Wanda beach murders Part 1

[Belangalo]

Monday January 11 1966

Marianne Schmidt and Christine Sharrock wer both 15 , dark haired girls with warm smiles and friendly natures , inseperable friends. Why they chose Wanda beach is not clear. It was two hours travel by bus and train from their homes in West Ryde.

With them went Marianne's brothers Peter 10 , Wolfgang , 7 and Norbutt 6 , and their sister Trixie 9 , had they all remainede together Marianne and Christine would probably have avoided the terrible fate which befell them.

By the time they got to Cronulla at 11am , a southerly wind was blowing the youngsters went swimming while marianne and Christine sat on the beach talking. After eating home made sandwiches they left their bags and headed north to Wanda.

The younger children didn't want to continue the walk , at their behest Marianne and Christine picked a spot and told them to wait. They would go back to Cronulla collect the clothes and return , but instead went in the oppisite direction towards adjoining Wanda beach

The last reported sighting of them alive was at 1pm by a retired fireman Dennis Dostine who was walking with hia son along the beach , about 200 metres ahead he saw two teenage girls walking north. There was nothing remarkable about them , Mr Dostine told the coroners inquest. The taller girl kept looking backwards over her shoulder. They were not being followed by anyone.

He lost sight of the girls when they went behind a dune , a well built man aged about 45 wearing shorts walked past it's a windy day he said to Mr Dostine.

Mr Dostine said he also saw a man about 19 wearing shorts and white shirt , he had fairly long hair. Other witnesses gave evidence of seeing other surfers in the area about the same time.

On Cronulla beach Marianne's three brothers and sisters waited all day , when Marriane and Christine did not return they found their way home. Arriving home around 8pm

The following day four young boys walking 2.5 kilometres north of Wanda Surf Life Saving Club saw what they imagined to be shop mannequins half buried in the sand it was Christine , they found the body of Marianne buried nearby they ran for their lives.

[Belangalo]

The girls had suffered a ghastly fate , police believe their killer attacked marianne first she was stabbed 17 times one slash almost severing her neck. Then the killer ran down Christine and stabbed her 7 times.

He dragged Christine's body back to where Merianne lay dead and sexually assaulted both girls , he ripped off Christine's shorts and underwear. He cut Marianne's one-piece swimsuit at the bottom and pulled it around her chest.

The attacks were described as frenzied so brutal a knife blade was broken and left in the sand.

Wolfgang told police a blond tennage surfie who was hunting crabs with a knife had spoken to the girls and asked their names , police questioned dozens of young blond surfies but none became suspects known sexual offenders we rounded up and interrogated.

Within a year the Wanda beach file ran to more than 5000 pages in all police did 14,000 interviews none yielded evidence to idnetify the killer. Detectives who worked on the case at nthe beginning were still chasing leads 30 years later.

In several instances police became convinced they had found the killer , one suspect was a schizophrenic who was jailed a year later for another murder. But the evidence was not sufficent to warrant charges. The wanda beach murders remained unsolved.

One question remained unanswered did the girls go to Wanda beach to keep a rendezous or hoping to meet someone? Marianne and Christine had been to Wanda beach once before on New Years Day when they met two teenagers Ted and Jim.

On Sunday night Marianne visited her mother in hospital she told her mother about wanting to go to Wanda the next day and got her permission.

Police said it seemed clear the girls were determined to go to Wanda and reasoned they might have hoped to meet the boys again. Was the reason Marianne and Christine became restless on Cronulla beach and to the complaints of the youngsters began walking towards Wanda.

Suspects: Derek Ernest Percy was found not guilty reason of insanity detained at the Goveronor's pleasure of murdering Yvonne Tuohy aged 12nafter he abducted her from the beach in Warnett Victoria.

suspect Wanda beach murders

suspect January 29 1966 murder of cleaning lady Wilhelmina Kruger in the Piccadilly Arcade Wollongong.

suspect Feburary 17 1966 murder of prostitue Anna Dowlingkosa dumped at Menai.

suspect 26 January 1966 Disappearance of the Beaumont Children Jane age 9 , Arnna age 7 , Grant age 4 in Adelaide

suspect May 19 1968 muder Simon Brook age 3 Glebe inner - Sydney

suspect August 10 1968 Disappearance Linda Stillwell age 8 St Kilda Melbourne

suspect September 28 1966 Alan Redston age 6 Canberra ACT

suspect August 25 1973 Disappearance Kirstie Gordon age 4 Joanne Ratliffe age 11 Adelaide Oval North Adelaide.

Suspect information supplied by various Australian media groups.

Original article supplied by Phil Cornford 30 August 1977 smh.com.au

[sharlock]

Originally Posted by Belangalo

The girls had suffered a ghastly fate , police believe their killer attacked marianne first she was stabbed 17 times one slash almost severing her neck. Then the killer ran down Christine and stabbed her 7 times.

He dragged Christine's body back to where Merianne lay dead and sexually assaulted both girls , he ripped off Christine's shorts and underwear. He cut Marianne's one-piece swimsuit at the bottom and pulled it around her chest.

The attacks were described as frenzied so brutal a knife blade was broken and left in the sand.

Wolfgang told police a blond tennage surfie who was hunting crabs with a knife had spoken to the girls and asked their names , police questioned dozens of young blond surfies but none became suspects known sexual offenders we rounded up and interrogated.

Within a year the Wanda beach file ran to more than 5000 pages in all police did 14,000 interviews none yielded evidence to idnetify the killer. Detectives who worked on the case at nthe beginning were still chasing leads 30 years later.

In several instances police became convinced they had found the killer , one suspect was a schizophrenic who was jailed a year later for another murder. But the evidence was not sufficent to warrant charges. The wanda beach murders remained unsolved.

One question remained unanswered did the girls go to Wanda beach to keep a rendezous or hoping to meet someone? Marianne and Christine had been to Wanda beach once before on New Years Day when they met two teenagers Ted and Jim.

On Sunday night Marianne visited her mother in hospital she told her mother about wanting to go to Wanda the next day and got her permission.

Police said it seemed clear the girls were determined to go to Wanda and reasoned they might have hoped to meet the boys again. Was the reason Marianne and Christine became restless on Cronulla beach and to the complaints of the youngsters began walking towards Wanda.

Suspects: Derek Ernest Percy was found not guilty reason of insanity detained at the Goveronor's pleasure of murdering Yvonne Tuohy aged 12nafter he abducted her from the beach in Warnett Victoria.

suspect Wanda beach murders

suspect January 29 1966 murder of cleaning lady Wilhelmina Kruger in the Piccadilly Arcade Wollongong.

suspect Feburary 17 1966 murder of prostitue Anna Dowlingkosa dumped at Menai.

suspect 26 January 1966 Disappearance of the Beaumont Children Jane age 9 , Arnna age 7 , Grant age 4 in Adelaide

suspect May 19 1968 muder Simon Brook age 3 Glebe inner - Sydney

suspect August 10 1968 Disappearance Linda Stillwell age 8 St Kilda Melbourne

suspect September 28 1966 Alan Redston age 6 Canberra ACT

suspect August 25 1973 Disappearance Kirstie Gordon age 4 Joanne Ratliffe age 11 Adelaide Oval North Adelaide.

Suspect information supplied by various Australian media groups.

Original article supplied by Phil Cornford 30 August 1977 smh.com.au

Thanks for this information Belangalo. I don't remember this case but it certainly sounds like one worth reading up on. Why someoone would hurt these girls I'll never know butit sure would be nice for maybe some dna evidence to be found all these years later to put the case to bed once and for all. Do you know if they have ever gone over the evidence to check for dna in later years?

[Belangalo]

You question on the DNA , i think in some of the articles i read that all clothing of the victims had been destroyed. Sometime today i''ll search for the article and let you know for sure.

Also found an article from the leader.com.au (local paper in the St George - Sutherland Shire) Dated 13/5/08 by Murray Trembath

Afresh investigation may shed new light on the Wanda beach murders it is believed it is among 192 unsolved homicides cases to be reinvestigated by an expanded homicide team , police are contacting the families of the victims but are refusing to comment on which matters they are pursuing.

We are not identifing individual cases because it may impact on those inquires a spokesman for the state crime command said yesterday.

Police Minister david Campbell announced on the weekend that after a three year review of more than 400 unsolved homicide cases , 192 had been identified for reinvestigation. He said an extra 37 detectives had been asigned to help with the task , and the Government would provide and additional $1.4million for DNA analysis. The new investigations would be handled by a large Sydney metropolitan unit based at Parramatta and three regional teams of four detectives each.

[Belangalo]

An article in the St George Leader dated 13 / 5 / 08 By Murray Trembath

In regards to DNA , two detectives came out from England to set up a DNA base when Peter Ryan was NSW police Commissioner , were suppose to have reported that clothing of the Wanda victims had been discarded it's not known whether that's true or not.

[Belangalo]

From some of the newspaper articles that i have read the one person they have in their sight is Derek Ernest Percy he has some how been smuggling items and of where he is currently being held which includes razors which give the same cut as the victims , written fantasy on murders that were acted out and maps with i think abduction points and he also wanted to murder with victim having had beer forced down their throat one of the wanda victims had beer in her system , (Yvone Tuohy had beer in her system her murder is why he has been contained ) Wilhelmina Kruger might be the third victim with the beer in her system but im not 100% on her.