Murder mystery
I feel quite drained at the end of this working day. A lot of my time was spent dealing with the investigation into a suspicious death.
A tradesman on a remote job was taking a leak in the bush when he discovered human remains concealed beneath a pile of wood near Menzies in the northern Goldfields.
He came into our office today and provided photos of the grisly find.
Earlier, one of my staff had called me aside to say he suspected whose body it might be.
Neale, one of our sports reporters, was at the same nightclub in March 1989 when Gavin Stubbs disappeared.
Gavin told his friends he was going to get a pizza and they never saw him again.
As this report shows, someone was convicted of the murder, but police and Gavin’s father always believed there was an accomplice who remains at large. The body was never discovered.
Murder inquiries don’t come across my desk every day and I’ve never encountered one where a person close to me was even indirectly involved.
The skeleton is yet to be forensically tested, but the style of boots found with it and their deterioration suggested they were about 20 years old.
Neale was philosophical today. He said the experience has haunted him. Could he have done anything, could it have been him?
I sensed he would like some closure; that identifying the body would be a positive thing.
I read our newspaper files from the coroner’s inquest in 2000. The man convicted of the murder refused to name his accomplice and said the body must have been moved from the mine shaft where he believed it was.
An extensive search of the Menzies area was undertaken without success, perhaps until today.
Gavin’s father was quoted after the inquest believing he would never be able to lay his son to rest.
I can only imagine how he might feel. There is no question his son was murdered, so it would be good I think if the remains were positively identified and a funeral could be held.
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Wow.
To read of murder from your country is rare (compared to how often it happens over here). and heartbreaking nonetheless.
I hope they catch the other guy.
I was in school with Gavin, I’m hoping that for some of my mates in Kal, Gavins family and close friends that finaly they will all have some closure. Many a kebab and pizza was consumed by a lot of us in a vulnerable state and it certainly put the wind up me at the time. Our friendly town changed that night for all of us.
Whoever’s remains they are I hope the body is identified to give the family and friends closure.
I was talking to a police officer today who did not think it would be Gavin, but he didn’t elaborate why.
A couple of other people went missing around 20 years ago as well.
The Sunday Times reports the body may be that of Jacek Chelbny.
He was jailed for eight years in 1993 after being found guilty of firing a crossbow at a man he suspected of being his wife’s lover.
The paper says: “It is understood the dead man was carrying identification bearing Chelbny’s name.”
Police say that positive identification could take several months. The officer who spoke to me on Friday mentioned a possibility other than Chelbny.