Operation Jarrah - the murders of four missing men in South Australia

[nominal_port_supporter]

Couldn't see a thread for this, though I believe it was posted about briefly in a General Crime chat thread. Pretty full on case with two main suspects - a father and son duo, the former I believe died in 2019, potentially responsible for at least four murders. A bit online but not a whole lot, the main articles I've found are:

• https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news...s/news-story/56f49bce4e47c2eb20463b75e2d335fb
• The life, crimes and death of the Beanie Bandit (two suspects are named in this)
• SA Police link four suspected 1990s murders

 

[stormbird]

From Crime Stoppers South Australia, 10 July 2018:

Reward of $1.6m available in connection with four linked unsolved murders

"Investigators believe there are probably only three people who know what happened in relation to each of these four men, which is part of the reason these cases remain unsolved.

The tight criminal group were mostly involved with theft, re-birthing stolen vehicles and drug trafficking – with the cigarette truck hijacking their most significant and serious offending before the police investigation disrupted their activities.

There is a total of $1.6 million available in rewards in connection with Operation Jarrah – not just for information leading to the conviction of the person responsible but for recovery of the remains of these four men."

---

"... these four men"? Juan Morgan is said to have been only 15 when he disappeared - about half the age of the other three - and he disappeared about six years earlier:

1992: Juan MORGAN, 15

1998: Leo DALY, 33

1998: David McWILLIAMS, 39

1999: Robert PENDERGAST, 31

Does anybody know how Juan was linked to the others?

 

[stormbird]

From the National Missing Persons Coordination Centre:

Juan Morgan

• missing since 1992
• last seen in South Australia
• 15 years old (born 1977)
• 180cm tall (5ft 11in)
• slim build
• blond hair
• brown eyes

Reward for information: $1 million

 

[nominal_port_supporter]

From the National Missing Persons Coordination Centre:

Juan Morgan

• missing since 1992
• last seen in South Australia
• 15 years old (born 1977)
• 180cm tall (5ft 11in)
• slim build
• blond hair
• brown eyes

Reward for information: $1 million

It says in one of the articles that all four victims "are believed to have been drug couriers killed over debts."

If there are three people who police think "know" what happened to the four and one of those is dead (2019), with the son still alive and recently incarcerated (maybe still is?) in a Darwin jail for drug trafficking, I wonder who the third suspect is?

If they also believe the father and son are likely responsible for the the murder of the "beanie bandit," I wonder if they potentially committed other murders? Five victims is already substantial, add more in and you're starting to get up there with some of Australia's worst known killers. It's a bit surprising this hasn't got more media attention.

 

[stormbird]

nominal_port_supporter, I'm guessing it's okay to name the key suspect and his father. The 2015 Advertiser article you linked to in post 1 says the son couldn't be named for legal reasons, but I've come across a few articles from more recent years which do name him.

This extract from 2020 is by the same reporter who wrote the 2015 article. I'm guessing he would have known if a non-publication order still applied, and apparently it didn't:

... "James Weston was well known to SA police. Also known as Rodney James Stanley, he has been the target in a long-running Major Crime Investigation Branch operation into three unsolved drug murders in Adelaide since 1998.

In 1999, Weston - along with his father Geoffrey James Stanley – was charged with one of the murders but the charge was later withdrawn.

The body of the victim, a fellow drug dealer, has never been found but is believed to have been dumped at sea."

- from Catching a kingpin: How police smashed SA mafia ring, Nigel Hunt, The Advertiser, 31 Jan 2020 (paywalled)

 

[stormbird]

From Call for clues in Juan Morgan suspected murder, Crime Stoppers South Australia, 31 Dec 1999:

"Juan Morgan was 15 years old when he went missing in 1992.
...

It is believed that sometime soon after 25 February 1992 Juan was taken to a location – possibly in the eastern region of country South Australia – where he was shot, killed and his body buried.

His suspected murder is thought to have been in retaliation to him stealing a car from a criminal associate and damaging property.

There are at least two suspects for Juan’s murder that are known to police.

At least one of the suspects is also believed to be involved in the disappearances and suspected murders of Leo Daly, David McWilliams and Robert Pendergast.
...

The key suspect in the suspected murders was the ringleader of a group of men involved in a variety of crimes, including car theft and re-birthing, drug-dealing and importation, stolen goods property-related offences and standover tactics throughout the 1990s.
...

A reward of up to $1,000,000 is on offer for information that leads to a successful conviction or recovery of the victim’s remains."

 

[nominal_port_supporter]

From Call for clues in Juan Morgan suspected murder, Crime Stoppers South Australia, 31 Dec 1999:

"Juan Morgan was 15 years old when he went missing in 1992.
...

It is believed that sometime soon after 25 February 1992 Juan was taken to a location – possibly in the eastern region of country South Australia – where he was shot, killed and his body buried.

His suspected murder is thought to have been in retaliation to him stealing a car from a criminal associate and damaging property.

There are at least two suspects for Juan’s murder that are known to police.

At least one of the suspects is also believed to be involved in the disappearances and suspected murders of Leo Daly, David McWilliams and Robert Pendergast.
...

The key suspect in the suspected murders was the ringleader of a group of men involved in a variety of crimes, including car theft and re-birthing, drug-dealing and importation, stolen goods property-related offences and standover tactics throughout the 1990s.
...

A reward of up to $1,000,000 is on offer for information that leads to a successful conviction or recovery of the victim’s remains."

The fact they were likely willing to murder him for "stealing a car from a criminal associate and damaging property" shows just how ruthless they were.

My previous post got removed because of the Reddit link, but if they're willing to murder over relatively trivial things like above, then you'd have to think they're likely responsible for more murders (beyond the five mentioned here).

I wonder how far police got with their investigations into Geoffrey James Stanley in the 2015 article you mentioned?