The Claremont Serial Killer

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Hello All,

Anyone out there following this somewhat cold, but unsolved case? This nefarious psychopath is still at large somewhere in Australia unless he is dead, in jail for some other crime or incapacitated in some may. He operated in Perth, Western Australia's suburb of Claremont extensively in 1996/97 and was never identified. He is still at large and he will still be at it too.

I would be most interested in hearing from you here if you do follow the case. Would like to discuss all aspects about this subject, but I must admit I am interested mainly in trying to figure out which of the 'missing' men and women in Western Australia can safely be attributed to this brute and I am also interested in drawing up a 'realistic' profile of this character, which might lead to his apprehension and conviction.

Enough is enough.

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The Claremont Serial Killer (CSK) was operating at full speed when he first struck Claremont. He took three young women in the space of a little over a year. All were abducted late at night, had been consuming alcohol, and had wandered into the dimly lighted fringes of the night club area presumably looking for a taxi or attempting to walk home because none were available. Taxis are hard to come by in this city and especially on the week-ends from what I can gather.

There has been much speculation that CSK is a classy guy who is able to cajole his victims to get into his automobile. Some think it is a taxi driver, policeman, or some other stranger of trust who those girls would have thought genuine. There are indications that this is not the case at all, but that the girls, already addled by drinking, were simply and easily ambushed in the darkness and then placed into the assailants vehicle. Two have been found miles from Perth and one has not ever been located. I do not believe CSK always uses his vehicle. Sometimes he uses his victims car for the abduction and disposes closer to home then ditches the car. He would then either make his way home on foot or public transport if it were still available.

Couple of things are for sure. CSK was fearless when it come to taking risks and he had prior experience and a well thought out plan. He was at the peak of his career when he was first noticed by the general public. As stated, he has not been apprehended and is still at large. Therefore he is still active because serial killers don't stop completely from what I understand.

I have tried to track CSK's movements around the state, from his rural starting point up to today, by examining the trail of still missing persons, particularly women, and by noticing he has periods of time when he moves away from the Perth area only to return, kill again, and then move on again. Sometimes he is away for as long as a few years. Perhaps in Eastern Australian cities living and working and doing his horrible interest.

What brought this to the foreground for me now is I think he is back in town. We, like all places, have our unfair share of murders and assaults, but this guy is different. Early last month we had a lady depart evening dance classes at a suburban neighborhood recreation centre. This attractive professional lady was on her way home to her husband and children. She never made it. Her abandon automobile was discovered about a week later on a quiet neighborhood street. Through a stroke of luck her car had been leaking transmission fluid and the police followed the trail to nearby where she was buried in a huge park area in the heart of the city. If you want to read more about this horrible event just Google her name "Corryn Rayney". But this incident just has CSK written all over it. Normally when he uses his vehicle he takes his victims miles away to dispose. When he abducts the victim and uses her vehicle he doesn't take the body very far at all. It is not always the same m.o. with this psychopathic creep. Let's hope there is enough forensic evidence for police to determine who he is this time.

As time, and time for thought, becomes available I will piece together in as good explanation as I can what I have come to learn about this evil man who is plaguing our city, state and nation. Sure, I might be entirely wrong, but then again I just might not be.

If you are familiar with the case and want to share knowledge about it, once again I invite you to hop in here and have a go.

Later -

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This is a television program transcript of the Australian Broadcast Corporation's Australian Story. It covers events set off by the Claremont Serial Killer from Jan 1996 to February 2004.

I will have to make multiple posts.


AUSTRALIAN STORY

He Who Waits

PROGRAM TRANSCRIPT: Monday, 9 February , 2004

CAROLINE JONES: Hello, I'm Caroline Jones. Tonight's story takes us inside Australia's longest-running and most expensive murder investigation. Eight years ago, three young women went missing from the wealthy Perth suburb of Claremont. Two of the girls were found murdered. The body of the third has never been discovered. Now some are suggesting that the subsequent disappearance of other young women from different areas of Perth could possibly be linked, an idea strongly rejected by the Claremont investigators. What's not in dispute is that the heartache and controversy surrounding the Claremont killings has not faded with time. Now pressure is building for a fresh approach.


ROBIN NAPPER – FORENSIC SCIENCE UNIT: People have to realise that serial killers don't walk around with horns sticking out of their head. They look like normal people. They look like your neighbour. But by night, that's when the really evil side comes out and they go off hunting and prowling for victims. And they simply just can't stop. They have to keep on and on. It's like food and water, to us.

So, there is this compulsion to kill and to keep on killing and to get better and better each time that they do it. They can't take victims unless they can actually get close to victims and be friendly and actually lure them into cars or take them away. So, the persona they will present to the world is one of a very friendly - maybe a little bit offbeat, maybe a little bit strange, but nevertheless a non-dangerous person.


BRET CHRISTIAN – EDITOR, POST NEWSPAPERS: Claremont was never looked on as a dangerous place. Claremont's a well-heeled area which has something of an entertainment centre. There's a nightclub and a hotel there. In the mid-1990s, three girls in a fairly short space of time went missing after visiting those nightspots.

Well, it totally traumatised our backyard. The girls had been there probably as kids shopping with their mothers, and then at night they would go there, you know, for fun, to have a few drinks, meet some friends, and suddenly it became a hellhole, somewhere where people disappeared from.


DON SPIERS: Sarah had been at Club Bayview in Claremont with friends of hers. When she left, her friends weren't ready to go, so she left early to make a phone call for a taxi. When the taxi-driver arrived she was not there. It was probably only three minutes after the appointment. Well, initially you like to presume that there's something minor wrong and that, you know, everything will work out - that maybe she's gone with friends somewhere and hasn't been able to return. But we knew that there was something serious wrong because Sarah just simply would not fail to communicate with us under any circumstances. You know, our love was so strong that she wouldn't do that to us, you know?


CAPTION: Sarah Spiers disappeared about 2am on 27th January 1996. She has never been found.


DON SPIEARS: People ask me, "How do you cope?" And you don't "cope" - you learn to preoccupy yourself. I mean, I keep myself so busy that my mind's occupied all the time. I only have to have two or three hours off and I start to, you know, become a bit depressed. My day starts at 5:00 in the morning and I very rarely knock off before 8:00 in the evening. I admit now - I've always sort of probably been accepted as a fairly...fairly strong and rugged sort of a character, but, um, you know, I confess I cried myself to sleep for over 12 months in the initial... in the initial journey. And, you know, I'm not ashamed. Not ashamed of that at all.


CAPTION: On 9th June 1996, four months after Sarah Spiers vanished, Jane Rimmer disappeared in similar circumstances. Believing there was a connection, the next day police set up the MACRO Task Force.


TREVOR RIMMER: The police came round and they told me that, um... .that they'd found Jane's body. And, um... .that was the... the end of the night. That just... Everything broke down. That was just so hard. Because at that time, I guess, we were still hoping against hope, in our hearts... .that she was still alive...even though we knew in our heads that the odds were very much against it.


JENNY RIMMER: You wonder when it happens, "Why was it my daughter that night?" I mean, which is not a very nice thing to say, but you naturally think that. And I think she just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. You know, it could've been anyone. I just couldn't believe it.


CAPTION: Two months later, Jane Rimmer’s body was found.

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Australian Story Part II

POLICE RE-CREATION: On 14 March, just over a week ago, was a night just like this. Ciara Glennon left the hotel that's just behind me and hasn't been seen since. She's the third young woman that this has occurred to in 14 months in this area.


DENIS GLENNON – PRESS CONFERENCE: Only now do I even begin to understand, um, the terrible trauma that the parents of Jane and Sarah went through, and...and the degree of empathy that I have with them now is just enormous. No parent who loves their child, even a child of 28 like Ciara was, can even begin to comprehend the devastating thing that this is in any family.


CAPTION: Nine months later, in march 1997, a third girl, Ciara Glennon went missing from Claremont.


NEWS REPORT: We want to move quickly to see if we can get information while it is fresh in people's minds.
NEWS GRAB: We certainly have fears that there is a serial killer at loose in Perth.
NEWS REPORTER: Police are collecting body specimens from potential suspects.
NEWS GRAB: It wasn't, like, a prostitute or anything - just a normal family girl. It's really quite terrifying.


DET. SGT PAUL COOMBES – MACRO TASK LEADER: The State of Western Australia, I believe, was in a state of shock upon the disappearance of Ciara Glennon. For three people to disappear from relatively safe streets without a trace was very disturbing.

The investigation has continued full-time for over seven years, and that in itself is very unique. It is the biggest ever in this State and in the history of WA policing, and possibly the largest investigation ever conducted in Australia.


DAVID CAPORN – HEAD MACRO TASK FORCE: I think one of the very tangible ways that this crime could be solved is in the tracing of the particularly significant items of jewellery that are missing in relation to this case.


DET. SGT LEE: What I'm showing you now is replicas of the clothing worn by all of the girls on the night of their disappearance, firstly starting with Sarah's clothing. And in particular we'd like to locate a key ring, a sunflower key ring. Um, most notable with Jane's clothing and property is the small bag. And with Ciara's clothing, the most notable is the small brooch.


DAVID CAPRON: Those are the sort of pieces of information that could assist the task force to resolve this matter.


NEWS REPORTER: Amid growing fears the killer would strike again soon, a breakthrough - MACRO Task Force detectives swooping on a suspect at 3 o'clock Sunday morning as he prowled around Claremont streets in his car.


BRET CHRISTIAN: There is a man that the police have been watching from very early on in the investigation, and he appears to be a prime suspect. Vast amounts of resources have gone into watching his every movement, to following him, to surveilling him in all sorts of different ways.


JENNY RIMMER: Well, the only thing I can say is that if he had nothing to do with it, I feel really sorry for him. If they're so confident, I can't understand why he hasn't been charged. There's obviously something lacking after, like, seven years. They still can't put their finger on it, so it's very hard to comprehend.


BRET CHRISTIAN: I think our community's been lulled into a false sense of security by the - sort of the sly nod and the wink that, "Look, we really know who's done this. We've been watching him. "And since we've been watching him there's been no other murders." That's actually wrong. There HAVE been other murders - just not any more in Claremont.


DAVID CAPORN: We can't eliminate the possibility that there is another crime that's been committed that's linked to the Claremont crime, but there is no indication of any significance that we have had a linked one since Ciara Glennon's disappearance and, ultimately, her murder. Certainly, there have been times when the media have led the community to believe that we're only interested in one person. I can assure you that we've looked far and wide, and that as every year goes by, several people are looked at very closely.

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Australian Story Part III

JENNY RIMMER: I don't think it'll be solved. I think too much time has gone past. They should have caught the person by now. We know there are other girls that have gone missing, and... .I mean, I haven't heard much about a lot of those other girls.


ROBIN NAPPER: You cannot divorce the three missing girls from Claremont with all the other missing people, because it's unsolved. He's still out there.


CAPTION: At 5pm on November 8 2000, Sarah McMahon left her workplace in Claremont. She said she was going to meet a friend. She vanished without a trace. Ten days later her car was found at the Swan District Hospital.


TRISH MCMAHON: The police said no, it had nothing to do with the Claremont girls missing. We just didn't have to even think about that. It was nothing to do with that at all. But they said because of the circumstances of Sarah's disappearance, that it was highly likely that Sarah had been murdered or that she was dead. I took it the only way I could - I don't believe it. I want facts.

I don't want to have to deal with what the police THINK. I want to be able to have tangible facts. People say, "Well, you know, it's been three years, you know. "You have to get on with your life." How can we? How can we? There are so many unanswered questions.


DON SPIERS: You know, people that perpetrate these sort of activities have no...no grasp of the torment and pain that they put families through. If they could just have a bit of an insight as to what they've done to numerous people... It's not just the families - like, the brothers, sisters and parents - but there's the uncles, the cousins, the aunties, the grandparents.


JENNY RIMMER: But it's also impacted on a lot of our friends and our relations.
We pour three glasses of champagne and an extra one for Janie, and we drink ours and enjoy it, and then we pour hers on the plaque. My girlfriends and I do that quite often, actually, on her birthday - go down there with the Blush champagne, which was her favourite. We...that makes you feel really good. I think, anyway. Mmm.


DON SPIERS: Our situation's a little bit different to the Glennons' and the Rimmers', because their two girls have been found. We still haven't had either of the questions answered as to where Sarah is and what's actually happened to her. Another big problem that we've had has been clairvoyants. They have been a huge torment to myself and my family in giving cryptic clues as to where Sarah might be. I remember one night early days I was down Salter Point, you know, thrashing around the swampy areas down there at 11 o'clock at night. Um...probably walking around bawling my eyes out and getting nowhere. I mean, a lot of times I've known I shouldn't have listened, but I've always thought that maybe they're using that excuse of being a clairvoyant to give me some honest facts.


TRISH MCMAHON: I've been to Melbourne, put up posters in Melbourne. I've been to Sydney, going out with the soup van. My son's travelled up the coast putting up posters. We've done as much as we can. I don't know what else to do... ..you know? I haven't got the resources. I just haven't got the resources. I...I want to be out there now.


BRET CHRISTIAN: There are about 16 murders or disappearances of women since the late 1980s that remain unsolved in Perth. That's something that hasn't really registered in the public mind - that the 16 disappearances, or a large proportion of those, could be the work of one person. I think MACRO should live up to its name and go and look at the really big picture again and try and connect the dots.


ROBIN NAPPER: The UK police service learnt a very painful lesson in the 1970s with the Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe. He was found almost by accident. Because of information overload, they'd been chasing other leads down the wrong path and they'd missed him, and lives could have been saved. As a result of that, one of the recommendations was the creation of the National Crime Faculty, who would do independent case reviews, so in the future when complex murder investigations occurred, an independent team would come in and look at the whole case independently to get another perspective on the investigation.

An independent case review will bring in experts from all the different fields - geographic profilers, forensic profilers, different pathologists, different investigators. And the host force gives them the material, then they literally stand back and leave them to it to do the whole review. This Claremont case has now remained unsolved for eight years, and in my view it's almost crying out for a full, comprehensive case review where we get experts from round the world, we look at world's best practice, and we adopt it to this case to try and solve it once and for all.


DAVID CAPORN: I don't know of any other investigation that has been audited and reviewed as much as the MACRO investigation. We have employed people in this State and also people in other parts of Australia with significant homicide investigation background, particularly in relation to serial crime, to conduct comprehensive reviews of the inquiry. Other things that we've done is to employ investigators within this State to review particular streams of evidence, so rather than give them the whole investigation review, we'll give them bite-sized pieces. We've also sent our case file to numerous experts throughout the world - United Kingdom, United States - allowing those people full access to our information to get opinions, views.


ROBIN NAPPER: It's how you look at the word "review". A complex investigation is like a huge jigsaw puzzle, and you cannot solve that by sending one piece of the jigsaw puzzle off to an expert overseas and asking him to tell you what the picture is. The whole point of an independent review is, you get everyone together at the same time and at the same place with the same material. That's the synergy that's solved some of the most complex murders since the Yorkshire Ripper case.

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Australian Story Part IV

COMMANDER ANDY BAKER – HEAD HOMICIDE: Sometimes you can't see the wood for the trees. You're so close to it, you may have tunnel vision. So, you need someone to come in and say, "Step back." We have found it's been difficult for other offices, whether in the UK or across the world, to accept others coming in, but the parameters are that this is a search for truth every single time. It may hurt someone, but it's got to be a search for the truth, 'cause the truth will come out.


ROBIN NAPPER: There is so much help in there, like the National Crime Faculty in the UK, who are experts and skilled in these case reviews, who, without a doubt, would come and help in this case review.


DAVE BARCLAY: We're certainly supporting MACRO here at National Crime Faculty, but with some specific things that we have that other people don't, like the injuries database. It would be fair to say that we have not made an effective contribution to MACRO. I've had a go at it. A colleague of mine who's a specialist advisor has had a go too. We just don't have enough information at this distance.


PAUL COOMBES – MACRO TASK FORCE: I believe that the investigation team itself are still very well positioned to be able to resolve the matters. We're very confident in the advances in forensic technology, and that is one of the reasons why we have instigated a forensic review to go back to the beginning and look at what we do hold on this case. We believe that that may, with what we hold, open the case up to enable us to get to a stage where we can prosecute.


DAVE BARCLAY – NATIONAL CRIME FACULTY: Most opportunities arise from lack of thought, not lack of technology. When you look at it, it isn't DNA that solves these crimes. It's basic reassessment of the crime scene by somebody else. Helps a lot.


COMMANDER ANDY BAKER: I think if the Claremont case had been investigated in the UK, I'm not confident that it would've been detected in the UK, either. Now, from what we've seen of what's been done, it's been pretty good and pretty extensive. The thing that HASN'T been done, I think, is this giant workshop where we all get together.

The review system certainly has brought success around locking up the guilty. And more importantly, there's families that have had unanswered questions. At least we've answered some of those questions, and I've actually seen some families and communities, a weight removed from them. And as time goes on, they're a bit more at peace with what happened to their loved one.


DON SPIERS: The police that have been involved with us have been absolutely outstanding in the way that they've conducted themselves and gone out of their way to assist us. You know, even the guys that are still on the case today are always right behind us. I mean, there's no question that doesn't get answered. If I've got a problem, I tell them what it is and they make sure that I've got an answer. They're...they've been remarkable.


PAUL COOMBES: On a personal level, I suppose it is with you the whole time. I've got to know Don, in particular, fairly well and I do feel very close to him. At times it is very frustrating for me not being able to...talk to Don about where Sarah is. And we've spoken a number of times about that day, should and when we do locate Sarah - you know, how we would deal with it.


BRET CHRISTIAN: I think it's more like the Eric Cooke saga than people believe, and I think we'll find out one day that it very closely approximates that dreadful period of serial killings through the same residential area that happened in the 1960s. The women who were killed and injured by Eric Cooke - at the time that they happened, the police made public statements saying, "It's not the work of the same person." Later on, it was discovered that he was using all sorts of different methods of locating and murdering the women. He was running them down with cars, he was stabbing them, he was attacking them with axes and he was shooting people. So, there seems to be a Hollywood myth that serial killers use only one method, they operate in only one area, and that stamps them as that particular killer.


DAVID CAPORN: We can only do everything within our power to complete the investigation and hopefully have a successful resolution. It's not crystal ball stuff. It's not about a 1-hour television program where the crime occurs, you put your resources in and at the end of the show it's solved - it's just not as simple as that. But it's a matter of history that all over the world there will be crimes that are not resolved.


JENNY RIMMER: I don't feel revenge. I don't think that does any good. But I'd just like to know...you know, maybe how it all happened and who it was and...save some other poor young girl from going through the same thing.


DON SPIERS: There's probably not an hour of any day that passes that I don't think of Sarah. Until the day that she is found, there'll never be closure. No matter what the circumstances, I would like to have someone come forward. I don't want clairvoyants, but if there's someone out there that knows where our Sarah is, for them to come forward and tell me...somehow.


CAPTION: W.A. Police say there have been 10 independent reviews of ‘MARCRO’, including one in the UK and four in the USA. Later this year after the current forensic review, police will ask overseas experts to conduct another comprehensive review.

[End of the ABC Australian Story Transcript.]

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I will have a bit more of a look around. I might have something more worth a posting.

So, what you have read is basically where the saga sits. It is still an open case, but growing colder with each passing day.

As I have said earlier I do not for one second think this killer has decided to be a nice guy and throw in the towel. He is still at large. To make matter worse I fear he has come back home to Perth based on the fact we have just had another woman go missing under very similar circumstances last month.

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Here's a link to all the missing persons in Western Australia.

http://www.wa.crimestoppers.com.au/missing_persons.htm

For those readers who do not know, Western Australia is a vast state. Couple of million square kilometers of what can only be described as hostile, but beautiful country. Except for the coast line it is mainly extremely hot and dry. The nearest city to Perth is 3 hours in the air on a 737. You can literally drive for hours and hours in a car before you come to the next petrol or service station and cafe, called a roadhouse. That's it again for hours and hours more behind the wheel. If one ventures out of the cities and rural towns and off the main roads any distance a reliable 4 wheel drive vehicle and all the necessaries to sustain life are a requirement. There are approximtely 2 million people in the entire state. And as much as I love the bush I am not going out there anymore. I have become too infirm (go on read old) to be bothered.

Back on point. Since CSK is most noted for abducting women, in my study of the case thus far, I have only examined the missing women. I have no doubt he would kill a man at the drop of a hat too, it is just that we all KNOW for certain he kills females. Yes, I think he is sexually motivated and probably has sadistic overtones to the killing. He takes them, does whatever it is he does and he has completed his nights work by sun rise. Dracula.

There has been much speculation about him having a safe place where he takes them. Like his home or a vacant building. I tend to think he just goes to remote bushland areas and the whole evil deed is over in a matter of hours. He murders them in one location and moves the body to another to throw the detectives off track. That is, if they are fortunate enough to have someone locate the body. I tend to conceptualize him as an outdoors person. He and his m.o. look rather brutish to me. I don't think he is a classy ladies man at all.

I have drawn up a rough time-line of the missing women here in WA. I have not completely finished combing it over for accuracy and double checking all the angles, but I can see a pattern developing. It may seem a bit unfair to say okay you have got 16 or so women missing and one outstanding serial killer, why attribute all of them to him. I don't. There are a couple that I can't be confident about at all, but with the remaining ones they share strong similarities.

Those missing in the city go missing from night time recreation venues and recreation areas and most have been drinking heavily or are women who would be heavy drug users. Next are the ones who have been at night time venues where drinking is not an activity, but have ventured into dark car parks and the like. And the remaining ones are those women whom I think he has met while on a beach holiday, hundreds and hundreds of miles or kilometers from Perth, while beach fishing, swiming, or snorkeling. I think he has taken one young girl from a Perth beach as well.

There are gaps in his Perth activity when he just seems to disappear altogether. I tend to think during those long quiet times in WA, he is working elsewhere in the country. So I will end up eventually checking all the other states to determine the women missing in those state during the time frame he is absent from here. They too will go missing under similar circumstances during the time none go missing here at home.

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How timely and informative is ann_onmous' thread for me? Especially the hauntingly familiar profile shown at....

http://boards.crimelibrary.com/showthread.php?t=285695

My previous posting hints. I certainly think CSK is of a similar ilk to this MA Killer in many respects.

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Perth has had serial killers plague the city in the past. Edward Cook and David Birnie are examples. Should the reader choose to investigate nutcase Birnie there is an excellent write up on David and Catherine Birnie in the library. Once the victims of known murders such as Cook and Birney are cleared from the missing and murdered lists what we have left are victims that must be attributed to someone. But who?

In attempting to learn more about the Claremont Serial Killer and who his victims might be, I find it is necessary to produce a background over which any examination of missing and murdered Western Australian women can be sensibly or logically placed. This background is the killer himself. He asserts himself into his victim's lives and makes his victims a part of his life, not the other way around.

First and foremost - serial killers do not start out that way. I mention this as a reminder because most readers will already know. Historically, a serial killer has previously been involved in petty to serious crime and may or may not have a criminal record. This previous criminal activity usually progresses slowly and becomes more pronounced. For example the killer may have started window peeping as a youngster. Then he moves on to breaking and entering. Perhaps after that, break and enter and rape. This activity is ultimately dangerous for the rapist because he is leaving behind clues at the scene and a woman who is able to provide some information to the authorities about her assailant. The solution to these problems, and thereby preventing capture, was for CSK to eventually adopt the near strict practice of abducting his victims and taking them to a safe place to abuse and kill them. Afterward he moved the body to another locale for disposal thus obfuscating any primary crime scene clues. CSK is organized, not disorganized.

My point is - serial killers do not just suddenly start out killing in a frenzy. This is something that is acknowledged publicly by the local and international authorities investigating the Claremont killings, but it is not something either party openly attributes to CSK specifically. When the Claremont Serial Killer took three women in fairly rapid succession 1996/97 he already knew what he was doing. He demonstrated previous experience and a tested and proven plan. Authorities say these three rapid killings in Claremont were all there is to it except maybe for one other prior victim. The authorities say in the course of their investigations they have identified a man whom they KNOW is the killer and by keeping him under surveillance he has not been able to do his crimes in Claremont since. The authorities obviously have no solid physical or forensic proof to support this contention, otherwise the 'person of interest' would certainly be arrested and charged as being CSK. This begs the question - did investigators get it right? Are other victims, prior to, or after, the Claremont three also the victims of CSK? Perth has had other women go missing since the authorities claim they have neutralized CSK. Are authorities then suggesting there are two or three of these monsters running around in our community? If they believe such a scenario to be the case they are not saying.

From my armchair study of serial killers I have determined after the first kill a serial killer can lay dormant for a very long time before he kills again. I think Jeffrey Dahmer is a good example of this. It is not the pangs of a psychopathic killer's conscience bothering him that delays him killing again. A psychopath has no normal conscience. It is his fear of being caught. In Dahmer's case he fought off the urge to kill again for several years after murdering his first victim, a hitch-hiker. Since he was never questioned Dahmer had gotten away with murder. Once Dahmer's fear of capture was erased by passing time, it allowed him to eventually succumb to the urge to kill again. After that Dahmer escalated slowly until he was killing in a frenzied manner when he was apprehended. I maintain the Claremont Serial Killer has developed in a similar manner and this needs to be remembered when examining the cases of missing and murdered women in Western Australia.

[Continued in Establishing a Background - Part II]

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It is my understanding, on average a serial killer is in his mid-twenties when he begins to kill regularly. In other words, he has gone through his gruesome on the job training and is fully qualified to kill without conscience or fear of detection by the age of approximately twenty-five. On average, the offender has experience, self-confidence and a workable basic modus operandi by the time he reaches twenty-five. Knowing this helps to indicate the approximate age of an offender when victims suddenly begin to go missing regularly in a given area, especially since that same area has been free for a long while of having it's women folk disappear. Of course, this holds true unless a killer has blown in from somewhere else around nation or from overseas.

Now, let's turn our attention to the missing and murdered women. I find it is necessary to place the missing women in chronological order. Who went missing first? Second? And so on down through the list until all are listed in this manner. Failing to do this produces an alphabetical or random list of names of missing women and their personal details, from which nothing much can be deduced about the abductor or when he may have started, nor does it show noticeable activity in a given area or any 'gaps' in his activity. Chronological listing allows the examiner to determine if after an abduction free space of time, one or two women precede a steady incline in the numbers of missing and murdered in a given area. Doing this also gives hints about the killer's movements and suggest personal things about the killer himself.

I argue CSK is home grown with the time between his first abduction, undertaken at the approximate age of nineteen in October 1980 and his second abduction at the approximate age of twenty-five in March 1986, which is roughly five and a half years apart, was a time frame when CSK would have been hoping he would not be detected and would be struggling with the urge to kill again. Unless I am mistaken there are no missing women to be accounted for between 1980 and 1986 in Western Australia. After the March 1986 abduction the numbers of women who go missing in Perth and Western Australia incline steadily upward. Two go missing in 1986. One in 1987. One in 1988, which the authorities have acknowledged could have been CSK's first victim. Then there is a lull in abductions until 1991. Two more go missing in 1992. Then there is another lull until 1994 when suddenly in the small Claremont night club area there are a series of violent assaults, rape and attempted rape in 1994 and 1995. Then in 1996 and 1997 three girls vanish from the Claremont night club area in rapid succession and their abductor becomes known to the authorities and the general public as the Claremont Serial Killer. Interspersed between the three Claremont killings are other violent assaults in the Claremont area and women also go missing in the northern part of our state.

As it stands today, we in Perth are told by authorities to understand CSK abducted and murdered only three women in Claremont during 1996/97 and possibly the one earlier in 1988 in Perth's CBD. Authorities staunchly maintain, CSK is under their watchful eye and has simply had to quit abducting and murdering. Maybe. But, as stated, during this 1996/97 time frame other women went missing in the northern portion of our state. We are told there is no connection in their disappearances and CSK. Also in 1997 a woman goes missing in a Perth suburb, but no connection. In 1998 and 1999 four more go missing statewide. And on and on the list goes. It is painfully obvious someone is abducting these women. There is nothing substantial to indicated that it could not possibly be the same person known wide and far as the Claremont Serial Killer.

It must be remembered too, the official missing women list is incomplete in the sense it does not account for women at one time missing who's bodies have been discovered and identified. Their names have been removed from the missing list, but their cases may not yet be solved. I have no idea how many or who they all are. Also there are likely to be Jane Does. Somebody has killed all these women. But who? The frightening thing about acknowledging all this is - the activity level of CSK, or some similar killer, may be worse than it appears by only examining the current public missing and murdered women list, which is all I have to go by.

At least examining the missing and murdered women here in this thread will bring them into the light for us all to recognize and remember someone has killed them and disposed of them. Their murderer is still at large. These women were, and still are, much more than just names on a missing or murdered list.

I shall name them all in my next posting hoping that someone out there will recognize the names and actually know these unfortunate souls and be willing to respond with what they know about them and their cases. If you happen to be a loved one or friend of missing women in Perth and Western Australia please speak out and tell us what you know about their disappearances as details on public record are minimal.

[Top Hat]

Before addressing the outstanding cases of missing and murdered women in Western Australia it is worth taking at look at some very interesting recent events in our city. Last things first.

In the last year or so, the Macro Taskforce investigating the Claremont killings was scaled back to a handful of detectives and renamed the Special Crime Squad. The taskforce, lasting for ten full years, was commissioned after the second of the three high-profile girls went missing from Claremont's night club area. When the third girl went missing Macro announced to the public they were hunting a serial killer. Pandemonium and terror ran through the community like wildfire. Macro was funded by public and private resources and it is said to be the longest running, most expensive taskforce of it's kind. In spite of this enormous policing effort no one has ever been apprehended and charged for the Claremont killings. So, after ten years, Macro was scaled back and renamed.

Over the last few years murder conviction cases have come to light where innocent men have been wrongly convicted. These overturned cases have brought the justice system procedures under the spot light. Especially the procedures used by detectives and prosecutors. And especially in one case. As a result of this case being quashed an official Crown Inquiry is currently being undertaken into how this wrongful conviction occurred. Five detectives who worked on the case being reviewed are themselves being subjected to stressful questioning at the inquiry. Some of these detectives were instrumental in forming and working on the Macro Taskforce at the time the girls went missing in Claremont. Of course, each of these five officers has legal representation at the hearings. More about this in a moment.

Earlier this year - in May - a well researched and well written book about the Claremont serial killings went on sale. Authorities anywhere are always keen to keep the press and public appeased about high-profile cases, but do not want to spend much time on the topic if they can avoid it. They don't like giving the killer any notoriety and hope to prevent copy cat murders and the like from happening by not entering into discussion about on-going cases such as the Claremont killings. When this true-crime publication hit the bookseller's shelves the authorities gritted their teeth and the Claremont Serial Killer must have smiled; must have been very pleased with himself being able to avoid capture for all these years. CSK's story is now in print. He is famous.

On Tuesday the 7th of August this year one of the five detectives mentioned above, under oath, was sitting before the inquiry answering questions about his involvement in the wrongful conviction case. This detective was, for a long while, the lead detective on the Macro Taskforce when it was formed to investigate the Claremont killings. It was a grueling day of answering questions for the detective. He will be back again tomorrow.

This very same August evening a forty-four year old female lawyer, working as a Supreme Court Registrar, named Corryn Rayney did what she did most every Tuesday night. After work she donned her country and western attire and attended bootscooting dance classes at a venue in a nearby suburb, some ten minutes drive from her home. By all accounts of those present she was in good spirits and appeared to be her normal happy self. Per usual the weekly class finished at 9:30 p.m. Corryn was expected home shortly thereafter. No one actually saw her drive away from the car park area. Corryn never made it home. She and her automobile just vanished into the night.

By the next afternoon Corryn's husband, Lloyd, who is also a lawyer, had exhausted all avenues trying to locate his missing wife. He reported her disappearance. It is astonishing to realize that Lloyd Raney, a lawyer himself, was representing the most senior of the five former detectives involved in the ongoing wrongful conviction inquiry. As a result of his wife's disappearance, grieving Mr. Rayney was understandably unable to continue participation in the inquiry, and therefore had to terminate his legal representation of the detective. The Judge conducting the inquiry quickly allowed another lawyer to substitute for Mr. Rayney and also temporarily suspended the inquiry for a few days while the new lawyer prepared himself to represent his client. This replacement lawyer was already representing one of the other detectives. Now he will represent two.

continued in next post

[Top Hat]

Approximately one week after Corryn went missing her car was discovered parked and locked on a quiet suburban street. Residents say the car had been there since the previous Wednesday morning. The transmission box had been damaged and had leaked transmission fluid onto the roadway while it was being driven by Corryn's killer. Detectives followed the trail of spewed transmission fluid along the streets until it led them into a nearby huge inner city park and straight to a deep grave where Corryn Rayney lay murdered. The killer had forced Corryn's auto over a bollard, which blocked vehicle access to the track he drove along to Corryn disposal site in the scrub. From that point in time the transmission would leak profusely when the auto was being driven. Detectives tell us Corryn had been murdered elsewhere and then moved to this disposal site.

If all of these strange coincidences seem a bit too much to believe - it ain't over yet! The lawyer who replaced Mr. Rayney in the inquiry lives a few doors down on the same street where Corryn Rayney's abandoned, crippled car was parked! Go figure that.

As I said in an earlier posting, I think the Claremont Serial Killer is again, high-profile, active in Perth. His confidence would be tremendous after avoiding capture all these years. His experience is great too. The Macro Taskforce commissioned years ago to apprehend him, did not, and had been recently scaled back. CSK is in print too. He recently has a book to his credit and notoriety. He would also know the detectives who had once been chasing him relentlessly were themselves now under legal scrutiny in an official inquiry. Were all these events a catalyst prompting him to act again; to strike on the very same day his former adversary was giving testimony? Probably. Was Corryn a random abduction or did CSK know she was the wife of a lawyer involved with detectives who had worked tirelessly to apprehend him? Somehow he would know. Did he abduct and murder her for the purpose of mocking the justice system and authorities at all levels? Most likely. If so, how on earth would CSK know he was parking his victim's auto on the same street where Corryn's husband's eventual replacement lawyer lived? That might be coincidence, but this lawyer was already representing one of the other detectives. Perhaps CSK knew that too.

It would appear that CSK sends messages, but not ones scribbled on a piece of paper and posted to a newspaper or to police headquarters. He sends very organized, personal, cunning, sophisticated messages. CSK's intent was to send the Justice system into turmoil at a time when it was itself being placed under extreme pressure and scrutiny. It is most likely due to the lateness at night the killer didn't notice Corryn's automobile was leaking transmission fluid. So he may not have been aware he was depositing a trail for detectives to follow to his victim. Otherwise detectives admit they may never have found Corryn's disposal site. CSK will most certainly be very fearful of apprehension now. Her body has been found! Surely he has left DNA in Corryn's car. And her body may reveal DNA clues too. He will be very, very afraid of arrest. He will flee the Perth area just like he used to do back in the 1990's. He will be back home when he thinks the heat is off. Or is this just a copy cat?

There are likely to be those in our community who would agree with this assessment, but on the whole everybody seems - understandably - to not want to go there; not want to relive those terribly frightening days in the mid 1990's; not to acknowledge a killer using CSK's m.o. is operating in Perth again. Actually, I don't think CSK ever stopped. He just moves around and takes low-profile victims. But the reality of what has happened, and is happening, in our community needs to be considered. More women's lives could be in jepoardy at the hands of this menace. Authorities have told the press they do not believe the abduction and murder of Corryn Rayney was committed by a mad man on the loose in our city. How do they figure that? Only a mad man would kill the mother of two young girls and bury her body in our city's main public park.

End

[Top Hat]

In my #10 post above I name the serial killer Edward Cook. This is incorrect. His name was Eric not Edward.

[packy]

It seems that no case is too cold to solve these days with advanced forensics. Hopefully they'll find some evidence in the car that was parked near the lawyer's house.

Find the actual crime scene could be so much help, and surely the police know some things about it from the bodies of those they found. Maybe some fibers, vegetation, etc. If they have any clues, the public may be able to help watch for a particular type of area, building, vehicle etc.

I just read all of your posts but lost track of how many are still missing and who all have been found. Maybe some overview lists would help. It is frustrating that the police don't want to think that a lot of cases are the work of one person with so many missing women from some same areas. Do they look for any similarities I wonder or just look at some differences and rule it out.

What is the name of the book about the CSK?

[Top Hat]

G'day Packy....

Thanks for your comments and interest in this topic. It appears you have a fairly long history with this forum so perhaps you may be able to point me to some other discussions and cases that might be similar to this one. Perhaps you may have a few pertinent ideas of your own once you learn more about the Claremont serial killings. It is a very interesting, but tragic case.

You inquired, "What is the name of the book about the CSK?"

The book is titled The Devil's Garden - The Claremont Serial Killings. It was researched and written mostly during 2006 and early 2007 by Debi Marshall and published by Random House Australia. Debi is a true-crime writer and has other books to her credit about serial killings in Australia. This book hit the shelves in Western Australia in May 2007 and is probably not yet available world-wide in booksellers. I suppose it could be special ordered. The Devil's Garden is well researched and well written. Much of what Debi has to say accords very closely with my memory of the horrific Claremont suburb events. Lots of new insights too. It has to be considered the definitive source of information about the Claremont killings simply because it is the only book thus far written about the subject AFAIK. Unless one has kept all the newspaper articles written at the time or has been to the library to collect them, this is just about all there is available on the subject. It's a lot. Newspaper reports and books are not always accurate.

You wrote, "It seems that no case is too cold to solve these days with advanced forensics."

I know the authorities here are going about the business of ensuring the forensic side of things are updated to first class level. They have said so. But with many missing persons there is nothing available to be forensically tested is there? Those persons just vanished. So connecting the dots is virtually impossible no matter how much political or media pressure is placed on the detectives to do it.

"Find[ing] the actual crime scene could be so much help, and surely the police know some things about it from the bodies of those they found. Maybe some fibers, vegetation, etc. If they have any clues, the public may be able to help watch for a particular type of area, building, vehicle etc."

As I have said, the Claremont killer was very organized and vicious. He simply swooped three, arguably inebriated, young 'high-profile' women from the darkened streets surrounding the small Claremont night club area and murdered them all in matter of months. If he had only taken 'low-profile' women, such as street prostitutes and runaways, from a less affluent area of town he may have never even come into the limelight with such fanfare. I put this down as being his first mistake unless he was looking to make a name for himself; to compare himself to other serial killers and go one better. That may not have been his initial intent, but now I tend to think this guy is deliberately playing a game of cat and mouse with the authorities irregardless of the pain and suffering he is causing to the victim's families and the community. Especially since a lady vanished last month under very similar circumstances and was soon discovered buried in our main public park.

Of the three 'high-profile' Claremont victims only two have been found at separate disposal sites miles and miles apart. One to the north and one to the south of the city. Unfortunately both had been out in remote bushland in the elements for weeks and weeks and were in such degraded state it is highly unlikely there was recoverable DNA from the killer. This is evidenced by police saying, with regards to forensics, the disposal sites "were not fertile." As for any forensics that would point to where the girls were killed - it doesn't appear to exist in sufficient amount to steer the investigation toward another area. I tend to think after these abductions were made the victims were directly taken out into the countryside. After death, the killer then moved their bodies to another locale making it impossible to determine exactly where they were murdered. Perhaps any available forensics are similar to what is found in the general area of disposal. Authorities have always maintained the girls were not killed where they were found. I am certain if they had any clue where to look for a murder site detectives would be onto it immediately.

As for asking the public for help... they did. Authorities asked if anyone saw anything on the night in the abduction area. Essentially no one has ever reported seeing anything unusual. The first girl, who has never been found, is known to have been waiting in the dark near a telephone box for a taxi she had summoned. She was on the fringe of the night club area. When the taxi arrived less than five minutes later she was gone. Vanished. The second girl was last seen on a security camera video outside a pub where she and her friends had been partying. Why she separated herself from her friends is a mystery. Perhaps she just went outside for some fresh air. The security camera panned away and when it came back to video the same area where she had been standing she was gone. Vanished. Maybe she felt too tired and too drink drowsy to party on and decided to just call it a night without saying good-bye; just go telephone a taxi and go home to bed. I think she most likely wandered down the street in the general direction of that same telephone box. The third girl was last seen walking down the street not far from where the first girl went missing from the telephone box. She just walked into the darkness and vanished too. Perhaps she was going to, or was merely walking past, that same telephone box.

Continued in next post.....

[Top Hat]

Most pubs and clubs have a public telephone inside, but generally the din of the crowd and background music makes them near impossible to use. I tend to think this telephone box is central to the killer. It was in essence like a trap is to a rabbit. A snare. Did the killer, in the performance of his work, collect money from it? Did he repair or service it? Was he a Telecom employee? This is worth thinking about because less than a year previous to the first missing Claremont girl a seventeen year old left the same club area and was walking down a dimly lighted street. She was pounced upon as she walked along. She was somehow blindfolded and her hands were tied with electrical chord, and she was shoved into a panel van. Could this chord have been telephone related electrical cabling? The abductor drove this young girl to a nearby outdoor area, of all things, our city's main graveyard, where he raped her. She was in a terrible state when he drove away leaving her naked and shattered and half dead. He took her to an outdoor place of death, but he didn't killer her. There are any number of outdoor open spaces he could have taken her in the general area, but he chose a graveyard. This rapist was associating rape with death.

The authorities also asked the public to speculate; to report anyone they thought might be the killer. Headquarters telephones were swamped with unhappy girl friends and wives reporting their husbands, boy friends and former relations. Mothers reporting sons. Employers reporting employees. Neighbors reporting neighbors. It was crazy. Thousands and thousands of reports. It did result in tremendous numbers of men being scrutinized and identified as being of the dangerous ilk.

You also wrote, "I just read all of your posts but lost track of how many are still missing and who all have been found. Maybe some overview lists would help. It is frustrating that the police don't want to think that a lot of cases are the work of one person with so many missing women from some same areas. Do they look for any similarities I wonder or just look at some differences and rule it out."

I can't speculate on your last thought Packy. I am an armchair detective. I only know they are not able to make the connections, but they have said repeatedly they are not ruling out any other unsolved missing and murdered cases. Detectives have told parents of some of the other missing or murdered girls they are reviewing their cases and keeping an open mind. In all fairness, look at some of these known serial killers... they operated for years and years and years with no one making connections. No one. It is dreadful isn't it? And the sheer numbers of women some of them take boggle my mind. It truly is alarming. I wish the authorities god-speed catching this madman and the patience in dealing with him after they do to make sure the case is flawless when it is present to the court. This bloke needs to rot in prison.

I was getting around dealing with putting forth a listing of missing and murdered women in our state and what I have come to think about them possibly being a victim of this killer. But what's the point really? I provided a link in an earlier posting to the official list of missing persons in Western Australia. So other armchair dicks can have a look. In 2006 one local community newspaper stated there are sixteen missing women in our area. This number is about right depending upon whether or not one is including all of them or just ones who could have been a victim of this killer. This doesn't include mysteriously murdered victims who have been identified, who's case still remain unsolved. So, overall there are more than sixteen to consider. Somewhere in the neighborhood of twenty-four or twenty-five in total. That's lots of dots to try to connect. Except for one other missing woman, presumed dead, the dots have not been officially connected between the outstanding missing or murdered victims and the so-called Claremont killer. All authorities can say is the three girls taken from Claremont are linked and possibly one other. That's where it stands. From what I see, I must say I do not any longer think of this killer as the Claremont Serial Killer or CSK. I regard him as the West Australian Serial Killer (WASK). He is one nasty piece of work. He needs to be throttled.

Three things prompted me to open this thread. Foremost is - I think the killer is locally active again. Secondly - someone knows who this killer is. Someone possesses evidence, or knows where it is, sufficient to prove who the killer is. That person has thus far been reluctant to telephone the authorities. Maybe, just maybe, that person will go down to their local Internet Cafe and gin up a Hot Mail account and tell what they know on this thread. I am certain those who are tasked with investigating murder and missing persons cases will be looking everywhere and I have no reason to think they would not be reading crime web sites and crime blogs too. If someone genuinely knowledgeable about this killer's identity, who has tangible evidence to support what they say, comes forward the authorities will be able to check it out and get this lethal creep off our streets. Please - no hunches. That didn't work. Either you know who he is, or, like me, you don't. And my final reason for starting this thread is - in the meantime - the rest of us armchair detectives can work together to try to figure it out for ourselves because no one in authority is obliged to help us. Who knows? What we uncover or discuss just might, in some small way, help the authorities catch a serial killer. That's a worthwhile effort I think.

[Kate-Sawyer]

TopHat - Very Informative Read
It’s pleasing to see someone really keeps these women in mind after so many years. I also thought that Corryn Rayney’s murder seemed connected to these other missing women.

A few questions for you, I was in high school during the years of the missing Claremont girls, I remember at the time, and through the years since I always thought that it seemed strange that Sarah the first missing is yet to be found (not strange that a person goes missing and is not found, as you stated WA is a bloody big state and the forested areas and bush around Perth are vast) but two were found without what seems much effort and Sarah remains missing. Is this because he went to extra trouble to hide this crime and if so why? Or is it that he was becoming more confident in what he was doing and relaxed with the following two girls? Speculation of course but I just have that nagging in the back of my mind.

Secondly, I remember at the time the police took a lot of Taxi Drivers DNA, was this to compare with DNA they already had or was it for future reference?

You wrote that the targets were professional women, which seems to be true in all cases, do you think the targets were researched or was it a case of opportunity? I live just outside of Perth and spend a lot of time there, I was asking a friend the other day, are there even street walkers in Perth? I have never in my time noticed an area that was rife with these people… probably naivety on my part.. I know that prostitution and drug addiction is very much a part Perth, but you don’t seem to see the darkly lit streets with girls on the corner and even if you do I feel that if the killer struck with these girls, Perth is such a small city, if a girl goes missing we seem to hear about it, everyone is so laid back… wishful thinking maybe….

[Top Hat]

Posting #16, paragraph 7, second sentence: Where it reads "arguably inebriated" change to read "arguably not inebriated".

I intended to word in this manner, but somehow knocked out the word not. Sometimes it seems my word processor has a mind of it's own. Also it seems to be impossible to "edit" one of these posts after a following posting has been submitted. So, I might be doing a lot of this sort of correction. I'll try to be more careful.

In speaking with others about this subject in the past, I have had some say, "Oh, weren't those girls drunk?" or words to that effect. I do not think that to be the case at all. Drinking. Yes. Drunk. No. They were doing exactly what many of us have done on a Friday or Saturday night. No more. No less.

[CalInsomniac]

This case caught my eye a while back. I have read about some blogger or forum poster by the name of Mr. Pheebs(sp?), who was supposedly a suspect. Do you know anything about that?

[Kate-Sawyer]

Well looks like my theory was just that Corryn Rayney’s husband has been arrested and the police are saying they have forensic proof the murder took place in the family home!!!

Gotta hate being wrong!! HA! So Is Life!!

[Top Hat]

Originally Posted by Kate-Sawyer

Well looks like my theory was just that Corryn Rayney’s husband has been arrested and the police are saying they have forensic proof the murder took place in the family home!!! Gotta hate being wrong!! HA! So Is Life!!

Um hum. I have often felt like my Lotto numbers were coming good, but to no avail too. Nah, don't hate being wrong. I often am in some way or another. Just admit it and continue on. Sure looks like that might be the case for me. Think the lead detective said Mr Rayney was being charged with for wire tapping was it? Interesting.

In response to some of your other comments and questions.

I left the first bit in simply because I had written just prior to the news announcemnt. Looks to be overtaken by events.

Well, I guess 'connected' is a fair word to describe Corryn to the Claremont girls when you read my words, but 'similar' - eerily similar - is what I was implying. Looks so similar. None of us can say if it was the same guy responsible for all, but it sure looks like it could be him active again. If it is, detectives have an excellent chance of apprehending him this time. May be a copy cat. I had much rather it be just the one, and not two!

Your question about not finding all the Claremont girls... I have no idea why two would be found and one not found. I suppose it was just luck. People out and about just stumbled upon the two who were found. However, there are lots of other women who have vanished and they have never been found. The dreadful thing is, after all this time, all those missing girls families still anguish and long desperately to find them so they can give their loved one a dignified final resting place. And it's not just women. This goes for missing men too.

If you grab a copy of that book Packy asked me to name, you will see the writer discusses the taxi driver's DNA collection. At the time I presumed it was to be used as you suggested - to match taxi driver's DNA to collected DNA. If that was done it's fair to say no DNA tested taxi driver was involved simply because one has never been arrested. Plus we are told the disposal sites were forensically "not fertile". So....?

As for targeting those three girls... I don't tend to think they were target for who they were individually, but more for what they stood for collectively in the killers mind at the time. TJMO. Trying to look into a serial killer's thoughts is stomach churning stuff and I am not cut out for it. Thank God we have investigators who can do it and are therefore able to catch these abberations of nature. They have my hearty applause.

I only know about two girls who were abducted from the Northbridge area, one was described by the authorities as being a prostitute. One has never been found. I got that information from CrimeStoppers about one girl and from another source quoting a police advisory. I failed to take note of where I got the second piece of information. That alone proves I am an armchair detective. CrimeStoppers also currently lists an alarming abduction attempt in Northbridge in April 2002. The girl backpacker was able to fight off the assailant after he punched her in the stomach and tried to force her into his late model station wagon. As for prostitution in Perth - apparently it is a worry. Just last evening on the nightly news it was reported the State is now actively discussing legalising it in an attempt to alleviate some of the problems. Since I don't use the service I don't know about it personally. Prostitution and the policing efforts involved is also discussed in the book. It's a real eye-opener read. If you or I walked down the street on our way to dinner in Northbridge one evening we might walk past a drug dealer and a prostitute and not recognize them for what they are. I think users of those sorts of services are able to find what they are looking for without any problem. Also I think the real problems come out late at night when you or I would most likely be back home. You know, during those late hours when booze and drug addled males are clobbering one another to death in the streets. Happens most any week-end these days.

I didn't mean to imply we don't hear about the persons who go missing we do. They are reported on the news and details posted on CrimeStoppers. But eventually, due to the normal course of living and it's requirements we miss follow up reports or just plain forget about it all.

I read a news report some time back where an MP, I think it was, was complaining that even today taxi service in Claremont is so unreliable or slow that girls are still walking home late at night from those same clubs. It was reported this MP was flabbergasted because her young daughter told her she had had to do it too. Go figure that.

CalInsomniac... Only that I have heard of that bloke. Once again, he is mentioned in the book too. I promise I am not selling that book. He was a contributor to an eastern states journalist's blog, Gary Hughes, I think is his name. I had a read but couldn't make any revealance of what he had to say.

[packy]

Top Hat, thank you for the title of the book. I am interested and may be able to find it.

Off the top of my head I can think of a few cases in which a serial killer operated for many years before he was finally apprehended. It appears though that in these cases many of the women were taken from their homes for the most part. You may be interested in reading about them. One is about the BTK (Bind, torture, Kill) killer in the Wichita, KS area. This SK lived, worked, and attended church right in the midst of where most of his killings happened. He was active for many years.

http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_k...k/index_1.html

This site has information on some of the serial killers that had been active for years over time as well. http://www.greatdreams.com/serial-killer.htm

I did take a look at the link you provided and I'll have to try to sort them out. So sad, and one woman simply went to the bathroom at the beach? and just disappeared.

It appears that Mr. Rayney mabe be involved with his wife's death so far as I read here, so if it is true then no luck with any forensics with her car.

[Kate-Sawyer]

TopHat, thanks for your thoughts!!

You were certainly right about the fact that the CSK & Corryn's Murders had similarities, in hind sight I wonder if that was her husbands plan all along as he had the relevant information to make it look that way.

Anyway...as you say the CSK is still at large and as a young women who spends weekends in Perth the sooner he's caught the better for everyone!!

CalInsomniac... BTK, great read, his confession is interesting too, not sure if you've read it.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0628053rader1.html

[Top Hat]

Hi All...

I was wrong. As you say Kate maybe Mrs Raney's killer was trying to make a connection to Claremont. If so, it was a copy cat. The details will play out eventually. Safe to say this case doesn't squarely fit into the ongoing topic. So I'll park it there and not derail the thread.

Good luck finding the book Packy. It's a good read for the details about what happened in Claremont. There is a fair bit of political stuff going on in the book too, but that's not of interest when it come to arm-chairing the villan.

Yeah it's amazing to think a lady can go off to the toilet a short distance from her husband and never be seen again. In another case, according to CrimeStoppers, a lady was waiting at a train station for her friend when she vanished. Check out the men and other crimes too as they are a separate categories.

I read about that BTK character earlier. Whew! Good he is off the streets. I'll have a read of the links you guys provided later as it's a nice day here and the place needs a general spruce up outside as winter draws to a close. Go stir up my hay-fever. Smile.

There are a lots of interesting discussions about on-going cases on this website I want to read too. That Ramsay girl and the more recent British girl Madeline. OJ has managed to make the headlines again too. Must get around to catching up on those interesting topics as well.

In the meantime... I'll leave you to carry on whilst I pull some weeds.

See ya later.

[CalInsomniac]

Well, I wish you guys the best. Hope this guy is caught. Being a woman myself, it makes me think of all the times I think i'm safe to be on my own (walking home from work, taking a walk in the evening, etc.) but really, all it takes is one sicko for that sense of security to vanish...

Do keep us updated, TopHat, please. Many of us here are in the US and we tend not to get a lot of international-local news.