TRANSCRIPT
MICHELLE STADHAMS, EVELYN’S AUNTY: Rebecca had come in and said, "Evelyn's missing", and I said to her, you know, "What do you mean missing?" I just started spinning because I just couldn't believe what I was hearing.
KODIE BEDFORD: Michelle Stadhams is reliving the night her niece Evelyn Greenup disappeared. It's now been 20 years since Evelyn's death, but the memories are still fresh.
MICHELLE STADHAMS: I had to go around and tell everybody else, you know, get up looking for her, we can't find her.
KODIE BEDFORD: Evelyn was one of three Aboriginal children to disappear from the Bowraville mission in northern NSW. All three disappeared over the course of five months. 16-year-old Colleen Walker was the first to go missing in September 1990. Her body was never found, but her weighted down clothes were discovered here in the Nambucca River seven months later. Four-year-old Evelyn was murdered in October 1990, and in February 1991, 16-year-old Clinton Speedy-Duroux had also been murdered. Both Clinton and Evelyn's remains were found four kilometres apart in the same tract of bushland just outside the town. For the families, the pain of losing their loved ones has been intensified by the fact no one has been convicted over their deaths.
DIANNE DUROUX, CLINTON’S AUNTY: The pain is still there. You know, I don't think it will ever go away. You know, to find out, you know, something like that had happened to him and where they found him and, you know, how he was found.
MICHELLE STADHAMS: We want justice. We want someone behind bars. We want to be able to say, "You did this to our girl, you took her away." We want someone to be accountable for taking her life.
KODIE BEDFORD: For the past 14 years, Detective Inspector Gary Jubelin has led the police investigation into the deaths. During that time he's become close to the grieving families.
DETECTIVE INSPECTOR GARY JUBELIN, NSW POLICE: They've taken comfort from the fact that people do care, and that people are trying to help them find out what happened to their children and then bring justice.
KODIE BEDFORD: A local Bowraville man was charged over the murders of Clinton and Evelyn, but he was separately tried and acquitted in both cases. No charge has yet been laid for Colleen's death. Over the years the families of the three victims have continued their efforts to have the same man retried for the deaths, believing that the circumstances surrounding all three deaths should be put before the court at the same time. And with the 2006 legislation now allowing the NSW courts to override changes to the double jeopardy principle, which says an acquitted person cannot be tried twice, they hold hopes that the NSW Attorney-General will use the new retrial laws to have the cases reopened. Sydney barrister Chris Barry believes it will be rare that a case is able to meet the strict criteria necessary for this to happen.
CHRIS BARRY, BARRISTER: For them to do that that they need to satisfy the court of criminal appeal that there is fresh and compelling evidence against the particular person and the court of criminal appeal needs to be satisfied that it's in the interests of justice that the person be retried. High profile law firm Allens Arthur Robinson has taken up the case on the families' behalf. In a statement to 'Living Black' they said: "This is a case that deserves wider attention and our team working on the matter is very committed to assisting the families in whatever way it can." The matter was submitted to the NSW Attorney-General eight months ago, and the families are still waiting on a decision. In the meantime, they are sustained by the memories of the children they lost.
DIANNE DUROUX: Dancing all the time. He was always doing some Michael Jackson move. Yeah, dressing the kids up when he used to stay with me.
MICHELLE STADHAMS: The first thing you'd see were her curls and her blue eyes and her smile. You know, we couldn't protect her in life but we're going to fight for her and make sure she gets the justice that she deserves. That's the least we could do for her, you know.
KODIE BEDFORD: It is not known how long it will be until the cases' future is determined.
A FORMER Bowraville resident may become the first person to be re-charged under changes to double jeopardy law which came into force in 2006.
The matter is currently before the NSW Attorney General John Hatzistergos.
The man has been acquitted twice on murder charges following the deaths of three Bowraville children 20 years ago.
“The matter is currently being reviewed and is not yet resolved; as such, the Attorney General cannot provide any further comment on it,” a spokesman for Mr Hatzistergos said yesterday.
Colleen Walker, 16, Evelyn Greenup, 4, and Clinton Speedy, 16, were murdered in late 1990 and early 1991 at Bowraville.
The remains of Clinton Speedy and Evelyn Greenup were later found near the town.
The clothes last worn by Colleen Walker, weighted down by rocks, were found in the Nambucca River by a fisherman. Her remains have never been found.
Despite the efforts of NSW Police homicide detectives from Strike Force ANCUD, no-one has been convicted of the murders.
The same man was tried for the murder of Clinton Speedy in 1994 and for the murder of Evelyn Greenup in 2006.
He was acquitted on both occasions but the families of the three victims have continued their efforts to have him tried again.
In 2006 they campaigned successfully to have the NSW Government to change the double jeopardy legislation, which prevented anyone from being tried twice for the same crime.
The changes made four years ago mean that the same person could be tried again, if fresh and compelling evidence was found against the person and if in all the circumstances, a re-trial was in the interest of justice.
“We want justice for our kids,” said Evelyn Greenup’s aunt, Michelle Stradhams.
“Evelyn’s life was taken so early.
“Justice would provide healing for the family and community.”
The new legal push by the three Bowraville families is being assisted by The Public Interest Law Clearing House, a senior counsel and international law firm Allens Arthur Robinson, working on a pro bono basis.
“This is a case that deserves wider attention,” said spokesman for Allens Arthur Robinson, Chris Fogerty.
“Our team working on this matter is very committed to assisting the families in whatever way it can.”