Current Claremont Murders Discussion & Edwards trial updates pt4 - Beyond the Verdict

[Kurve]

Here is
- Claremont Murders - Part One and Part Two and Part 3
- Media
- The Bunker

• Hey Bret? Stalking Claremont the book.
• Justice Hall's Decision 619 pgs

 

[StevieMac]

But Cables Water Ski Park is no where near Wellard or a wind mill???? And what do you mean by no more than three meters? Also, there are huge power towers near where JR was found could they be what you are looking for? They are man made? Respectfully.

A little while ago this thread noted that the likelihood of any of Sarah's remains being found after c. 30 years is small. Clothing, therefore, is the only realistic clue to where BRE left her body. I am highly sceptical that anything but an accidental uncovering of clothing (like by a dog or building work) might answer that question, with respect to the sleuths on here.

 

[Wombot]

A little while ago this thread noted that the likelihood of any of Sarah's remains being found after c. 30 years is small. Clothing, therefore, is the only realistic clue to where BRE left her body. I am highly sceptical that anything but an accidental uncovering of clothing (like by a dog or building work) might answer that question, with respect to the sleuths on here.

Or a confession from the suspect. Maybe someone close to him could appeal to him.

 

[Macca180]

A little while ago this thread noted that the likelihood of any of Sarah's remains being found after c. 30 years is small. Clothing, therefore, is the only realistic clue to where BRE left her body. I am highly sceptical that anything but an accidental uncovering of clothing (like by a dog or building work) might answer that question, with respect to the sleuths on here.

Or a confession from the suspect. Maybe someone close to him could appeal to him.

Or dangle something in front of him. I don't know his jail conditions etc. But something like you are not getting out campaigner but if you want a play station or better tv (for example) tell us where the body is for the family etc.

 

[StevieMac]

Or a confession from the suspect. Maybe someone close to him could appeal to him.

Yes, indeed: if only there were the merest flicker of humanity in that particular person.

 

[Eaglette01]

IMO The Spectacles area is often mentioned in this case, (where oh where is dear Sarah)

Today/tonight it burns (yet again)

 

[Krusty Crab]

Or dangle something in front of him. I don't know his jail conditions etc. But something like you are not getting out campaigner but if you want a play station or better tv (for example) tell us where the body is for the family etc.

does he still have any possibility of appeal through the courts? if he reveals SS body location it pretty much locks him in as guilty, with possible more time. I think the only way he would reveal SS location is via possibility of earlier parole. At the moment he has a slim chance of some time being free (48 years old at arrest, plus 40 years before parole = possible parole at 88 years old). at the moment there is not much worth trading for the delay or removal of that parole date.

Also do we know if he is close to his parents? could be he wont discuss SS location while they are still alive as it confirms his guilt.

 

[Ostins_Park]

I wouldn't hesitate to break out the waterboarding gear in pursuit of the truth here.

 

[StevieMac]

does he still have any possibility of appeal through the courts? if he reveals SS body location it pretty much locks him in as guilty, with possible more time. I think the only way he would reveal SS location is via possibility of earlier parole. At the moment he has a slim chance of some time being free (48 years old at arrest, plus 40 years before parole = possible parole at 88 years old). at the moment there is not much worth trading for the delay or removal of that parole date.

Also do we know if he is close to his parents? could be he wont discuss SS location while they are still alive as it confirms his guilt.

If I recall he was refused legal aid to appeal, which course he didn't pursue. Hence the appeal window has run out, I reckon. A more comfortable prison life albeit at a later stage is probably the only gambit open to him should he tell where he left Sarah.

 

[Fifty n Closing]

does he still have any possibility of appeal through the courts? if he reveals SS body location it pretty much locks him in as guilty, with possible more time. I think the only way he would reveal SS location is via possibility of earlier parole. At the moment he has a slim chance of some time being free (48 years old at arrest, plus 40 years before parole = possible parole at 88 years old). at the moment there is not much worth trading for the delay or removal of that parole date.

Also do we know if he is close to his parents? could be he wont discuss SS location while they are still alive as it confirms his guilt.

I think it’s basically going to continue to be an unofficial agreement between the on going hierarchy of the powers that be in Western Australia that BRE will never be released.

That said is anyone familiar with the guidelines/laws that parole is governed by?

As in let’s say for instance if BRE continues to be a model prisoner for his entire non parole period and when eligible for release that he’s also deemed absolutely no risk to the community eg say due to his age/poor health/mobility etc, can he still be denied parole “just because”?

 

[Two Planks]

Has anyone ever asked Wendy Davis or the Karakatta cemetery girl why they didn't nominate BRE as a suspect when the Claremont murders started. Watched a few docos and can't see that question ever being asked. I know that they didn't know his identity in the cemetery attack at the time, but they could have publicly linked them.

 

[Macca180]

I know that they didn't know his identity in the cemetery attack at the time, but they could have publicly linked them.

Wasn't he wearing a balaclava?

 

[Ostins_Park]

Has anyone ever asked Wendy Davis or the Karakatta cemetery girl why they didn't nominate BRE as a suspect when the Claremont murders started. Watched a few docos and can't see that question ever being asked. I know that they didn't know his identity in the cemetery attack at the time, but they could have publicly linked them.

Wendy Davis explains in her book, 'Don't Make a Fuss...' that she was effectively stonewalled by authorities, including BREs employer Telstra.

Good point though about the overall failure to link the CSK crimes to any of BREs prior rap sheet. I mean, the Huntingdale prowler and the discarded Kimono were reported as unsolved crimes in Perth for years, it's amazing no one thought to link them to CSK.

The kimono was a very well known piece of evidence, and all along BREs DNA was on it, albeit that particular technology never came into play until many years after the crimes.

 

[Wombot]

does he still have any possibility of appeal through the courts? if he reveals SS body location it pretty much locks him in as guilty, with possible more time. I think the only way he would reveal SS location is via possibility of earlier parole. At the moment he has a slim chance of some time being free (48 years old at arrest, plus 40 years before parole = possible parole at 88 years old). at the moment there is not much worth trading for the delay or removal of that parole date.

Also do we know if he is close to his parents? could be he wont discuss SS location while they are still alive as it confirms his guilt.

If he is close to his parents maybe they could appeal to him and tell him it’s the right thing to do. Yes, he will have to admit guilt but he has already pled guilty to the Karrakatta attack. So what integrity does he have left after such a horrendous crime? (Maybe he claims he only pled guilty to that to help fight the murder charges).

Any facade he maintains to anybody that he is innocent is ridiculous. Anyone close to him needs to be straight with him for the sake of another family who want to know the closure of fate of their daughter.

In fairness, maybe those close to him have tried.

 

[Fifty n Closing]

If he is close to his parents maybe they could appeal to him and tell him it’s the right thing to do. Yes, he will have to admit guilt but he has already pled guilty to the Karrakatta attack. So what integrity does he have left after such a horrendous crime? (Maybe he claims he only pled guilty to that to help fight the murder charges).

Any facade he maintains to anybody that he is innocent is ridiculous. Anyone close to him needs to be straight with him for the sake of another family who want to know the closure of fate of their daughter.

In fairness, maybe those close to him have tried.

He never had a leg to stand on and could plead nothing but guilty with respects to the Karrakatta attack in any case as the DNA samples obtained from her were compelling and directly linked him.

It would be interesting to know what if any involvement the likes of his parents have with him nowadays?

 

[Inspector Small]

Wendy Davis explains in her book, 'Don't Make a Fuss...' that she was effectively stonewalled by authorities, including BREs employer Telstra.

Good point though about the overall failure to link the CSK crimes to any of BREs prior rap sheet. I mean, the Huntingdale prowler and the discarded Kimono were reported as unsolved crimes in Perth for years, it's amazing no one thought to link them to CSK.

The kimono was a very well known piece of evidence, and all along BREs DNA was on it, albeit that particular technology never came into play until many years after the crimes.

The Karakatta cemetery attack is the one that I find just incomprehensible from a police perspective.

It happens within months of the other attacks at the same location. She is abducted like the others. She gives evidence of being tied up with electrical cable or (telecommunications cable).

Instead of linking this attack as they should have, they go hunting taxi drivers, civil servants with no connection at all really. If they had done their job properly perhaps some of the victims would still be alive.

Police incompetence at its finest.

 

[largebus]

Police made mistakes for sure but there's a lot of hindsight hero on here.
They only made a positive match between DNA on Ciara Glennon's fingernails and the Karrakatta victim in 2015. The techniques they used to match them didnt exist until a few years before that.

They certainly couldve made the connection re the Telstra cable ties but they wouldnt be able to convict him just on that and the DNA field was a lot more primitive then. Looking up similar cases wouldve been a far less exacting exercise in those days as well

 

[Ostins_Park]

Police made mistakes for sure but there's a lot of hindsight hero on here.
They only made a positive match between DNA on Ciara Glennon's fingernails and the Karrakatta victim in 2015. The techniques they used to match them didnt exist until a few years before that.

They certainly couldve made the connection re the Telstra cable ties but they wouldnt be able to convict him just on that and the DNA field was a lot more primitive then. Looking up similar cases wouldve been a far less exacting exercise in those days as well

Respectfully disagree re the hindsight aspect.

Regardless of DNA technology, the police for years made no link whatsoever between Karrakatta and the CSK crimes, which is nuts considering the elements Leon mentioned.

They failed to make the link to the Wendy Davis assault.

And they failed to make the link to the Huntingdale Prowler and the Kimono, an unsolved crime that was heavily reported on in Perth for years.

The fixation on certain suspects at the expense of clean investigation was another baffling element. I'm a big supporter of the work the police do to solve these crimes and they deserve credit for finally getting this one sorted, but I do hope there was at the very least an internal inquiry into the failings of the Macro task force.

 

[largebus]

Respectfully disagree re the hindsight aspect.

Regardless of DNA technology, the police for years made no link whatsoever between Karrakatta and the CSK crimes, which is nuts considering the elements Leon mentioned.

They failed to make the link to the Wendy Davis assault.

And they failed to make the link to the Huntingdale Prowler and the Kimono, an unsolved crime that was heavily reported on in Perth for years.

The fixation on certain suspects at the expense of clean investigation was another baffling element. I'm a big supporter of the work the police do to solve these crimes and they deserve credit for finally getting this one sorted, but I do hope there was at the very least an internal inquiry into the failings of the Macro task force.

I agree re the fixation on taxi drivers and Lance Williams, although it becomes clear why they got tunnel vision when you realise the original head of Macro was the same careerist cop who got Andrew Mallard wrongfully locked up for 12 years.

I do think you're oversimplifying of linking those crimes together like it's CSI and you just plug in the DNA into a computer and get a match. It's much more difficult and painstaking doing it in real life, and it's not like they were the only crimes that occurred in the area or with similar characteristics.
They suspected those were linked for years but they only discovered the DNA on Glennon's fingernails in 2008 after flying it to the UK. They only then made a positive ID for the Karrakatta victim in 2015. They then had to match it with a sample taken in 1990 when DNA was in its infancy.

With hindsight I think the single biggest sliding doors moment was before the murders: the Karrakatta victim said she lost her licence and BRE had handled it. It was found by someone in the park she was abducted from, but they didn't tell police until Macro re-investigated the case (thinking they were linked, contrary to what you've claimed) and door-knocked the area.

Had it been recovered earlier it would've likely had fingerprints on it that could've been matched to those taken in 1990 and at least 2 of the women would still be alive today. But then again like DNA, exact fingerprints can be hard to get.

 

[Fifty n Closing]

I agree re the fixation on taxi drivers and Lance Williams, although it becomes clear why they got tunnel vision when you realise the original head of Macro was the same careerist cop who got Andrew Mallard wrongfully locked up for 12 years.

I do think you're oversimplifying of linking those crimes together like it's CSI and you just plug in the DNA into a computer and get a match. It's much more difficult and painstaking doing it in real life, and it's not like they were the only crimes that occurred in the area or with similar characteristics.
They suspected those were linked for years but they only discovered the DNA on Glennon's fingernails in 2008 after flying it to the UK. They only then made a positive ID for the Karrakatta victim in 2015. They then had to match it with a sample taken in 1990 when DNA was in its infancy.

With hindsight I think the single biggest sliding doors moment was before the murders: the Karrakatta victim said she lost her licence and BRE had handled it. It was found by someone in the park she was abducted from, but they didn't tell police until Macro re-investigated the case (thinking they were linked, contrary to what you've claimed) and door-knocked the area.

Had it been recovered earlier it would've likely had fingerprints on it that could've been matched to those taken in 1990 and at least 2 of the women would still be alive today. But then again like DNA, exact fingerprints can be hard to get.

Ciara’s DNA profile was linked immediately to the 1995 unsolved Karrakatta rape in 2009 by Laurie Webb once he’d entered it into WA’s DNA database, it wasnt until 2016 until the random testing of the Huntingdale kimono where it also then provided a match to CG and Karrakatta.

If we talk about a “sliding doors” moment (in conjunction with some great investigative work) but by the grace of god if it wasn’t for his finger prints left behind during one of the Huntingdale attacks/disturbances and then matched with his finger prints taken from Hollywood hospital following his attack on WD, there would be a very real chance that Claremont would have remained unsolved.

 

[Eaglette01]

​

still a $1,000,000 reward awaiting

Former Attorney General also speaks on Ch9 news pleading for the monster BRE to reveal where SS is

All over the 6pm News tonight Ch9 also:

Sarah Spiers vanished 30 years ago. On the anniversary of her disappearance, WA Police vow to never give up​

Sarah Spiers vanished 30 years ago. On the anniversary of her disappearance, WA Police vow to never give up

On the 30th anniversary of Sarah Spiers’ disappearance, West Australian police say they will never give up trying to find her body.

www.watoday.com.au

It was a hot night, and one neighbour described having left her window open.

“Early in the morning, she thinks it was about 3.00 am, she was either awake or was awoken by screams,” Edwards’ murder trial was told.

“She thinks she heard about three screams, which she described as very high-pitched, desperate, bloodcurdling, terrible screams.”

Another neighbour said he heard the same, and described the scream as “very distressing”. Another said the scream pierced the quiet, still night and was “horrific.”

It was the last anyone heard what is believed to be Spiers, and she was formally reported missing days later.

 

[largebus]

More police mistakes revealed.

Bret Christian has more details on the horse trainer "John" who claims he saw a dark-haired man and Telstra vehicle backed up to a telco hut on the morning after Sarah Spiers disappeared.

https://issuu.com/postnews/docs/post_newspapers_31_january_2026?fr=sOGQ4NzgzNTQzNzk

• John was training horses when he saw the man come out of the bush with a shovel, the man saw him and went back into the bush. John then took off, fearing for his safety. Of course when it happened he had no idea who Sarah Spiers was and didn't make a connection after her disappearance was reported
• He was persuaded by his family not to go to police because they might suspect him, but after the two after women were killed he went to them in October 1997. Police more or less ignored his statement, and it was part of a 2004 international cold case review, even though that review found a Telstra connection with the murders
• The hut was demolished in 2018, the Post visited the site and found nothing of note other than the lock to the hut door

His credibility wasn't helped by not going to police sooner but that it wasn't part of the cold case review is odd to say the least.

 

[Inspector Small]

More police mistakes revealed.

Bret Christian has more details on the horse trainer "John" who claims he saw a dark-haired man and Telstra vehicle backed up to a telco hut on the morning after Sarah Spiers disappeared.

https://issuu.com/postnews/docs/post_newspapers_31_january_2026?fr=sOGQ4NzgzNTQzNzk

• John was training horses when he saw the man come out of the bush with a shovel, the man saw him and went back into the bush. John then took off, fearing for his safety. Of course when it happened he had no idea who Sarah Spiers was and didn't make a connection after her disappearance was reported
• He was persuaded by his family not to go to police because they might suspect him, but after the two after women were killed he went to them in October 1997. Police more or less ignored his statement, and it was part of a 2004 international cold case review, even though that review found a Telstra connection with the murders
• The hut was demolished in 2018, the Post visited the site and found nothing of note other than the lock to the hut door

His credibility wasn't helped by not going to police sooner but that it wasn't part of the cold case review is odd to say the least.

The issue with the police is they seem to get an idea/ theory in their mind and then try and prove it. They then ignore everything outside that theory. We see the same mistakes in every jurisdiction in Australia. In NSW the obvious one is William Tyrrell. People are calling for a review or enquiry, but you could easily make that enquiry national. I think it gets down to how police are recruited, promoted and deployed. It is a macho culture where braun seems to be valued over thoughtful analysis. Clever people solve these sort of crimes and I am afraid the people that entered the police when I was at school were not the top of the class.

 

[Ostins_Park]

Absolutely infuriating that they failed to search the Hills Tesltra hut before it was demolished in 2018, after they already had BRE in custody and were well aware of the Telstra link.

How do they miss this? Okay, so the report is made by John in 1997 and they have Edwards in custody 20 years later. Surely the newer detectives on the case aren't trawling through paperwork in manila folders. You'd think there would be a database, with tagged items like 'reported possible sightings' and maybe some pins on a map. Within hours of his arrest surely you'd have a team up at the Hills going over the hut with a fine tooth comb?

Anything else is rank incompetence.

 

[StevieMac]

I think it’s basically going to continue to be an unofficial agreement between the on going hierarchy of the powers that be in Western Australia that BRE will never be released.

That said is anyone familiar with the guidelines/laws that parole is governed by?

As in let’s say for instance if BRE continues to be a model prisoner for his entire non parole period and when eligible for release that he’s also deemed absolutely no risk to the community eg say due to his age/poor health/mobility etc, can he still be denied parole “just because”?

While it might cause outrage at a date far in the future, BRE could be released if the conditions you speak of are met. He'd be a very old man by then.

 

[FeelingThroaty]

IMO The Spectacles area is often mentioned in this case, (where oh where is dear Sarah)

Today/tonight it burns (yet again)

View attachment 2502964


View attachment 2502965

This is on my line theory. Also where I believe BRE left his beer stubbies. Which are still there.