Unsolved The Wanda Beach Murders

On January 11, 1965, best friends and neighbours, Marianne Schmidt and Christine Sharrock, disappeared at Wanda Beach in Cronulla. They were just 15 years old.

The next day their bruised, battered and slashed bodies were found on the beach, partially covered by sand. More than 50 years later, no one has been charged with their murders, and their untimely deaths still haunt the shire community.

On the day of their disappearance the girls headed down to Wanda Beach, a small and isolated stretch in the Sydney suburb of Cronulla, with four of Marianne’s younger siblings in tow.

At some point during the picnic, Christine wandered off. No one knows where she went or what she was doing during that time, but after her death it was discovered she had consumed some alcohol and eaten some different foods to the rest of the group.

wanda-beach-650x507.jpg

Marianne's throat had been slashed. The murderer had attempted to rape both of the girls.
Around this time, eight-year-old Wolfgang noticed a boy hunting crabs. He said he saw the boy two more times - once with the two girls and another time walking alone.


However, Wolfgang has never been able to give an accurate description of the male, claiming at one time that he was carrying a homemade spear and at another time, a knife.

Around 1pm the group decided to go for a walk into the sandhills behind Wanda Beach. About halfway through their walk, the girls told the younger kids to wait while they headed back to the rocks to collect their bags and belongings.

That was the last time the four Schmidt siblings would see Marianne and Christine alive. They waited in the sandhills until 5pm, before collecting their belongings and heading home. At 8.30pm that night, the girls were reported missing.

Tomorrow night on the Wanda Beach murders. I wonder who they're talking about.

"Now, in a major investigation, Sunday Night will expose the killer.
Reporter Michael Usher reveals Wanda was just the beginning.
Police had the prime suspect, and the courts let him go.
Let him go to become one of the most heinous serial killers in modern history."

https://tvtonight.com.au/2018/06/sunday-night-june-10.html


This is another Michael Usher investigation.
 
Sep 6, 2005
144,446
94,353
AFL Club
Fremantle
Police had the prime suspect, and the courts let him go.
Let him go to become one of the most heinous serial killers in modern history.
One of the most heinous serial killers in modern history
Who?
Don't tell me the kid spear fishing turned out to be Ivan Milat?
 
  • Thread starter
  • Moderator
  • #7
One of the most heinous serial killers in modern history
Who?
Don't tell me the kid spear fishing turned out to be Ivan Milat?

He did a bit of travelling I think, couple of the people speaking in the clip have American accents. I have NFI who it might be. Christopher Wilder ..?
 
  • Thread starter
  • Moderator
  • #9
Sep 6, 2005
144,446
94,353
AFL Club
Fremantle
Or unless they mean this guy....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derek_Percy

Due to the nature of the attack, and based on documents in his possession, he also became a suspect in the Wanda Beach Murders and the Beaumont children disappearance, and in the individual murders of Allen Redston in Canberra in 1966, Linda Stilwell in St Kilda in 1968 and Simon Brook in Sydney in 1968.[3] He repeatedly stated that he could not remember whether or not he had committed any further crimes.[2][4] Detectives then started trying to piece together his movements around Australia at the time of the murders.[2] They were aware the family often took caravan holidays during yachting regattas near beaches (where most of the crimes took place), that his transfers within the navy brought him close to many of the crime scenes, and knew that Percy was harbouring paedophilic and psychopathic fantasies towards children.[1][2] In 2007, a cache of 35 boxes[1] of Percy's diaries, drawings, and newspaper clippings was found in a storage unit in South Melbourne, casting further suspicion on him.[3]

Based on these facts, investigators continued to pursue the following leads for nearly half a century:

  • Wanda Beach case – Percy was known to be visiting his friend's grandparents in Ryde at the time,[5] a house near to the homes of the victims.[6] Based on Identikits, witnesses recalled seeing a young man resembling Percy talking with the girls on the train and at the beach, and he was considered a leading suspect for the murders by the police.[5][7]
  • Beaumont case – Percy admitted to being at Glenelg Beach in Adelaide on a family trip on the day of the disappearance, but denied any involvement.[5]
  • Redston case- Canberra Police issued a description of a fair thin-faced teenager that they wanted to interview, and also released an Identikit image which closely resembled Percy. Percy later told police he had been in the capital, but that he was unable to remember any details.[5]
  • Stilwell case – In October 2014, a year after his death, he was formally ruled to have abducted and killed seven-year-old Stilwell [8] who disappeared while playing at the St Kilda foreshore in Melbourne on 10 August 1968. At the time, Percy had been transferred to the troop ship HMAS Sydney, and was on leave.[2]
  • Brook case – Percy had been stationed at the Cockatoo Dry Dock on Sydney Harbour at the time, and an Identikit of the suspect was similar to the Redston suspect.[5] A new inquest was held in 2005 with Percy as the prime suspect, but stalled due to lack of evidence.
 
Sep 6, 2005
144,446
94,353
AFL Club
Fremantle
He was the worst and he used electric shock, yep I think they might name him. A safe investigation for Michael Usher to name a dead man but it might be interesting.
Going back to this line -- one of the most heinous serial killers in modern history -- then you'd think it'd have to be Wilder.
 
  • Thread starter
  • Moderator
  • #19
Mar 21, 2016
73,845
116,759
Down South Corvus Tristis
AFL Club
Adelaide
Other Teams
Sturt, White Sox
It will be interesting to see which disappearances/murders they try and link him to. Looking at the wiki page I can see escalation but only after 1980. (which is why the timeline will be interesting)

His pre-1981 offences seem to be standard 'I'm a photographer now show me some skin' and then sexually assaults them. His Australian charges and 1982 bail non-passport loss is baffling. It seems these charges could have been the trigger that pushed him over the edge and into a 'nothing to lose' mentality.

*given that 7 name him
 

sprockets

Cancelled
Crime Board Sleuth BeanCoiNFT Investor
Oct 15, 2004
5,562
9,546
Melbourne
AFL Club
Richmond
Other Teams
Richmond
Didnt watch it. So someone dish the info.
As expected it was false advertising. They didn't name him as the murderer, just as a suspect and their only 'evidence' is that he was a blonde haired surfer and lived a few km away. Tell us something we don't know ch7.
 
Sep 6, 2005
144,446
94,353
AFL Club
Fremantle
As expected it was false advertising. They didn't name him as the murderer, just as a suspect and their only 'evidence' is that he was a blonde haired surfer and lived a few km away. Tell us something we don't know ch7.
Major letdown then. Typical free to air tv bs.
 
Back