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0:31

Thomas and the Australian. When

1:04

we moved to Linux Head, I

1:06

was even more lonely. The house

1:08

that was Bill became John's castle

1:11

and my prison. Roman.

1:13

Winfield write these words shortly

1:16

before she disappeared one Sunday

1:18

night in May. Nineteen Ninety

1:20

Three. She. Had been

1:22

to see her G P a couple

1:24

of days earlier and was in good

1:26

physical health apart from having strained her

1:28

hand. She. Was of

1:30

sound mind and had no known mental

1:33

illness. A brief period

1:35

of post natal depression after the

1:37

birth five years earlier of her

1:39

second daughter was well behind Bronwyn.

1:42

Where do you want to go? Today,

1:45

thirty one years since the sudden

1:47

disappearance of a mother of two

1:49

little girls, I'm driving on a

1:52

winding road south and Byron Bay

1:54

to the house that Bronwyn had

1:56

called her prison, past former dairy

1:58

and sugar cane farms. subdivided for

2:00

residential housing estates and the great

2:02

Australian family dream a three or

2:04

four bedroom two bathroom brick and

2:07

tile close to the beach. Getting

2:10

directions to Sandstone present Lennox

2:12

Head. The

2:15

Pacific Ocean is tantalisingly close. You

2:17

can hear it smell it. Its

2:20

saltiness lingers on an easterly zephyr of

2:22

a breeze. In

2:24

luxury homes with views over smoothly

2:27

curving coastline binoculars are at the

2:29

ready for the first sightings of

2:31

humpback whales on their annual migratory

2:34

journey from Antarctica. They perform in

2:36

the warm waters of an aquatic

2:38

backyard off the most easterly part

2:41

of Australia's mainland and the lighthouse

2:43

at Byron Bay. It's

2:46

a quieter, gentler lifestyle in

2:48

this place everyone calls Lennox.

2:52

It's less crowded here, more chilled

2:54

than the nearby more famous Byron.

2:58

Roman left indelible imprints on those

3:01

who loved her yet

3:03

her 31 years disappeared with barely

3:05

a ripple in the wider world.

3:08

Her life, her suspicious disappearance

3:11

and her highly probable death have

3:13

barely been reported except

3:15

from time to time by regional

3:18

TV and the northern star. The

3:21

newspaper ceased publication in print in 2020

3:24

but Roman left

3:27

behind her writings, her

3:29

reflections on her life, her marriage

3:32

and loved ones with the occasional

3:34

underlining and crossed out word on

3:36

sheets of A4 paper. They

3:39

are poignant and compelling. All

3:42

these years later I picture Roman

3:45

writing in quiet moments between getting

3:47

her two girls ready for school

3:49

and working part-time in a local

3:51

takeaway store called Eden's down

3:53

near the waves. difference

4:00

to your relationship. Trust.

4:03

Being kind to one another when you're down. Supportive.

4:06

Having time for each other always as well as

4:08

time for other people." Her

4:11

family, friends and neighbours tell me

4:13

she was determined to remain separated

4:16

from her husband of six years,

4:18

John Winfield. Bronwyn

4:21

wanted to go her own way.

4:23

She was pursuing a divorce. Her

4:26

good friends in this idyllic beachside

4:28

town in northern New South Wales

4:30

supported her. They were

4:32

all schoolmums with small children who played

4:34

together. They shared

4:36

instant coffees, morning walks, birthday

4:38

parties, turns at babysitting and

4:40

random catch-ups for a glass

4:42

of wine and easy conversation.

4:46

Bronwyn had confided troubling things

4:48

about her marriage. She

4:50

was close to her brother Andy and

4:53

his wife Michelle who lived in Sydney

4:55

a one-hour flight away. It

4:57

was where Bronwyn had grown up. She

5:00

had close cousins there including Megan

5:02

Reed. She

5:04

had her aunt Elia and

5:06

uncle John and her half-sister

5:09

Melissa. Her mother

5:11

Barbara and her half-sister Kim Marshall

5:13

lived another hour away in Tasmania.

5:17

All of these family members talked

5:19

regularly to Bronwyn. Kim

5:21

was about to travel north to Lennox because

5:24

Bronwyn had invited her to come and stay

5:26

for a while. Nobody

5:28

had heard of any plans

5:30

by Bronwyn to suddenly go

5:32

away, to disappear. Writing

5:35

about the unhappiness of the marriage

5:38

Bronwyn had decided was bad for

5:40

her and her girls perhaps felt

5:42

cathartic, liberating. The

5:45

house in Lennox was a heavy burden. I

5:49

drifted away from John as he became more

5:51

and more depressed about the house being less

5:53

than immaculate and the death of his mother,

5:55

the only woman he thought was perfect. I

5:59

couldn't leave him at the time. as he was so

6:01

unhappy and depressed and hated life and

6:03

probably me. I tried

6:05

to plead and talk to him to open up and

6:07

get things off his chest but nothing would help him.

6:10

Friends and neighbors tell me

6:13

John would obsess and see

6:15

though the smallest things. No

6:18

matter how hard Bronwyn tried the house

6:20

could never be clean enough for John.

6:22

A tiny spot on

6:24

a tile, a crumb on the carpet.

6:27

These could set him off. John

6:30

was an introvert and a perfectionist.

6:33

He had built the house with his bare hands.

6:36

He was often unhappy when visitors

6:38

dropped by. Sometimes he

6:40

would appear hostile. Bronwyn

6:43

on the other hand was naturally sociable

6:45

and welcoming. She needed

6:47

the company and support of her friends.

6:50

But the children would play with their

6:53

friends in the garage to ensure no

6:55

mess in the house. And

6:57

all the while Bronwyn walked around

6:59

on eggshells. She worried about

7:02

how John would react when people were

7:04

over. All of it

7:06

took a toll. The tensions

7:08

must have been unbearable at times.

7:11

Their marriage was clearly doomed. On

7:14

March 21, 1993 Bronwyn and John formally separated.

7:21

Eventually I switched off and became cold

7:23

inside. He had

7:25

a heart of ice and always criticized

7:28

me no matter what I did. The

7:30

man was cold and heartless and

7:32

gave nothing but expected

7:34

everything. Bronwyn

7:37

shared recollections and sorrows,

7:39

hurts and philosophical musings

7:41

with her notepad. But

7:43

for whom was she writing all of this in 1993? Why

7:46

had she begun to put it all down? Bronwyn

7:51

hadn't kept a journal before. Bronwyn's

7:54

family and friends tell me she

7:56

lived for her two daughters Crystal

7:59

aged 10. and Lauren 5.

8:01

She loved those girls to bits. Her

8:04

devotion every day was obvious to all

8:06

who knew her. The three

8:08

were inseparable and Bromham was a

8:10

caring, nurturing mother. Nobody

8:13

has suggested otherwise. My

8:16

children have suffered from the environment that

8:18

surrounded them. It is

8:20

equally important to be honest with them and to

8:22

tell them about their past, as

8:24

you not only suffer from denying the truth but so

8:26

did they. As

8:29

I read all of it, some big

8:31

questions are inescapable. Are

8:33

Bromham's writings the artifacts of a woman

8:36

looking back on the 31 years of

8:38

her life to that moment? A

8:41

woman looking forward with her two

8:43

girls to a happier, brighter future

8:45

as a newly single mum, finally

8:47

freed of the shackles and sadness

8:49

she felt in an intolerable marriage

8:51

to John? I

8:53

was surrounded by hate and abuse in various

8:55

ways as a child and am determined not

8:57

to allow this to happen to my girls

9:00

or myself ever again. No one

9:02

will ever intimidate me again. Nor

9:05

will I allow anyone to force their opinions

9:07

onto me as this can cause damage to

9:09

myself as well as my children. If

9:13

love means not being trusted to

9:15

be yourself or thinking that everyone

9:17

is out to own you, paranoia,

9:20

then it is not my idea of happiness. Or

9:24

are they the nuanced words of a

9:26

woman who is writing with a plan

9:28

to leave something personal and heartfelt behind

9:30

for her loved ones? When

9:33

Bromham wrote in her notepad in 1993,

9:37

was she intending to imminently

9:39

and dramatically change everything by

9:42

leaving everyone who loved her, including

9:44

her daughters? Was

9:46

she intending to vanish without

9:48

explanation and never see or

9:50

speak to them or anyone else she

9:53

knew again? I

10:00

am human. We all make

10:02

mistakes. I can

10:04

forgive myself and will now live with my

10:06

memories in peace. I

10:09

will always remember the people I meet. I will

10:12

be fine now. A little break

10:14

for a few weeks and everyone will see the old me.

10:17

Look out. Over

10:19

months of visits to Lennox, nearby towns

10:21

and villages, and the city in which

10:23

she grew up, Sydney, I'm

10:26

talking to people who knew Bronwyn

10:28

and seeking answers to these questions

10:30

and more. Talking

10:32

to anyone who might shed light on what happened

10:34

to Bronwyn on the night of May 16, 1993,

10:39

when John was the last person to

10:41

see her at the home in Sandstone

10:43

Crescent. In

10:46

this enclave worshipped by dedicated surfers

10:48

and made affluent by sea change

10:50

property owners, people who know more

10:52

than they've let on before about

10:55

Bronwyn's fate are coming forward. Former

10:58

police detectives are sharing information with

11:00

me. Many hundreds

11:02

of pages of evidence are being

11:04

scrutinized for clues. Here's

11:07

one example. On April 2,

11:10

1993, Doreen Strong from the Ballina,

11:12

Byron Family Support Service made a

11:15

handwritten diary note about

11:17

the first of several contacts with

11:19

the newly single Bronwyn from Lennox

11:21

Head. Bronwyn

11:23

Winfield left husband 10 days ago.

11:26

Emotional violence, custody threats, being

11:28

to solicitor. Received advice

11:30

regarding custody. Feels

11:33

better, but needs support. We are

11:35

to call Monday regarding availability of

11:37

appointment. Bronwyn

11:39

saw three different solicitors after her

11:41

separation from John on March 21,

11:47

1993. She sought advice about her rights in

11:49

a planned property settlement with John, an

11:52

intended division of their assets. The

11:55

solicitor she had decided to stay with,

11:57

Chris McDevitt, was based in the nearby

11:59

town. of Lismore. Bronwyn's

12:02

next appointment in his office there

12:04

was scheduled for Monday May 17.

12:08

I have a copy of a

12:10

page from her notepad with the

12:12

time Bronwyn jotted down for the

12:14

Monday meeting with Chris McDevitt 11

12:16

a.m. but Bronwyn disappeared

12:18

the night before Sunday May 16 1993

12:20

and as she didn't meet her solicitor

12:25

or contact him ever again to

12:28

make another appointment the plans that

12:30

had been made for divorce and

12:33

the sale of the house were quietly shelved.

12:36

John kept his castle on

12:38

Sandstone Crescent head

13:07

south on Ballina Street a

13:19

good wave is peeling this sunny afternoon

13:22

board riders are carving across the face

13:24

of swollen waves at a beach known

13:26

as boulders. Balders

13:29

Beach is still John Winfield's

13:31

favorite location when he paddles

13:33

out for a wave. Bronwyn's

13:35

husband didn't leave Lenox head

13:37

after she vanished but

13:39

why would he? John

13:42

has always emphatically denied

13:44

wrongdoing. In

13:47

2002 a senior coroner made

13:49

a formal finding that Bronwyn

13:51

was dead and he

13:53

ended an inquest which had traversed a

13:55

large amount of evidence over five days

13:58

of hearings in a courtroom in the

14:00

Lismore. More importantly,

14:02

the senior coroner recommended to the

14:04

Director of Public Prosecutions in New

14:07

South Wales that a known person,

14:10

Bromwin's husband John Winfield, should

14:13

be prosecuted over her alleged

14:15

murder. But the

14:17

DPP firmly refused to

14:19

prosecute. I wish

14:21

to advise that after careful consideration of the

14:23

matter referred to him by the coroner and

14:26

following further investigation, the Director of

14:29

Public Prosecutions is not satisfied that

14:31

there is sufficient evidence to lay

14:33

any charge against Jonathan Winfield at

14:36

this time. The

14:38

prosecuting agency confirmed its decision in

14:41

a letter of just one sentence.

14:44

The letter went to the police

14:46

who had reinvestigated Bromwin's case

14:48

for the inquest. Bromwin's

14:51

brother Andy Reid and

14:53

his wife Michelle were

14:55

astonished. They wrote to the office

14:57

of the DPP in early 2003. We are writing

14:59

to you on behalf of

15:03

ourselves and the Reid family to

15:05

formally request a full explanation as

15:07

to why the Crown

15:10

prosecutor in Lismore and the

15:12

Director of Public Prosecutions in

15:14

Sydney have decided there is

15:16

not sufficient evidence to lay

15:18

charge against Mr Jonathan Winfield.

15:21

We feel that the very least we

15:23

deserve better than a line or two

15:26

informing us of this decision. It

15:28

has taken 10 long years to get the case to

15:30

this point and we would

15:32

appreciate a full written response to

15:35

this matter at your earliest convenience.

15:38

No doubt you are aware that

15:40

we are completely dissatisfied at the

15:42

decision and have already

15:45

taken steps to investigate the matter

15:47

further through political and departmental channels.

15:51

The Director of Public Prosecutions in

15:53

New South Wales at that time,

15:56

Nicholas Cowdery, replied to Andy Reid.

16:00

of your sister Bronwyn Winfield in May 1993

16:02

has no doubt caused much grief to you

16:04

and your family and I offer my sympathies.

16:07

My advice to police in the coroner after

16:09

very careful consideration of all the evidence presently

16:12

available is that there is not

16:14

sufficient evidence to charge Jonathan Winfield or any

16:16

other person. Bronwyn's

16:18

disappearance was not reported to the police for

16:20

two weeks and was initially treated as a

16:22

missing person inquiry. By the

16:24

time it was dealt with as a possible homicide years

16:27

had passed and any potential scientific evidence

16:29

was long gone. There

16:31

is nobody and no known cause of death.

16:34

While Jonathan Winfield is the last known person to

16:37

have seen her alive there is no evidence

16:39

that he killed her or had any role in

16:41

her disappearance. Suspicion

16:43

cannot be substitution for evidence. John

16:47

has never been charged with any

16:49

offence in relation to his missing

16:51

wife. John suggested

16:53

to police that Bronwyn had left

16:55

to start a new life with

16:57

a new identity probably

16:59

with money from in John's words

17:01

a wealthy sugar daddy but

17:04

nobody has ever reported having seen her

17:07

and in the two decades since Nicholas

17:09

Cowdery wrote that letter in 2003

17:12

there's still nobody. Behind

17:15

his back Lennox locals who know

17:18

the story of Bronwyn Winfield scoff

17:20

at John's version. I

17:23

was on assignment and rushing from one

17:25

interview to the next in Sydney when

17:27

I heard her name for the first

17:29

time. It was December

17:31

2017. Bronwyn

17:34

Joy Winfield had been missing for

17:36

24 years by then. She

17:38

became real for me during my

17:41

podcast investigation into the 1982 disappearance

17:44

of another missing woman Lynette

17:46

Joy Dawson. At

17:48

the request of Lynne's family we now

17:51

refer to her by her maiden name.

17:54

She's Lynette Sims. It

17:56

was a hot and humid afternoon just a week

17:59

before the interview. Christmas 2017 and

18:01

I had spent several hours

18:03

talking to Lynn's friend Julie

18:05

Andrew in her home near the

18:08

heart of Sydney. Julie

18:10

made a powerful impression that day.

18:13

Six months later when the podcast had

18:15

a name, The Teacher's Pet, and episodes

18:18

started to come out listeners

18:21

heard Julie's commitment to justice

18:23

for Lynn. They

18:25

heard her unwavering certainty about Lynn's

18:27

fate at the hands of her

18:29

husband, Chris Dawson. The

18:32

best way to dispose of a body when

18:34

you live in the bush is to put it in the

18:36

bush and that's what I think he

18:39

did on the Friday night. I'm

18:41

sorrowful. I've lost a dear

18:43

friend and I've killed

18:45

it bees and

18:48

I miss her every day. I just

18:53

want justice and I'd love her

18:55

little girls to know she didn't leave them.

18:58

She was taken away from them by

19:01

the person who was supposed to protect her. I

19:04

drove away from the interview in Julie's

19:06

terrace house with my friend Rebecca Hazel.

19:09

We headed west to meet

19:11

Karl Milovanovitch, a retired deputy

19:13

state coroner of New South

19:15

Wales. Come

19:18

in, we'll get you out of the heat. We're

19:21

very sorry, we just realised we pulled up here.

19:23

Karl has agreed to talk to me for my

19:25

podcast investigation back then about Lynn's

19:37

case. He remembered the

19:39

evidence well because back in 2003, 14

19:41

years before

19:44

Karl met me at his

19:46

home, he had led an

19:48

exhaustive Coroniel investigation. Karl

19:51

watched and heard numerous witnesses give evidence

19:53

under oath in a courtroom in Sydney.

19:57

These witnesses recalled Lynn and Chris.

20:00

The Northern Beach is home, the

20:02

marriage, and a schoolgirl will call

20:04

J.C. There

20:06

were many who were adamant that Lynn would

20:08

never have voluntarily left her two girls who

20:11

were just four and two at the time.

20:14

Among the witnesses were Lynn's friends

20:17

and family who knew her as

20:19

an utterly devoted mother and wife

20:21

and sister and daughter. All

20:24

were questioned under oath in the inquest

20:26

by a police officer with expertise as

20:28

the lawyer, Matt Fordham. He

20:31

had done a lot of work to ensure

20:33

the police brief of evidence was very solid.

20:37

A highly committed Northern Beaches detective

20:39

called Damian Loon was sure that

20:41

Chris Dawson had killed Lynn. Damian

20:44

had been investigating the case off and

20:46

on for several years and his work

20:49

comprised most of the police brief of

20:51

evidence. Chris

20:53

Dawson, a high school teacher and

20:55

former first grade rugby league player

20:57

with the Newtown Jets had become

20:59

infatuated in 1980 with

21:02

the babysitter, his former student

21:04

at Cromer High School. Chris

21:07

would move J.C. into Lynn's bed

21:09

within a couple of days of

21:11

Lynn's disappearance in January 1982. But

21:15

Chris didn't give any evidence in

21:17

the courtroom of the then deputy

21:19

state coroner Karl Milovanovich in 2003.

21:23

Chris exercised his right to silence.

21:27

A key witness was the former

21:29

teenage babysitter, J.C., who had gone

21:31

on to marry Chris Dawson, then

21:34

flee him, obtain a

21:36

divorce and raise her concerns with

21:38

police about foul play. At

21:41

the end of the Coroniel proceedings, Karl

21:43

Milovanovich found that Lynn was dead

21:46

and he recommended

21:48

to the director of public prosecutions

21:50

at the time, Nicholas Cowdery, that

21:52

Christopher Michael Dawson be prosecuted for

21:54

murder. But the

21:56

DPP refused. Nicholas

21:59

Cowdery was adamant that there

22:01

was not enough evidence and nobody.

22:04

From that time on Karl believed

22:07

that Chris Dawson had evaded

22:09

justice despite a compelling

22:11

circumstantial case against him for the

22:13

murder of his wife. This

22:16

is some of what Karl told me as I

22:18

sat in his lounge room in December 2017. All

22:20

the circumstances

22:23

when you put them together are just

22:26

so remarkable that I just could not

22:28

accept that Lynn Dawson would just disappear

22:30

off the face of the earth without

22:33

there being some human intervention. It

22:35

just defies all logic that

22:38

a mother would leave a four-year-old, a

22:40

two-year-old, a family, a

22:42

job and friends and just disappear.

22:44

That's just not normal human behaviour

22:47

for a woman with

22:49

her intelligence, her community ties,

22:51

the fact that she was employed, two

22:54

kids, had a lovely home, it just doesn't add up.

22:57

And I was very disappointed that the

22:59

police investigation was so poor initially that

23:02

Lynette Dawson was just treated as another

23:04

missing person and it

23:06

wasn't prioritised. They never

23:08

looked at the issues of domestic violence,

23:10

they never looked at the reality or

23:13

the possibility that this was a homicide.

23:15

Karl Milovanovitch has been a powerful

23:17

advocate for murdered women like Lynn

23:20

but he told me something else of great

23:22

importance on that afternoon in December 2017.

23:27

Karl spoke about the case of another missing

23:29

woman, Bromwin Joy Winfield.

23:32

I had not heard her name nor anything

23:34

about her 1993 disappearance until

23:37

Karl raised it with me.

23:39

There was very little publicity about

23:42

Bromwin over the years, her case

23:44

seemed to have fallen between the cracks.

23:48

This is some of what Karl matter

23:50

of factly told me about Bromwin. I

23:53

did an inquest of a lady

23:55

called Bromwin Winfield and she

23:57

had two kids as well. And

24:01

she went to bed one night and she

24:03

disappeared the next day. And there was some

24:06

suggestion from a neighbour that they heard the

24:08

car reversing down the driveway and scraping on

24:10

the ground. Like some suggestion there might have

24:13

been something in the boot. But she was

24:15

never found. Same thing happened

24:17

there. He was in Sydney. The husband was

24:19

in Sydney. She was up there. She went

24:21

to see a solicitor about organising a separation.

24:23

Got the locks changed to the house. He

24:26

found out about it. Drove up there. Next

24:28

day she disappeared. I did

24:30

the inquest at Lismore. I had

24:32

a very competent council assisting. It

24:35

was a strong case I thought. Circumstantial

24:37

evidence. Refered it to the DPP. They didn't run

24:39

with it. And when

24:41

the DPP decides that they're not going to

24:43

run, do they send it to you or

24:45

to the coroner's office and let her explain

24:47

one? No. There's

24:50

no explanation of the DPP in

24:52

terms of detailed reasons for

24:55

not proceeding. How do we

24:57

know that and just misunderstood the cats? Well

25:00

I suppose that's always a possibility. At

25:02

that stage of my career as Deputy State

25:04

Coroner, I was probably just

25:07

starting to do a number of missing persons'

25:09

cases that were historical ones. And

25:12

it wasn't long after

25:14

the inquest into Lynette Dawson's

25:16

disappearance from Winfield and a

25:19

number of others that I

25:21

was getting very concerned about

25:23

historical missing person cases where

25:25

clearly it was evident

25:28

that they were probably homicides and

25:30

the attitude that the police had

25:32

to the investigation of them. I

25:35

think there was a systemic problem in the

25:37

police department in how they prioritised

25:40

and tree-armed missing persons' cases.

25:43

And that was a systemic attitude

25:46

the police had. You don't worry

25:48

about investigating until you've got a smoking gun

25:50

or some evidence of foul play. They'll

25:52

turn up or they've gone off with a

25:55

boyfriend or something like that. that

26:00

a significant number of women who simply

26:05

missing were more likely to have

26:07

been murdered. It

26:31

was chilling to hear this conclusion because

26:34

it was also completely logical. I

26:37

had a name, Bronwyn Winfield. I

26:40

made a mental note to revisit her case

26:42

properly one day. I

26:45

opened a folder to collect information

26:47

about this other missing woman. In

26:50

the second half of 2018, as

26:53

weekly episodes of the teacher's pet were

26:55

being released, I began hearing

26:57

about Bronwyn Winfield from her family

26:59

and friends and others. Each

27:02

person who contacted me didn't know about

27:04

the others. Everyone

27:06

reached out independently. None

27:09

of them knew that I had already heard

27:11

about Bronwyn from Carl. In

27:14

July 2018, I got an email

27:16

about Bronwyn's case from Matt Fordham,

27:19

the former police officer who had done a

27:21

huge amount of work with Carl Milovanovitch for

27:23

his 2002 inquest. The

27:26

same Matt Fordham who had handled Lin's

27:29

case for Carl in 2003. Matt

27:33

sent me his formal written submissions which

27:35

had been presented at Bronwyn's inquest. These

27:39

were a matter of public record however

27:41

they were only lightly reported in the

27:43

media. Here's a

27:45

small part of the evidence Matt

27:48

Fordham presented to the then deputy

27:50

state coroner Carl Milovanovitch in 2002.

27:54

These are his words, it's not his

27:56

voice. to

28:00

her friend Alan Fisher about what

28:02

would occur when Jonathan Winfield returned

28:05

to Lenox from Sydney shortly before

28:07

her disappearance. She stated

28:09

that she was terrified about what he

28:11

might do. A large

28:14

number of witnesses described her as being

28:16

a devoted mother who would not have left

28:18

her kids. There is

28:20

absolutely no evidence that anyone other

28:22

than Jonathan Winfield had any motivation

28:25

or opportunity to kill Bronwyn. In

28:28

August 2018 a woman

28:30

called Deborah Hall reached out. She

28:34

was Bronwyn's neighbour and friend at

28:36

Sandstone Crescent Lenox Head for several

28:38

years until May 16, 1993.

28:42

In her email

28:44

she wrote, I have

28:47

watched and listened with great interest to

28:49

the podcast and the recent media reports

28:51

on Lynn Dawson. I really

28:53

felt compelled to write to you and inform you

28:55

of another missing person case that I was very

28:57

heavily involved in back in the early 1990s of

29:01

my neighbour and good friend Mrs

29:03

Benwin Winfield of Sandstone Crescent Lenox

29:06

Head. This case

29:08

was also investigated by police in a minor

29:10

way in the initial days of her disappearing.

29:13

She explained what Carl had

29:16

disclosed some months earlier, that

29:18

his coronal inquiry had found

29:21

that Bronwyn was dead. Deborah

29:23

added, This inquiry deemed

29:25

that a known person was responsible

29:27

for her disappearance. It

29:29

was recommended to the Director of Public

29:32

Prosecutions to pursue it to trial. However,

29:35

this never has eventuated even though

29:37

the coroner deemed there was enough

29:39

evidence to convict this man. The

29:42

reason stated by DPP was that

29:45

as there was never a body found, they

29:47

were not prepared to waste taxpayers

29:49

dollars for a non-conviction. This

29:53

man John Winfield continues as

29:55

SUSGRIES DORSON to proclaim his

29:57

wife just ran off and joined a convention. told

30:00

or went with another man. There

30:03

is so much more I could inform you of

30:05

in this case but it would take me hours.

30:07

I just felt I needed to highlight the

30:10

extreme similarities of my best friend's case. I

30:13

really hope that justice is done

30:15

for both these poor women. Regards

30:17

Deborah." The following

30:19

month a woman living in

30:22

Tasmania, Kim Marshall, emailed to

30:24

tell me that her half-sister,

30:26

Bronwyn Winfield, had been missing

30:28

since May 1993. When

30:31

we spoke on the telephone, Kim told

30:33

me that it was a homicide squad

30:35

cold case but it had

30:38

gone very cold. Kim

30:40

told me back then in late 2018, I

30:43

carry this load each week and

30:46

have an obligation to try harder to

30:48

find her body. I

30:50

truly believe her body can be

30:52

found. At

30:55

the time, Chris Dawson remained a

30:57

free man, enjoying his retirement near

31:00

the beach on Queensland's Sunshine Coast.

31:03

But he and the criminal justice system

31:05

were under enormous pressure from the

31:07

teacher's bed and listeners who had

31:09

heard damning evidence of the system's

31:11

failure. Failure not just

31:14

for the absence of justice fall

31:16

in but for never even

31:18

investigating a culture of grooming

31:20

and sexual exploitation of Northern

31:23

Beach's high school girls by

31:25

teachers including Chris Dawson at

31:27

that time. New witnesses were

31:29

coming forward to talk to me in

31:31

the podcast in 2018. Some

31:34

new witnesses were going straight to police with

31:36

evidence about Chris and Lynn, a

31:39

1982 disappearance and a ring of teachers

31:42

who had pursued high school girls. There

31:45

had been a lot of damage caused. It

31:48

finally culminated in homicide squad

31:50

detectives arresting Chris and extraditing

31:53

him to Sydney to be charged with

31:55

Lynn's murder on December 5 2018. Over

32:00

the years since my folder

32:02

of Bronwyn Winfield files grew

32:04

steadily. Bronwyn's half-sister

32:06

Kim Marshall and others who knew

32:08

the Lennox mother of two girls

32:11

stayed in touch. I

32:13

heard from a woman called Fiona Husner

32:15

who as a child lived next door

32:18

to Bronwyn for years near Crannulla in

32:20

the Shire south of Sydney. We

32:23

met in Brisbane in early 2019 at a

32:25

bar called Felons to talk about the case.

32:29

Fiona who is very fond of her

32:31

neighbour and babysitter described what she called

32:34

secrets and mystery in

32:36

relation to Bronwyn's unexplained

32:38

disappearance. I

32:40

sent a note to Bronwyn's brother

32:43

Andy Reid using Facebook messenger. I

32:46

wrote, I've been

32:48

interested in possibly investigating the

32:50

disappearance and suspected murder of

32:52

your sister Bronwyn. A

32:54

number of people who knew Bronwyn have urged me

32:56

to do a podcast investigation

32:58

similar to the teacher's pet into

33:00

the probable murder of Lynn Dawson.

33:04

I understand that you have extensive

33:06

files and reasonable suspicions about what

33:08

happened. It's not

33:10

something I could start without full cooperation

33:12

from you and other members of the

33:15

family. Andy

33:18

and his wife Michelle were

33:20

immediately interested. We

33:22

met in a cafe in Sydney and

33:24

talked about a future podcast investigation. A

33:28

woman from Ballina called Kerry McLean

33:30

got in touch to talk to

33:32

me about her conversations with Bronwyn's

33:34

daughter Crystal who had lived in

33:36

Kerry's home for some time. You'll

33:39

hear more about it later in this

33:41

podcast series. At

33:43

my request Andy Reid and his

33:46

wife Michelle and Andy's half sister

33:48

Kim Marshall started to track down

33:50

relevant paperwork. Transcripts

33:52

from the original inquest notes that

33:54

they had taken at the time

33:57

and police statements. Old

34:00

articles about Bromman's case whenever it

34:02

featured in the local newspaper the

34:05

northern star of Lismore were collated.

34:08

In 2021 I drove to Ballina

34:10

and the home of Glenn Taylor,

34:13

a former Newcastle homicide squad

34:15

detective sergeant. Here's

34:17

a little of what Glenn told me

34:20

back then as extreme rain flooded the

34:22

northern rivers and low-lying areas of New

34:24

South Wales. He told

34:26

me that his connection to Bromman's case began in

34:28

1998 when she had been missing for five years.

34:34

Andrew Reeder, Michelle Reeder

34:37

came to see myself and another detective in

34:40

Ballina and said look can we have some

34:42

fresh eyes? Look at this, we're

34:45

just not happy that this is going to be

34:47

left as a missing person. We think there's more

34:49

to it and then when we started looking into

34:51

the matter I mean as a

34:53

homicide investigator that was abundantly key

34:55

very early in the initial investigation

34:58

that it needed a lot more

35:00

work done and then a lot

35:03

of formal statements. Glenn

35:06

had transferred north from Newcastle's major crime

35:08

unit to be a detective in the

35:10

coastal town of Ballina. When

35:13

he heard about Bromman he was intrigued

35:15

and then suspicious. Like

35:17

Damien Loon in Lin's case, Glenn

35:20

said he smelled a rat but

35:22

the trail had gone cold. The

35:25

odds were stacked against the seasoned

35:27

former homicide squad cop when so

35:29

little had been done by other

35:32

police in the five years immediately

35:34

following Bromman's disappearance. I

35:37

still believe that it was in the

35:39

senior officer's mind that this

35:41

woman had in fact just

35:43

voluntarily decided to leave. It

35:47

was really haphazard investigation.

35:50

There was very very little done, there was

35:53

no statement there was no statement for me,

35:55

the particular person like me, I mean absolutely

35:59

legal. areas like there

36:01

was no forensic investigation of the

36:03

home, there was no forensic investigation

36:05

of the motor vehicle that John

36:08

from Winfield had taken within

36:10

hours and arrived in Watson, Sydney at

36:13

the Murrittel House and over

36:15

the years I think

36:18

there was only initially a few inquiries done and

36:21

it just fell back to a missing person and nothing

36:23

further was done. And many years later

36:25

I treated it as

36:28

a major investigation and strongly suspected

36:30

that Bronwyn had been murdered. Yeah

36:32

your statement's very detailed. They need

36:34

to be thorough, we're talking about

36:37

the likely murder of them, of

36:39

course and so they need to be thorough. Did

36:43

you believe that Bronwyn

36:46

would leave her children and

36:48

stay away at any stage? All

36:50

the people we took statements from in

36:53

the investigation, all Bronwyn, friends and

36:57

close associates, she absolutely

36:59

adored her children. There

37:01

is just no way that she

37:03

would have left those children that

37:06

night and not come back to the house. She

37:09

was just so attached to them, she

37:12

was seeking full custody of both the

37:14

children. She was a

37:16

very very good mother according to

37:18

everyone that we spoke to.

37:21

She absolutely totally

37:23

adored her children to just walk

37:25

out and leave those children not

37:27

have any further contact. It just wouldn't

37:29

happen unless she just couldn't prevent it.

37:31

That's why it was extremely suspicious.

37:35

And why was that not a

37:37

view that existed in the

37:40

police in 1993 when she disappeared? It's

37:45

really difficult to say

37:47

police do get extremely busy

37:50

with other matters. Unfortunately there's still

37:52

other things happening with robberies and

37:54

breaking enters and actual

37:56

assaults and so forth. It should have been a

37:59

good idea. highlighting to a

38:01

commander if they look we believe

38:03

there's something more sinister

38:05

in this we need more resources

38:07

put into this that's

38:10

one reason or another that

38:12

wasn't done. When

38:14

we first met at his home

38:16

Glenn urged a podcast investigation and

38:18

he pledged his full support but

38:21

I didn't have time then. Chris

38:24

Dawson was waging a legal battle

38:26

against the teacher's pet, me

38:28

and police when Glenn Taylor and

38:30

Bromwin's family and friends were quietly

38:32

talking to me. Chris

38:35

Dawson made a high-stakes bid to

38:37

avoid a murder trial altogether. He

38:40

said the publicity from the podcast series meant

38:42

that he couldn't get a fair trial. He

38:46

was also arguing that a

38:48

shoddy original police investigation after

38:50

Lin first disappeared had prejudiced

38:52

his prospects in any trial.

38:55

But his bid to evade

38:58

justice again was ultimately futile.

39:01

At the end of his murder trial

39:03

the Supreme Court's justice Ian Harrison delivered

39:06

a verdict in late August 2022. Christopher

39:11

Michael Dawson on the charts that on about

39:13

8th January 1982 it gave you or

39:17

elsewhere in the state of New South Wales you

39:20

did murder Lynette Dawson. I

39:22

find you guilty. I

39:25

met Matt Fordham for the first time

39:27

that day in the Supreme Court in

39:29

Sydney. Matt came

39:31

to watch justice unfold better

39:34

late than never. Investigating

39:37

Lyn's 1982 disappearance

39:39

had led me to Karl Milovanovitch

39:41

in December 2017 and

39:44

Karl would open the door to the 1993 disappearance

39:46

of Bromwin

39:48

Winfield and that's why

39:50

I'm driving in northern New South Wales in

39:55

2024 31 years after Bromwin kissed her

39:57

two girls good night and

39:59

put them to bed. in an unremarkable

40:01

house on Sandstone Crescent. The

40:04

house that John built is

40:06

Carson, Broughman's prison. This

40:31

is where the former flocks saved

40:35

lives. Alright.

40:38

There's the house. You can't help but

40:40

wonder what happened to

40:45

the house. What

41:00

happened inside that time? What

41:03

led to a woman disappearing 30 years

41:06

ago? Pleased to

41:08

meet you. You

41:17

too. Come on in. Sorry, it's taken

41:19

almost 6 years. Well,

41:22

that's been about 30 plus. Deborah

41:25

Hall has welcomed me inside her

41:28

house at Sandstone Crescent. This

41:30

is where she and her partner, Murray,

41:32

raised their children and where

41:35

their friend, Broughman Winfield, lived next door

41:37

until her May 16, 1993 disappearance. Can

41:42

I get you anything? Come and get me a coffee. Come and

41:44

see. It'd be great. Thank you. I've

41:46

been up at Kingscliff. I didn't mean to be there.

41:49

Oh, okay. Yes. Dev

41:51

and Murray were important witnesses because

41:53

they heard and saw things at

41:55

key moments. Proughman

41:58

was very unhappy and she had to. confided

42:00

this and much more to Deb

42:02

as their friendship deepened. Murray,

42:05

the son of a police detective,

42:07

became highly suspicious and concerned for

42:09

Bronwyn at a very early stage.

42:13

Their children, who used to play with

42:15

Bronwyn's two girls, have grown up, moved

42:17

away, married and had children of their

42:19

own. They all

42:22

return to Sandstone Crescent for family

42:24

occasions. Bronwyn's

42:26

face is often talked about at

42:28

these catch-ups. Bronwyn

42:30

and the house cast a long

42:33

shadow. John

42:35

has a newer grander house in Lennox.

42:38

He's sold up on Sandstone Crescent.

42:41

His place is closer to his favourite

42:43

beach, Alders. It

42:46

is a lot more valuable than the

42:48

house in which John and Bronwyn lived

42:50

with the two girls, Crystal and Lauren.

42:54

Do you mind if I run a recorder

42:56

over this? Yeah, thank you. I don't have

42:58

any problem with that. Great. Do

43:01

you have any other commitments this afternoon? No,

43:03

not actually. Bronwyn's

43:06

good friend told me her reaction while

43:09

listening to Lyn's case unfold in The

43:11

Teacher's Pet in 2018. Driving

43:15

up the coast Murray and I and the currently put you

43:17

on. I put the podcast on and

43:19

he goes, I'm like what is it? He

43:22

says, I said, he just said, I had no

43:24

idea. So I started listening and I'm like, look

43:26

at him go. Are you

43:28

hearing this? This is almost our

43:30

case. And we're done. This

43:33

is fine. This is

43:36

fine. That was what prompted me to know you and

43:38

I hope you didn't mind doing that. I don't know.

43:40

Because it was so similar and I thought I've got

43:42

to just put it out there. Not

43:44

expecting that because I know you're a big man. Getting back to

43:46

me, you know, when you're a father, I said, oh, OK. Obviously,

43:49

we're a little bit aware of this

43:52

situation. Bronwyn

44:00

received comfort and support from Deb and

44:02

other friends from whom you'll hear. They

44:05

knew she was determined to walk from

44:07

the ruins of her relatively brief marriage

44:10

with John Winfield. Watching

44:13

Chris Dawson on TV is

44:15

almost like watching John Winfield. How?

44:18

So similar. In terms of good

44:21

looking girls, physique, everything.

44:24

You could almost be claimed you

44:26

two men. Knowing John, the

44:28

way I knew John, I'm like, God,

44:30

you know these guys are just on the same

44:33

path. Well, I was really glad that you're

44:35

right. I didn't want to overstep

44:37

my mark and push anything when it's up

44:39

to the family to kind of

44:41

agree to that sort of thing. So I'm

44:44

just so frustrated by the fact

44:47

that this beautiful one who is a good friend

44:49

of mine is no longer

44:51

with us and possibly at the hands

44:53

of her husband. And

44:56

the fact that the two girls have grown up

44:58

without her mother. They've got

45:00

kids of their own that she never got to meet. And

45:03

Bronwyn was a very caring, very

45:06

loving and beautiful

45:09

person. She was a great

45:11

mum. And this is why in

45:13

regards to what you've just done with the

45:15

Dawson case, when I heard the story about

45:18

her, Bronwyn, she's

45:20

almost identical to how Bronwyn

45:22

was. And there was no way she would

45:24

leave those kids. And I know

45:27

that. And that's the thing that I

45:29

kept saying to the police in the

45:31

initial investigation. Murray,

45:34

this is Headley. Good day, Murray. Yeah, you

45:36

too. How are the waves today? Wasn't

45:39

that good? No. I went out

45:41

in the wrong spot, I suppose. I should have dropped the point. Yeah, we

45:43

went off to Bulbles Beach. I got smashed a bit. It looks alright. It's

45:46

alright, mate. Yeah, I've been here about half an hour just

45:48

going through some of the depends.

45:50

Yeah, she's a nice lady. You know, if

45:52

you're sick, she brought you down to the

45:54

zoo. Because I remember when I had Dales,

45:57

she came down with Los Angeles and it's the best sort of

45:59

person she was. He was a classy lady too.

46:01

He was a classy, even with a nice neighbour. Beautiful

46:04

lady. Murray

46:06

Nolan still goes to Balders Beach

46:08

for a look and often a

46:10

surf most days. And

46:13

he usually sees his former neighbour

46:15

John Winfield down there. Sometimes

46:18

they paddle for the same wave. At

46:21

other times they'll look out over the water

46:23

from the car park and talk about what

46:25

the weather might bring. Murray

46:27

liked Roman a lot. He

46:30

cannot avoid what he believes is

46:32

the truth, but it's not in

46:34

his nature to avoid and ostracise

46:36

John. John is perfectly

46:39

civil and friendly to you. Yes,

46:41

I'll still see him every day. I'll speak to him this

46:43

morning. Don't Johnnie hire him?

46:46

It windy, he goes, he swells up,

46:48

he's a usual certain sort of talk. I've

46:51

seen him, you know, I reckon probably nine days out of ten

46:53

I've seen him. Where did you save the story? I was just

46:55

checking the surf where I went searching. But

46:58

does John know what you suspect

47:01

he has done? Yes, I've been under the

47:03

bus at the currency quarry. My

47:05

role is to sell the truth. And he's never raised that

47:07

with you? No. And you

47:09

just get on and talk to each other as if nothing's happened? Yes,

47:12

honestly. Strange isn't it? Yeah,

47:14

like we're quite friendly. It's a

47:16

funny sister situation. And

47:18

what's your level of confidence that

47:20

he did in fact kill Roman?

47:26

How about you Deb? No, I'm a children's. See,

47:29

Murray has a nicer nature than I have. I'll

47:31

stare him down, I won't speak to him. Deb

47:35

is spreading documents and photographs across

47:37

the table for me to read

47:39

and copy. Yeah, there's a fairby's here

47:42

I've got. That's my

47:44

statement. Oh, that

47:46

was Roman. There, that was in a very good

47:48

shot. That was one of my children's birthday parties.

47:51

A service of thanksgiving. Yeah.

47:55

So, this is dated July

47:58

2002. Andrew wanted

48:00

to have a bit of a memorial. Oh,

48:02

her? There was a certainty that

48:04

she was dead. I might photograph all these.

48:06

You can, you can. It's

48:09

a small community, relatively.

48:11

Yes. But he

48:13

stayed here the whole time. Yes. Yes.

48:17

What do you think of that? Does

48:19

that suggest that perhaps

48:21

he's got nothing to hide, he's

48:23

not running away, he loves this

48:25

place, he knows he's done nothing wrong?

48:29

I also think that is

48:32

there an insult as well, he doesn't speak to that many people?

48:35

I don't know what the outcome of all this will

48:37

be. What's your hope? My

48:41

hope and the hope of many who knew and

48:43

loved Bronwyn is that new

48:45

and illuminating facts emerge as

48:47

a result of this podcast series. Something

48:50

that might finally resolve this

48:52

sad, cold case. If

48:55

Bronwyn went away, as John Winfield

48:57

says, where and with

48:59

whom did she go? If

49:02

Bronwyn has been dead all these years

49:04

as a former deputy state coroner ruled,

49:07

how did Bronwyn die and who

49:09

if anyone bears responsibility for her

49:11

death? And where is her

49:13

body? I have

49:16

approached John Winfield and asked him for

49:18

an interview. John's side

49:20

of the story is very important. John

49:24

has always emphatically denied any

49:26

role in any foul

49:28

play. So far John

49:30

has declined to speak to me on

49:32

the record or on background. I'm

49:35

going to keep trying because he hasn't ruled

49:37

it out. In an

49:39

email to me on May 21, 2024, John stated, I

49:45

have previously made a sworn statement in

49:47

1998 in which I

49:49

answered 415 questions and

49:52

as I said to George Radmore in 2010, I

49:56

stand by these answers I gave. Those

50:00

are John's words from his email.

50:02

It's not his voice. He

50:05

answered questions in a 1998 interview

50:07

he agreed to do in Ballina police

50:09

station. Soon after the

50:12

then detective sergeant Glenn Taylor had

50:14

started to investigate Bronwyn's case properly

50:17

for the first time. Twelve

50:20

years later in 2010, another

50:23

experienced detective George Radmore who

50:25

was with the homicide squad

50:27

of New South Wales led

50:29

a re-investigation. In

50:32

John Winfield's email to me on the eve

50:34

of the release of this episode, he

50:36

said he might bring legal action, depending

50:39

on the content of this podcast

50:41

series. And John added,

50:44

There is a generational history of

50:46

mental illness, both male and female

50:48

in the Reid family. Now

50:52

Kim Marshall in Tasmania was the

50:54

first member of Bronwyn's family to

50:56

contact me. That was back in

50:58

2018. Kim

51:00

has been a terrier with the

51:03

help of her half-brother Andy Reid

51:05

in finding decades old documents and

51:07

evidence from the case. And

51:10

Andrew has a box packed away

51:12

and Crystal has a box packed away. Andrew

51:15

has got masses of stuff, boxes

51:17

that are in ceilings and boxes that are

51:19

stacked, all that type of business. And I

51:21

love rummaging and getting everything

51:23

together and putting in some type of

51:26

chronological order for you. So

51:29

I've asked them both to

51:31

try and get access to their boxes, but

51:33

I dare say it's going to be

51:35

me physically being the hunter and gatherer, getting

51:38

there and going about my business. Well

51:40

that sounds really good Kim. Missing

51:43

police statements which I had been asking

51:45

members of the family about from the

51:48

start of our contact finally materialised Bronwyn's

51:51

eldest daughter Crystal had them. Crystal

51:55

has all the original statements in

51:57

full which is what Andrew's been

51:59

looking for. for a very long

52:01

time Crystal actually had them. I

52:04

didn't believe that material would

52:06

become available so having

52:09

that makes a very big

52:11

difference. Andy

52:14

Reid, a builder and a popular

52:16

community figure in Sydney's Sutherland Shire

52:18

near Crinola, sought the blessing of

52:21

his niece Crystal to press forward

52:23

with a podcast investigation. Roman's

52:26

daughter is in her early 40s. She's

52:29

a single mum with mixed and complicated

52:31

views about what happened to her own

52:34

mother when Crystal was 10. It's

52:38

just time that she finds out and she wants

52:40

to know what happened. Endeavor

52:43

to do whatever needed to be done

52:45

to try and find out the truth.

52:47

She is Lauren.

52:54

Lauren doesn't believe

52:56

that John did it. In June 2023 I asked

52:58

Andy about the

53:04

status of police investigations into

53:07

Bronwyn's disappearance. Have

53:09

you heard any more from the police? No

53:12

we haven't heard anything unless something turns up

53:14

we're basically at a dead end you know

53:16

like they weren't willing

53:18

to investigate anything

53:20

that was presented to them

53:24

any further than what they already had. They

53:26

haven't bothered to reach out or contact for anything

53:29

for a long time now. The last

53:31

detective at Newcastle was the last person that

53:33

I used to liaise with so every

53:36

12 months just ring and ask a couple of

53:38

questions. He's always just had the same response.

53:41

No acuity on a card, no

53:43

acuity on a bank account blah blah blah. Well

53:45

they can't be anymore anyway because the bank account

53:47

was closed down. When

53:50

I spoke to Andy in June

53:52

2023 before I could start a

53:54

re-investigation of the case early the

53:56

following year he confirmed his

53:58

strong view about who had killed

54:00

his older sister. Although

54:31

Andy and other members of the

54:33

family have been angered that police

54:35

did not do much more soon

54:38

after her disappearance, they have

54:40

only praise for the first detective

54:42

to seriously suspect foul play. I've

55:01

probably interviewed him for about two hours and I've got

55:03

that audio file. He's

55:05

always been very helpful with us too

55:07

but it was always so apologetic

55:09

about how baggy it was handled by the police

55:11

in the first case. And I

55:14

always said to him, it's no need for you

55:16

to apologise, you've only been part of getting it

55:18

over the line to the Coronal Inquiry. Later

55:21

in this series, you'll hear from Glenn Taylor

55:23

again about the work that he did to

55:25

get a brief of evidence to the coroner.

55:29

Glenn's efforts to get to the

55:31

bottom of Bronwyn's disappearance are ongoing. Glenn

55:34

vented his frustrations in a letter he

55:36

wrote to Andy and Michelle in 2003, one

55:38

year after the inquest. Now

55:43

that I'm out of the New South Wales

55:45

police, I can get my opinion regarding

55:48

the original investigation. One

55:51

word describes it disgraceful.

55:55

The house in Sandstone Crescent should

55:58

have been subject to a thorough... an

56:00

intensive crime scene investigation.

56:04

The same for the Ford motor vehicle. There

56:06

is nothing in the running sheets to indicate

56:08

the vehicle was either looked at. There

56:11

was not one single statement taken from

56:14

any witness and

56:16

more importantly no statement or

56:18

interview was taken from

56:20

John Winfield. Now

56:22

some things have changed since June 2023

56:26

which was when Andy told me that

56:28

homicide detectives were doing nothing about Bronwyn's

56:30

case and that it

56:32

had gone completely cold. It

56:34

seems the police after years

56:37

of inactivity are now getting active

56:39

again. Is that right? This

56:41

whole thing sort of stirred back up with

56:43

us talking a year and we were very

56:45

curious and we contacted the police. Myself

56:48

and Kim went and had a meeting. A

56:52

senior officer in the police unsolved

56:54

homicide units told Andy and Kim

56:56

that Bronwyn's case was being reviewed

56:59

at the request of another veteran

57:01

detective, George Radmore. He

57:05

put a very strong case forward

57:07

upon his retirement and

57:09

a request to have Bronwyn's case re-looked

57:11

at. They're in the process

57:13

of doing a complete review. But

57:16

I'll give them the benefit of doubt because

57:19

they're trying to get up to speed. Because they're

57:22

still looking for their documents. Shortly

57:25

before the release of this first

57:27

episode, Andy went to see top

57:30

detectives from the Homicide Squad's Unsolved

57:32

Unit. They had asked

57:34

Andy to come to a meeting

57:36

for an update on how their

57:38

review of the case had gone.

57:40

Basically he said, well, our hands are

57:42

tied. We can't do any more than

57:45

what we've done and we don't have

57:47

any new evidence as it stands. He

57:49

said, oh, and again, look, I cannot

57:51

apologise enough for how

57:54

badly the original investigation was handled.

57:56

They've got no intention of putting

57:59

any more work in. I'm

58:01

aware that today is the

58:03

anniversary of Bromwyn's decision. Can

58:06

you believe it? 31 years. Let's

58:09

see where we get to after the podcast then. Is

58:13

it named? Yeah, it is.

58:16

What do you reckon we're calling it? I

58:18

don't know. One

58:20

word. Bromwyn. Oh

58:24

lovely. You know, a lot of

58:26

people will start talking about Bromwyn. This

58:28

case never got any publicity. Not

58:31

really, no. The Northern Star, and that was

58:33

it. And it was on a mill cut

58:35

once, you know, she was on a mill cut. We

58:38

won't have that problem this time. It'll get

58:40

a lot of attention. That's

58:42

the game changer that encourages people

58:44

to come forward. We'll

58:47

hear from people we've never heard of before

58:50

who listen and know something

58:52

that helps. I don't want

58:54

to over promise, but I really hope it makes a difference.

58:57

Yeah, same with me. Andy

59:00

and Kim, Bromwyn siblings, are adamant

59:02

that they want the podcast to

59:04

go ahead. They have been disappointed

59:07

by officialdom too many times. There

59:10

is a lot more that

59:12

the police could do. They've got the

59:15

wrong mindset from back in the day.

59:17

They've looked at the wrong things. And

59:20

there's so many pieces of evidence that

59:22

have never been presented. Before

59:25

Bromwyn vanished, she was planning to

59:27

welcome Kim to Lennox to the

59:29

house at Sandstone Crescent for a

59:31

rare visit. I

59:33

spoke to her every day on the

59:35

phone about my plane flight, what time

59:37

my plane would arrive. Then I'd be

59:39

getting on the Greyhound bus. We found

59:41

the buses out together, what time the

59:43

bus would arrive in Ballina. It's

59:46

going to be so exciting. I'll be able

59:48

to show you all my dresses in my

59:50

wardrobe because I've never had an adult experience

59:53

with Bromwyn, if that makes sense. It

59:55

was always as the youngest child. But

59:58

this time it was going to be adult life. to adult.

1:00:01

And so we had all these wonderful talks and

1:00:03

it's only now that I can talk to someone

1:00:05

about this. It

1:00:07

was Kim who first alerted me

1:00:10

to Bronwyn's storytelling, her

1:00:12

writings. And it was

1:00:14

Kim who appreciated how the words

1:00:16

Bronwyn had left behind on those

1:00:18

A4 pages were used against her

1:00:20

early on when she no longer

1:00:22

had a voice. This

1:00:25

is that Bronwyn wrote to Mum saying that she

1:00:27

was scared for her life. There's

1:00:29

enough circumstantial evidence. Where

1:00:31

are those letters that she wrote to your mother? The

1:00:34

police won't give them back to me. They

1:00:36

never, ever, ever, ever find them or send

1:00:38

them. The story

1:00:40

that she was writing, they've

1:00:42

got the wrong idea about

1:00:45

what's actually happened. Who were you referring to

1:00:47

there? Bronwyn wrote a

1:00:49

beautiful story of her

1:00:51

history. Okay. This

1:00:54

big large pad, which some people have

1:00:57

copies of it, the police never gave their

1:00:59

mind back. She actually wrote

1:01:01

this beautiful chronological list of

1:01:04

her history of everything. That

1:01:07

is a story about Bronwyn. And then she

1:01:09

says, when I come back, the

1:01:11

real Bronwyn will be back. So watch

1:01:13

out. That statement has

1:01:16

got nothing to do with Bronwyn

1:01:18

going away on a three to

1:01:20

five day rest by rest. That

1:01:22

is her writing a story. And

1:01:25

John has used that paragraph to

1:01:27

say that Bronwyn has lost

1:01:29

her marbles and has

1:01:31

actually decided to act on

1:01:33

what she was writing. And

1:01:36

he goes, she's unstable. She's like

1:01:38

a mother, blah, blah, blah.

1:01:42

Kim insists that in the weeks

1:01:44

and months after Bronwyn first disappeared,

1:01:46

police in Ballina who has shown

1:01:48

her writings were persuaded that she

1:01:51

wanted to leave her children, that

1:01:53

she planned to go away. I

1:01:56

thought Bronwyn had gone away for a rest

1:01:59

because of his story that she'd written. The

1:02:02

detectives asked us all these questions

1:02:04

but they asked the questions with

1:02:06

a bias or a perspective

1:02:09

already in place. They didn't

1:02:11

actually investigate with an open

1:02:13

mind. Now

1:02:15

I need to explain a little

1:02:17

of the family history of Bronwyn,

1:02:19

her brother Andy Reid and their

1:02:21

half-sister Kim Marshall. It

1:02:24

is going to become more relevant later

1:02:26

in this podcast series. You

1:02:29

heard Kim make a fleeting reference

1:02:31

to her mother Barbara being unstable.

1:02:34

Barbara had postnatal depression

1:02:37

and in an extraordinary coincidence

1:02:39

Barbara disappeared too. Bronwyn

1:02:43

was a toddler aged two and her

1:02:45

little brother Andy was six months old.

1:02:48

Kim had not yet been born. The

1:02:52

circumstances were very different in

1:02:54

Bronwyn's mother's case because

1:02:56

Barbara came back after getting

1:02:58

treatment for her mental health

1:03:01

challenges and while Barbara

1:03:03

was away some in her

1:03:05

family knew where she was. They

1:03:07

were in touch with her but

1:03:10

as you'll hear a sad

1:03:12

chapter of family history revolving

1:03:14

around Barbara would directly influence

1:03:17

the initial investigation into Bronwyn's

1:03:19

disappearance three decades later. Hello

1:03:27

Hedley. Oh good to meet you Mrs

1:03:29

Reid. Leah. Leah hi. Come on in.

1:03:33

I've come to the Sydney home

1:03:36

of Bronwyn's aunt Leah Reid and

1:03:38

her husband John Reid. They

1:03:41

know the family history because they lived it.

1:03:44

Bronwyn's father Philip and Bronwyn's

1:03:46

uncle John were brothers. G'day

1:03:49

how are you? John Reid. Yeah Mr Reid good

1:03:51

to meet you heavy Thomas. He's 88 Hedley and

1:03:53

I said he's got to

1:03:56

expect his legs to go on him. No

1:03:58

no he won't have a... I've got

1:04:00

a new knee and a new head. There's

1:04:04

some lovely photos here. There

1:04:08

are my three children at the shop

1:04:10

and the main children. We've

1:04:12

got a video tape there with Bronwyn with

1:04:14

the father of the hospital. We

1:04:16

could never understand why she didn't

1:04:19

try modelling because she was tall

1:04:21

and blonde and good looking. You

1:04:24

knew Bronwyn's mother? Yes. What

1:04:27

do you recall about her? When

1:04:29

he met her, she was a nurse in the

1:04:31

local hospital and he had

1:04:33

tonsillitis, wasn't it? The

1:04:36

first thing he saw when he woke up was Barbara's

1:04:38

face. Everyone thought,

1:04:41

what a marvellous match because

1:04:44

she was a real country girl, she

1:04:46

made pickles, she knitted, she

1:04:48

did everything. It seemed like

1:04:50

a marriage made

1:04:53

in heaven. Then she had

1:04:55

Bronwyn. We

1:04:57

noticed after that she became fairly

1:05:00

strange. She'd come and

1:05:02

stay with us in Sydney and

1:05:05

I noticed I'd be talking to her

1:05:07

and suddenly she'd just get this

1:05:09

vague look on her face and

1:05:11

stop talking and then

1:05:13

come back into the conversation. I

1:05:16

don't know how long. It might have only been

1:05:18

five minutes but it seemed like a long while.

1:05:20

They started

1:05:22

taking her to various different doctors

1:05:25

and specialists and they said that

1:05:27

she was just a

1:05:30

housewife who needed to get out more and

1:05:33

then we went to visit them in Wollongong

1:05:36

and were invited to dinner. I noticed

1:05:39

that Philip was the one that

1:05:41

was cooking the steak, he was

1:05:43

bathing the kids and she dropped

1:05:45

sugar all over the floor and

1:05:47

he had to clean that up.

1:05:50

I said to him, what's happening? He

1:05:52

said he couldn't rely on her

1:05:55

to do anything and that

1:05:57

he didn't know whether the kids would even

1:05:59

be fed. didn't come home from

1:06:01

school at lunchtime to

1:06:03

feed them. We've

1:06:05

been joined by a young woman

1:06:07

Madison Walsh who helped arrange this

1:06:09

interview between her grandparents and me.

1:06:12

She's very curious about Bronwyn's case

1:06:14

and has been doing her own

1:06:17

research, reading police statements and

1:06:19

talking to relatives. Maddie

1:06:22

is closest to Bronwyn's eldest

1:06:24

daughter Crystal and they

1:06:26

are related of course. And

1:06:28

you're going to hear a lot more

1:06:30

from Maddie in later episodes. Barbara

1:06:33

was there and then she wasn't. Sounds

1:06:36

like she was really struggling. She was

1:06:38

struggling yes. She must have been. It

1:06:41

also sounds like a bit of like postnatal depression

1:06:43

which is very prevalent these days but

1:06:45

back in the day you would have just been

1:06:48

labeled as crazy and incontinent. I had postnatal depression

1:06:50

so I know what that was about. These

1:06:53

sorts of issues were not as well understood.

1:06:55

They didn't know about it. I

1:06:57

mean the poor kids had a dreadful, dreadful

1:07:01

doing. She just took off. We didn't

1:07:03

know where she was. And then

1:07:05

she got in touch. She rang

1:07:07

up and said that she couldn't cope with Andrew.

1:07:10

Come and get him. She

1:07:12

just disappeared. I

1:07:14

think they reconnected from what I've

1:07:17

seen and heard. Bronwyn was 11

1:07:19

and Andrew was around

1:07:21

nine. And then they maintained

1:07:23

contact ever since then. Barbara

1:07:25

didn't have custody of them which she

1:07:28

says is why she wanted to have

1:07:30

another child, Kim. And

1:07:32

then many years later

1:07:35

Bronwyn disappeared. Did the

1:07:37

family suspect

1:07:39

that Bronwyn was just

1:07:43

doing what her mother had done? No

1:07:46

really I didn't. Well

1:07:48

no because she wasn't like

1:07:50

her. Nothing like Barbara. We

1:07:53

didn't ever think about it being like her mother

1:07:57

did we? No I never thought it was. Oh

1:08:00

you know, here we go again. Barbara

1:08:03

all over. Nothing happened. It would make us think

1:08:05

that and said it on me anyhow. I

1:08:07

think if we thought there was anything wrong with Bronwyn

1:08:09

we were probably able to thought it

1:08:12

was just because of her traumatic

1:08:14

childhood. Bronwyn

1:08:17

was an exceptionally caring and

1:08:19

loving mother. But

1:08:21

when she disappeared in 1993, the

1:08:23

actions three decades earlier of her

1:08:25

mother, Barbara, who

1:08:28

was suffering without appropriate treatment,

1:08:31

were raised and relied upon to sow

1:08:33

doubt, to impugn Bronwyn

1:08:35

and suggest that she had abandoned her

1:08:38

kids. And did

1:08:40

the police who were alerted

1:08:42

to Bronwyn's disappearance in 1993 contact you

1:08:44

in that time? No.

1:08:49

I don't remember any police coming to us

1:08:51

until that must have been 1998. And

1:08:55

that's the first time you heard from police? Yeah. Hello?

1:09:01

Hello, is that Megan? Another

1:09:03

family member who will be

1:09:05

prominent in upcoming episodes is

1:09:07

Bronwyn's cousin, Megan Reed, the

1:09:10

daughter of John and Leah. Megan

1:09:13

played a significant role in

1:09:15

Bronwyn's life and they were

1:09:17

in close contact before she disappeared.

1:09:21

Right from the get-go when she was born, she

1:09:23

used to stay with my family. We're

1:09:25

only 16 months apart and

1:09:27

we were as close as close. Her relationship with John,

1:09:29

I knew what it was like. I knew

1:09:31

I'd seen the bruises. She showed my

1:09:33

father, she didn't need a statement. To

1:09:36

me, it's just so shocking because I used to

1:09:38

speak to her when she was on that phone

1:09:41

and I could hear him yelling and

1:09:43

screaming and banging on the door. I

1:09:47

mean, surely other people heard it. Now

1:09:49

she was terrified of John, absolutely terrified

1:09:51

of him. He'd made it incredibly clear

1:09:54

that she would never get that house.

1:09:57

The last thing she said to me was that the best thing she ever

1:09:59

did was to get the house. she ever did was to

1:10:01

move out and get away from him. She

1:10:03

had asked my parents for money. She

1:10:06

needed to retain her solicitor. I just

1:10:08

can't believe the timing. I don't

1:10:10

understand to this day

1:10:12

how Jonathan's walking around the

1:10:14

street. It just astounds

1:10:16

me of the incompetence of

1:10:18

the police. They've

1:10:21

lost a lot of the evidence. They can't even

1:10:23

find it. Can you believe

1:10:25

that? They've bungled this so badly. They

1:10:28

really have. They've lived with it for 30 years.

1:12:00

documents about this podcast and other