1 00:00:01,639 --> 00:00:05,160 Speaker 1: It wasn't that there were no suspects. The problem for 2 00:00:05,200 --> 00:00:08,360 Speaker 1: the police was this, there were too many suspects. There 3 00:00:08,360 --> 00:00:11,560 Speaker 1: were far too many potential suspects. They obviously couldn't all 4 00:00:11,600 --> 00:00:15,680 Speaker 1: be guilty, but there were too many men who could 5 00:00:15,720 --> 00:00:19,200 Speaker 1: conceivably have done this crime. And he went to the 6 00:00:19,200 --> 00:00:21,440 Speaker 1: people next door and said, if you've seen Shawna and 7 00:00:21,480 --> 00:00:24,239 Speaker 1: they said no, no, And he said, oh no, And 8 00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:27,080 Speaker 1: he rushed back to the house and went to Shawna's 9 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:31,880 Speaker 1: room and there was Shawna getting her ben. I'm Andrew Rule. 10 00:00:31,960 --> 00:00:34,839 Speaker 1: This is Life and Crimes today. We are going to 11 00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:40,680 Speaker 1: revisit a case that was I think the first podcast 12 00:00:40,680 --> 00:00:43,680 Speaker 1: that we recorded. It wasn't the first one we put out, 13 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:46,879 Speaker 1: but it was the first one we recorded back in 14 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:51,800 Speaker 1: a dim, dark, distant past of either twenty seventeen or 15 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:55,880 Speaker 1: twenty and eighteen. It's a long time ago, about four 16 00:00:55,960 --> 00:01:01,000 Speaker 1: hundred episodes ago. That was the double murder of Margaret 17 00:01:01,080 --> 00:01:05,120 Speaker 1: Tap and her young daughter, Shauna Tap at their house 18 00:01:05,319 --> 00:01:10,920 Speaker 1: in Kelvin Drive, fern Try Galley in August nineteen eighty. 19 00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:13,520 Speaker 2: Four, which is exactly forty years ago. 20 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:19,119 Speaker 1: It was in fact, during the Los Angeles Olympics, which 21 00:01:19,319 --> 00:01:23,360 Speaker 1: dates it pretty well. The neighbors can recall listening to 22 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:26,000 Speaker 1: the Olympics that night before they went to bed. They 23 00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:29,360 Speaker 1: can recall that before one neighbor went to bed at midnight, 24 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:33,080 Speaker 1: they noticed that their own. 25 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:35,240 Speaker 2: Dog growled at their back door. 26 00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:38,560 Speaker 1: Which was unusual for their dog. It was fairly quiet, 27 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:42,679 Speaker 1: and they wondered later whether someone was hanging around or 28 00:01:42,760 --> 00:01:46,560 Speaker 1: some intruder was around. Another set of neighbors on the 29 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:51,880 Speaker 1: other side of the road heard Shawna Taps little Cocker Spaniel, 30 00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:55,960 Speaker 1: a very meek, quiet little dog who never really barked 31 00:01:56,080 --> 00:02:00,560 Speaker 1: or howled or anything much. Those neighbors know that just 32 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:05,920 Speaker 1: after midnight on this particular Tuesday night Wednesday morning, that 33 00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:09,280 Speaker 1: Shauna's little dog had barked and howled in a way 34 00:02:09,320 --> 00:02:14,480 Speaker 1: they'd never heard before. And so it was that next morning, Wednesday, 35 00:02:14,560 --> 00:02:20,959 Speaker 1: the eighth of August nineteen eighty four, when the neighbors 36 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:24,040 Speaker 1: girl Karen Karen Bomford her name was, when she came 37 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:27,600 Speaker 1: out to see if Shawna next door wanted to walk 38 00:02:27,639 --> 00:02:31,680 Speaker 1: to school, she noticed that there was no sign. 39 00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:33,720 Speaker 2: Of life at the Taps house. 40 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:37,959 Speaker 1: At number thirteen. She noticed that Margaret Taps green Corolla 41 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:41,080 Speaker 1: sedan was still in the driveway. She noticed that the 42 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:44,640 Speaker 1: newspaper that was delivered each day was still in the driveway. 43 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:48,120 Speaker 1: She noticed that the blinds were still down. There was 44 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:51,800 Speaker 1: no sign of life. It looked as if the taps 45 00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:55,360 Speaker 1: had not got up. Now this wasn't so shocking to 46 00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:58,360 Speaker 1: the child because sometimes people sleep in, and she walked 47 00:02:58,360 --> 00:03:01,400 Speaker 1: off to school by herself, just thinking, oh, well, Shanna 48 00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:04,800 Speaker 1: and a mum have slept in. But later other people 49 00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:09,280 Speaker 1: turned up at the tap house. Margaret taps sister's boyfriend. 50 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:11,200 Speaker 1: Would you believe So this is sort of Margaret taps 51 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:15,240 Speaker 1: putative brother in law. He turns up. His name is 52 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:18,280 Speaker 1: Tony Blackwell. Not sure why he turned up, but anyway, 53 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:20,480 Speaker 1: he did it. You know, people drop in for whatever reason, 54 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:26,520 Speaker 1: and he's dropped in. He as he told police later exhaustively, 55 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:29,919 Speaker 1: I imagine, he picked up the newspaper, took it up 56 00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:32,959 Speaker 1: to the front step, put it on the step, knocked 57 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:35,640 Speaker 1: on the front door. There was no answer, no sign 58 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:38,400 Speaker 1: of life. He tapped on a window, no answer, no 59 00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:39,240 Speaker 1: sign of life. 60 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:40,280 Speaker 2: So he left. 61 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:42,520 Speaker 1: This is what he told the police, and there's no 62 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:43,600 Speaker 1: reason not. 63 00:03:43,640 --> 00:03:44,280 Speaker 2: To believe him. 64 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:49,120 Speaker 1: Okay, the day proceeds, The car doesn't move. Nobody picks 65 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:51,440 Speaker 1: up the newspaper. There's no sign of life at the 66 00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:56,880 Speaker 1: house at thirteen Calvin Drive, fern Tree Gully. That evening 67 00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:01,440 Speaker 1: a former neighbor of Margaret Taps turns up. Now his 68 00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:04,560 Speaker 1: name is Jim Rowlands. Jim Rolins was a forty four 69 00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:07,880 Speaker 1: year old carpenter at that stage, which means if he's 70 00:04:07,880 --> 00:04:10,720 Speaker 1: still with us, Jim is eighty four. So if he's 71 00:04:10,720 --> 00:04:14,320 Speaker 1: still he's an old man out there somewhere. Jim was 72 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:17,240 Speaker 1: regarded as a very nice man. He had lived next 73 00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:20,960 Speaker 1: door to Margaret previously when Margaret had lived in a 74 00:04:20,960 --> 00:04:26,360 Speaker 1: different suburb, and Jim's wife had contracted cancer and had 75 00:04:26,440 --> 00:04:29,560 Speaker 1: died of cancer. And it was typical of Margaret Tap, 76 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:33,680 Speaker 1: who was a nurse by profession, that she was so generous. 77 00:04:33,880 --> 00:04:36,800 Speaker 1: She was kind, and she was generous. She did have 78 00:04:36,839 --> 00:04:40,080 Speaker 1: her faults, but she'd liked to help people, and she 79 00:04:40,279 --> 00:04:45,000 Speaker 1: had helped nurse Jim Roland's wife when she was dying 80 00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:48,560 Speaker 1: of cancer. And Jim Rowlands and Margaret had a sort 81 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:52,680 Speaker 1: of a platonic friendship. And the night before the Tuesday night, 82 00:04:52,839 --> 00:04:56,760 Speaker 1: the night before Margaret had called Jim and said, look, 83 00:04:56,800 --> 00:04:58,800 Speaker 1: I've got opera tickets. Do you want to go to 84 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:01,880 Speaker 1: the opera with me? Come around tomorrow night. Margaret had 85 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:04,880 Speaker 1: then arranged for a babysitter to come around and look 86 00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:08,640 Speaker 1: after Shauna while at the opera. And so Jim turns 87 00:05:08,720 --> 00:05:13,800 Speaker 1: up as invited on a Wednesday evening, just after dinner, 88 00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:17,960 Speaker 1: six point thirty whatever it was, and he knocks on 89 00:05:18,040 --> 00:05:19,960 Speaker 1: the door, no answer, So he goes around to the 90 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:23,119 Speaker 1: back door, which he knew. He knew the house quite well. 91 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:27,080 Speaker 1: The back door locke didn't work properly. It had been 92 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:30,559 Speaker 1: broken by one of the kids playing and it didn't 93 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:35,520 Speaker 1: really lock well. And Jim let himself in, which was fine, 94 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:38,920 Speaker 1: and he walked into the house called out, no sign 95 00:05:38,960 --> 00:05:44,400 Speaker 1: of life. He goes into Margaret's bedroom and sees Margaret 96 00:05:44,720 --> 00:05:47,839 Speaker 1: and Margaret's body in bed, and he went close enough 97 00:05:47,839 --> 00:05:49,080 Speaker 1: to realize that she was dead. 98 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:50,120 Speaker 2: I think he saw the. 99 00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:55,920 Speaker 1: Strangulation marks on her neck. And he bolted outside worried 100 00:05:55,960 --> 00:05:59,200 Speaker 1: about Shauna. And he went to the bomft's next door 101 00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:01,400 Speaker 1: the people next door and said, have you seen Shawna? 102 00:06:01,560 --> 00:06:04,400 Speaker 1: Have you seen Shauna? Is she staying with you? And 103 00:06:04,440 --> 00:06:07,720 Speaker 1: they said no, no, and he said, oh no, and 104 00:06:07,760 --> 00:06:10,320 Speaker 1: he went rushed back to the house and went to 105 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:14,240 Speaker 1: Shawna's room and there was Shawna dead in her bed. 106 00:06:14,360 --> 00:06:17,640 Speaker 1: She also had been strangled. And so it was Jim 107 00:06:17,720 --> 00:06:24,680 Speaker 1: Rowland's former neighbor, old friend who contacted the police. Well, 108 00:06:24,760 --> 00:06:26,800 Speaker 1: he and the neighbors contacted the police, and then the 109 00:06:26,839 --> 00:06:31,160 Speaker 1: local police come and they call the homicide squad. First 110 00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:34,440 Speaker 1: two homicide squad detectives on the scene were an old 111 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:38,400 Speaker 1: senior sergeant or relatively old, a middle aged senior sergeant, 112 00:06:38,680 --> 00:06:41,080 Speaker 1: and a very young and bright detective. 113 00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:42,560 Speaker 2: The older guy was called. 114 00:06:42,480 --> 00:06:44,680 Speaker 1: Jack and the young woman was called Rod, and they 115 00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:48,160 Speaker 1: lived out in that direction, and so they came there 116 00:06:48,520 --> 00:06:51,640 Speaker 1: sort of basically diverted there on their way home from 117 00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:53,320 Speaker 1: the city from Russell Street. 118 00:06:53,880 --> 00:06:54,800 Speaker 2: They go to the scene. 119 00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:59,599 Speaker 1: Jack goes into the bedroom and it goes into Shawna's bedroom. 120 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:03,320 Speaker 1: He sees Shorna dead on the bed and it really 121 00:07:03,360 --> 00:07:05,880 Speaker 1: affects him because he had a little girl the same age, 122 00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:10,760 Speaker 1: and tears sprang to his eyes and he was very 123 00:07:10,760 --> 00:07:14,320 Speaker 1: sad about it. The sort of stuff that upsets detectives 124 00:07:14,440 --> 00:07:17,880 Speaker 1: is seeing murdered children, of course, and that was the 125 00:07:17,920 --> 00:07:24,560 Speaker 1: start of a long, patchy and protracted investigation that actually 126 00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:30,560 Speaker 1: has got nowhere in forty years. The police had the 127 00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:34,320 Speaker 1: same problem at the Tap scene, at the Tap case 128 00:07:35,080 --> 00:07:38,680 Speaker 1: as they had a decade before at Easy Street in 129 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:42,600 Speaker 1: Collingwood when the two suits were murdered. Susan Bartlett and 130 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:46,840 Speaker 1: Susan Armstrong had been murdered in Collingwood at Easy Street. 131 00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:50,120 Speaker 1: Easy Street was a big, notorious case, which we've discussed 132 00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:55,200 Speaker 1: here before, very famous thing, but the Tap case is 133 00:07:55,240 --> 00:07:59,920 Speaker 1: equally awful. Mother and daughter killed, terrible thing. They shared 134 00:08:00,680 --> 00:08:05,120 Speaker 1: one thing in both cases. It wasn't that there were 135 00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:08,800 Speaker 1: no suspects. The problem for the police was this, there 136 00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:13,000 Speaker 1: were too many suspects. There were far too many potential suspects. 137 00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:16,240 Speaker 1: They obviously couldn't all be guilty, but there were too 138 00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:22,520 Speaker 1: many men who could conceivably have done this crime, who 139 00:08:22,760 --> 00:08:26,480 Speaker 1: were known to Margaret or the family, or the neighbors 140 00:08:26,560 --> 00:08:30,360 Speaker 1: or whatever it might be. And the police soon discovered that. 141 00:08:30,840 --> 00:08:33,679 Speaker 1: When it turned out that it wasn't Jim Rowlands who 142 00:08:33,760 --> 00:08:36,800 Speaker 1: discovered the bodies, of course he got a nice old 143 00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:40,000 Speaker 1: grilling for the first twenty four hours until they decided 144 00:08:40,040 --> 00:08:43,280 Speaker 1: that he was totally innocent, which he was, and then 145 00:08:43,320 --> 00:08:46,440 Speaker 1: they will have grilled. You would think Margaret's sister's boyfriend, 146 00:08:46,480 --> 00:08:50,000 Speaker 1: Tony Blackwell, you'd imagine that he had a few questions 147 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:52,480 Speaker 1: to answer, alibis and all the rest of it. Then 148 00:08:52,679 --> 00:08:56,640 Speaker 1: they would look very hard, maybe or maybe not. They 149 00:08:56,679 --> 00:09:01,400 Speaker 1: looked at a policeman or recently he retired policeman called 150 00:09:01,440 --> 00:09:05,520 Speaker 1: Ian Cook. We mentioned his name now because he's died 151 00:09:05,800 --> 00:09:08,880 Speaker 1: in recent years, so we can mention his name. I 152 00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:13,000 Speaker 1: think he died in about twenty sixteen. Ian Cook was 153 00:09:14,360 --> 00:09:16,960 Speaker 1: a policeman who had retired at around that time in 154 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:22,000 Speaker 1: the eighties. He was probably in his fifties. Then. He 155 00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:25,240 Speaker 1: had not been a detective or in the crime squads, 156 00:09:25,760 --> 00:09:29,079 Speaker 1: but he was a very good friend of a serving 157 00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:34,360 Speaker 1: homicide detective called Jimmy Frye real name Albert Frye, but 158 00:09:34,679 --> 00:09:38,400 Speaker 1: known as Jimmy and Jimmy Frye was a pretty average detective, 159 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:41,200 Speaker 1: but very well known and well liked by some people, 160 00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:47,080 Speaker 1: not by me. And he apparently was a friend of 161 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:50,800 Speaker 1: this Ian Cook for reasons that are not obvious. And 162 00:09:51,160 --> 00:09:55,640 Speaker 1: it turned out that Ian Cook came to the murder 163 00:09:55,679 --> 00:09:57,199 Speaker 1: house in the. 164 00:09:57,160 --> 00:10:02,280 Speaker 2: First day or so and he said to the police. 165 00:10:02,480 --> 00:10:04,679 Speaker 1: They were looking after the murder house, and I had 166 00:10:04,720 --> 00:10:07,320 Speaker 1: it sealed off with tape and everything. He said, Look, 167 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:09,320 Speaker 1: I'm an cook and I used to be in the job, 168 00:10:09,360 --> 00:10:12,520 Speaker 1: and you know he's here's Marl freddie yead he had, 169 00:10:12,559 --> 00:10:14,840 Speaker 1: and I'm made of Jimmy Fryes, whatever it might be. 170 00:10:15,320 --> 00:10:16,840 Speaker 1: I need to get in here. I'm an old friend 171 00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:20,000 Speaker 1: of the family. I know Margaret's father, which he did. 172 00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:23,840 Speaker 1: I think they were members of the same Masonic lodge, 173 00:10:23,880 --> 00:10:27,480 Speaker 1: which was a very powerful connection back in those days 174 00:10:27,600 --> 00:10:33,160 Speaker 1: with some people, particularly with homicide squad members. It was 175 00:10:33,200 --> 00:10:36,800 Speaker 1: a big thing, the Masonic Lodge in that era, and 176 00:10:36,840 --> 00:10:39,120 Speaker 1: it would stay a big thing for a fair while. 177 00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:43,840 Speaker 1: Strangely enough, whatever the reason, Anne Cook was allowed into 178 00:10:43,880 --> 00:10:46,079 Speaker 1: the murder scene, he was allowed into the house and 179 00:10:46,120 --> 00:10:48,679 Speaker 1: he told the police there, I have to get some 180 00:10:48,800 --> 00:10:51,880 Speaker 1: letters or a book that I lent Margaret. I want 181 00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:54,240 Speaker 1: to take it out, and I don't want to be 182 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:56,840 Speaker 1: mixed up in all the inquests and all that. No 183 00:10:56,840 --> 00:10:58,880 Speaker 1: need to drag me into it. I just want to 184 00:10:59,080 --> 00:11:02,480 Speaker 1: take that stuff and not have anything to do with this. 185 00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:04,880 Speaker 1: And so they let him in and he took his. 186 00:11:04,880 --> 00:11:07,480 Speaker 2: Papers or his letters or his book or whatever it was. 187 00:11:08,200 --> 00:11:11,480 Speaker 1: Now that was an interesting decision. It breaks all sorts 188 00:11:11,520 --> 00:11:14,959 Speaker 1: of rules that probably these days wouldn't never be broken 189 00:11:16,040 --> 00:11:19,000 Speaker 1: because you've allowed a crime scene to be permeated and 190 00:11:19,040 --> 00:11:23,880 Speaker 1: to be potentially contaminated. And what it did rightly or wrongly, 191 00:11:24,520 --> 00:11:27,000 Speaker 1: I mean, there might have been absolutely nothing in this 192 00:11:27,160 --> 00:11:31,480 Speaker 1: except he'd maybe written letters to Margaret that he shouldn't 193 00:11:31,480 --> 00:11:33,320 Speaker 1: have and he wanted to retrieve them. 194 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:36,520 Speaker 2: But what it effectively did was it allowed. 195 00:11:36,200 --> 00:11:38,720 Speaker 1: Him into a crime scene where he could then put 196 00:11:38,720 --> 00:11:42,720 Speaker 1: his fingerprints on things by handling them, and it automatically 197 00:11:42,840 --> 00:11:46,200 Speaker 1: covered him off. If later his fingerprints were found there, 198 00:11:46,240 --> 00:11:48,480 Speaker 1: he could say, well, yeah they were because I went 199 00:11:48,520 --> 00:11:50,120 Speaker 1: in to pick up this book and while I was 200 00:11:50,320 --> 00:11:52,760 Speaker 1: put my hand on the kitchen table and I picked 201 00:11:52,800 --> 00:11:56,520 Speaker 1: up a cup and whatever, and so it was an 202 00:11:56,559 --> 00:12:02,360 Speaker 1: intriguing thing. Now, Ian Cook retired early from the force, 203 00:12:02,400 --> 00:12:05,840 Speaker 1: as I said, under what they used to call boarded out. 204 00:12:05,920 --> 00:12:09,360 Speaker 1: That meant you retired for health reasons. And it was 205 00:12:09,960 --> 00:12:12,080 Speaker 1: a way in the police force that they got rid 206 00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:14,200 Speaker 1: of people. If they wanted to get rid of them 207 00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:17,600 Speaker 1: without sacking them, they could be boarded out under a 208 00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:19,359 Speaker 1: medical excuse. 209 00:12:19,880 --> 00:12:22,719 Speaker 2: They'd say, oh, he's stressed, or he's. 210 00:12:23,240 --> 00:12:26,440 Speaker 1: Having a nervous breakdown or whatever he's got asthma, whatever 211 00:12:26,440 --> 00:12:28,679 Speaker 1: it might be, and they would board them out and 212 00:12:28,720 --> 00:12:31,160 Speaker 1: they would go out on their pension money or whatever 213 00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:34,400 Speaker 1: it was. And what it meant was nothing to see here. 214 00:12:35,240 --> 00:12:37,280 Speaker 1: What it meant was that a lot of people were 215 00:12:37,600 --> 00:12:42,000 Speaker 1: removed quietly from the police force by being boarded out 216 00:12:42,040 --> 00:12:46,240 Speaker 1: with a body medical excuse because the police force no 217 00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:51,400 Speaker 1: longer wanted them there. It's interesting to speculate whether Ian 218 00:12:51,440 --> 00:12:56,160 Speaker 1: Cook fitted that description. It seems to me that probably 219 00:12:56,200 --> 00:12:59,840 Speaker 1: he did. For whatever reason, Ian Cook was well known 220 00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:04,400 Speaker 1: to the Taps. Tap being Margaret's married name. She had 221 00:13:04,440 --> 00:13:07,559 Speaker 1: been married to a man called Don Tap. They'd have 222 00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:11,079 Speaker 1: an amicable divorce, and of course the police had to 223 00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:13,080 Speaker 1: drag him in Parol. Don Tap had to be brought 224 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:16,000 Speaker 1: in and questioned, and he had the perfect alibi. He 225 00:13:16,160 --> 00:13:19,480 Speaker 1: was with his new wife that night and wasn't a 226 00:13:19,480 --> 00:13:23,760 Speaker 1: problem alibi like crazy. Margaret also had a fourteen year 227 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:29,120 Speaker 1: old son, interestingly called Justin, and Justin was not living 228 00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:33,520 Speaker 1: there at the time. He was staying with his grandparents, 229 00:13:33,520 --> 00:13:37,800 Speaker 1: with Margaret's parents, Mister and Missus Nelson. The Nelsons were 230 00:13:37,800 --> 00:13:40,360 Speaker 1: a family that had always lived out in that direction, 231 00:13:40,520 --> 00:13:44,800 Speaker 1: out east of Melbourne, and the far eastern suburbs, and 232 00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:47,680 Speaker 1: I think dated back to the old days post war 233 00:13:47,840 --> 00:13:50,839 Speaker 1: when that area was all orchards and stuff like that. 234 00:13:50,880 --> 00:13:55,680 Speaker 1: So the Nelsons were a respected old local family. Mister Nelson, 235 00:13:55,840 --> 00:13:59,200 Speaker 1: I think member of the Masonic lodge. The mother, Margaret's 236 00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:04,480 Speaker 1: mother was a teacher and very religious, and they were 237 00:14:04,559 --> 00:14:10,120 Speaker 1: people that were highly respectable and hated the wiff of 238 00:14:10,160 --> 00:14:15,679 Speaker 1: scandal that hung over this murder because clearly it would be, 239 00:14:15,760 --> 00:14:19,440 Speaker 1: you know, clearly apparent to them that the fact that 240 00:14:19,480 --> 00:14:24,240 Speaker 1: Margaret knew a lot of blokes and tended to entertain 241 00:14:24,440 --> 00:14:28,320 Speaker 1: blogs at her home made it difficult for the police 242 00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:34,239 Speaker 1: to navigate the case because there was so many potential suspects, 243 00:14:34,640 --> 00:14:40,120 Speaker 1: and that whiff of scandal meant that the Nelsons, rightly 244 00:14:40,200 --> 00:14:44,200 Speaker 1: or wrongly, did not want to encourage any extra coverage 245 00:14:44,440 --> 00:14:47,480 Speaker 1: of the case. Now, often when there's an unsolved murder 246 00:14:48,120 --> 00:14:51,120 Speaker 1: over the years, we see this, the police will bring 247 00:14:51,160 --> 00:14:55,480 Speaker 1: out the relatives, friends, family, and they put them on 248 00:14:55,520 --> 00:14:58,880 Speaker 1: a stage and the cameras on them, and the family say, 249 00:14:59,400 --> 00:15:00,480 Speaker 1: you know, I really. 250 00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:03,640 Speaker 2: Miss X, or why if they're out there, please. 251 00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:06,320 Speaker 1: Come home, or if you know anything about the murder 252 00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:11,360 Speaker 1: of my beloved daughter, son, sister, wife, please come in 253 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:13,320 Speaker 1: and tell the police, ring crime stoppers, etc. 254 00:15:13,640 --> 00:15:14,440 Speaker 2: Etc. Etc. 255 00:15:15,360 --> 00:15:18,360 Speaker 1: In this case that didn't happen. One of the reasons was, 256 00:15:18,400 --> 00:15:22,119 Speaker 1: of course Margaret and Shawnan were dead. They hadn't disappeared. 257 00:15:22,200 --> 00:15:26,520 Speaker 1: They were dead, so nothing that the family could do 258 00:15:26,880 --> 00:15:30,760 Speaker 1: would bring them back. The other thing was that, without doubt, 259 00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:37,000 Speaker 1: the family did not want scandalous publicity. And I'm sure 260 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:41,160 Speaker 1: that they feared scandalous publicity. And I suspect that there 261 00:15:41,200 --> 00:15:45,320 Speaker 1: was a bit of complicit behavior with certain high ranking police, 262 00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:49,640 Speaker 1: probably mister Nelson, Margaret's father, was able to pull the 263 00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:54,920 Speaker 1: odd string and this story, this shocking double murder, which 264 00:15:54,960 --> 00:15:58,040 Speaker 1: in many respects was as serious as the Easy Street 265 00:15:58,160 --> 00:16:01,640 Speaker 1: murders or any of the other big cases, it went 266 00:16:01,920 --> 00:16:05,120 Speaker 1: through to the keeper. Now, I was a young police 267 00:16:05,160 --> 00:16:07,520 Speaker 1: reporter at this time. I was a chief police reporter 268 00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:12,000 Speaker 1: for a Melbourne Daily newspaper, and I can only just 269 00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:16,320 Speaker 1: remember this case happening. And when I look back through 270 00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:19,960 Speaker 1: the files, I see why I don't remember much about it. 271 00:16:20,440 --> 00:16:23,800 Speaker 1: There were only five stories written about it in Toto. 272 00:16:23,960 --> 00:16:27,280 Speaker 1: There was in our files at the newspaper office, there's 273 00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:31,920 Speaker 1: one page with five relatively small stories stuck to it 274 00:16:32,600 --> 00:16:35,080 Speaker 1: because there was just nowhere for this story to go. 275 00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:39,200 Speaker 1: The family weren't making themselves available, the family weren't making 276 00:16:39,240 --> 00:16:45,880 Speaker 1: available photographs, and it just faded from view so very quickly, 277 00:16:46,680 --> 00:16:50,120 Speaker 1: and so many years later, in the year two thousand 278 00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:53,880 Speaker 1: and one, I was in Perth on another story. A 279 00:16:53,920 --> 00:16:57,560 Speaker 1: policeman over there, ex policeman had been blown sky high 280 00:16:57,720 --> 00:17:00,760 Speaker 1: by a bomb sept by the bikies, and very good story. 281 00:17:01,040 --> 00:17:03,080 Speaker 1: And I was over there covering that. And while I 282 00:17:03,120 --> 00:17:08,119 Speaker 1: was there, I looked up a former Melbourne crime reporter 283 00:17:08,200 --> 00:17:12,040 Speaker 1: called rex how rex Haw, good bloke used to work 284 00:17:12,080 --> 00:17:14,280 Speaker 1: at three out Double in the good old days, and 285 00:17:14,359 --> 00:17:17,040 Speaker 1: he knew a lot of police. And when I was 286 00:17:17,040 --> 00:17:19,240 Speaker 1: in Birth I had a chat to him. He is 287 00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:22,200 Speaker 1: Melbourne guy originally and he was married to a woman 288 00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:26,280 Speaker 1: who was related to a Melbourne policeman. And he said, 289 00:17:26,280 --> 00:17:28,200 Speaker 1: while you're here, is something I want to ask him. 290 00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:30,800 Speaker 1: Do you remember the tap case? And I said, oh, yeah, 291 00:17:30,840 --> 00:17:33,040 Speaker 1: bit he said, well you should look into it and 292 00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:36,560 Speaker 1: I said why. He said, well, my relative, my brother 293 00:17:36,600 --> 00:17:40,320 Speaker 1: in law or whatever. The policeman you know, Joe Bloggs 294 00:17:40,359 --> 00:17:43,280 Speaker 1: he named him. I know who the guy is. He said, 295 00:17:43,320 --> 00:17:45,280 Speaker 1: he's a very honest copper and a very good one, 296 00:17:45,720 --> 00:17:47,879 Speaker 1: and he has big concerns. 297 00:17:47,400 --> 00:17:49,000 Speaker 2: About that case. And I said why. 298 00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:53,320 Speaker 1: He said, well, he's told me that this old copper 299 00:17:53,400 --> 00:17:56,280 Speaker 1: and Cook, ex copper Ian Cook, was let into the 300 00:17:56,320 --> 00:17:59,280 Speaker 1: crime scene, into the murder house, and he's been some 301 00:17:59,320 --> 00:18:01,520 Speaker 1: sort of cover up. And he said, I don't know 302 00:18:01,560 --> 00:18:04,000 Speaker 1: what it means, if it means anything at all, but 303 00:18:04,080 --> 00:18:07,359 Speaker 1: I reckon it's worth a look now. That alerted me 304 00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:12,120 Speaker 1: to this story, and a couple of years later, on 305 00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:16,280 Speaker 1: the twentieth anniversary of the Tap case, I actually did 306 00:18:17,200 --> 00:18:21,200 Speaker 1: what was really the first serious long form piece of 307 00:18:21,240 --> 00:18:24,560 Speaker 1: journalism about the whole case, and I did I think 308 00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:27,720 Speaker 1: five thousand words that was published in a national magazine 309 00:18:28,119 --> 00:18:31,520 Speaker 1: about the Tap case, and it was an exhaustive study 310 00:18:31,960 --> 00:18:35,080 Speaker 1: of the whole thing, with as many facts as I 311 00:18:35,080 --> 00:18:39,640 Speaker 1: could bring to bear on it now. At that time, obviously, 312 00:18:39,680 --> 00:18:42,639 Speaker 1: I was very keen on the idea that this old 313 00:18:42,760 --> 00:18:46,080 Speaker 1: ex copper and Cook, who I couldn't name at that stage, 314 00:18:46,920 --> 00:18:51,600 Speaker 1: was a person of great interest, and I think he 315 00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:56,120 Speaker 1: legitimately was a person of interest. In fact, he told 316 00:18:56,160 --> 00:19:00,120 Speaker 1: a former homicide squad detective years later up in Painsville 317 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:03,239 Speaker 1: he retired that you know, the case had sort of 318 00:19:03,880 --> 00:19:06,280 Speaker 1: really upsetting, really wrecked his life because there was so 319 00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:08,240 Speaker 1: much pressure put on him over it and so on 320 00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:12,399 Speaker 1: and so forth, and you know, fair enough. The funny 321 00:19:12,400 --> 00:19:15,879 Speaker 1: thing was, Rexhare said to me that he and his 322 00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:19,360 Speaker 1: wife had visited gipps Land at one time and they 323 00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:22,560 Speaker 1: were friendly with this old homicide copper Jimmy Fry. The 324 00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:25,240 Speaker 1: when I mentioned earlier, and Jimmy Fry said, oh, you 325 00:19:25,320 --> 00:19:27,080 Speaker 1: better come up to Ian Cook's place. 326 00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:29,920 Speaker 2: Cookie's place up at Swiss Creek. 327 00:19:30,080 --> 00:19:32,960 Speaker 1: Swiss Creek is a tiny little town up in the mountains, 328 00:19:33,440 --> 00:19:36,480 Speaker 1: and it's a big district full of farms. And Ian 329 00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:39,600 Speaker 1: Cook he'd done it right for a middling policeman. He 330 00:19:39,680 --> 00:19:42,240 Speaker 1: had a house at Painsful and he had this farm 331 00:19:42,320 --> 00:19:45,720 Speaker 1: up at Swiss Creek. And he said, rex said, we 332 00:19:45,760 --> 00:19:47,320 Speaker 1: went up there. My wife and I drove up and 333 00:19:47,359 --> 00:19:49,960 Speaker 1: we had a barbecue lunch with mister and missus Cook 334 00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:52,760 Speaker 1: and Jimmy Fry and his wife and had a couple 335 00:19:52,800 --> 00:19:55,159 Speaker 1: of beers and lots of steak and all that. And 336 00:19:55,200 --> 00:19:57,560 Speaker 1: he said, My wife, who's a very good judge of character, 337 00:19:57,760 --> 00:20:00,960 Speaker 1: said to me later, I really don't like that Ian Cook. 338 00:20:01,240 --> 00:20:06,000 Speaker 1: He's a very spooky man, really creepy, and that of 339 00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:10,120 Speaker 1: course amounts to nothing. You know, who cares if someone's creepy. 340 00:20:10,920 --> 00:20:14,960 Speaker 1: But it was an interesting observation from a neutral source, 341 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:18,359 Speaker 1: from a woman who found that he wasn't very nice. 342 00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:21,480 Speaker 1: And that's one of the reasons that Rexhaw encouraged me 343 00:20:21,880 --> 00:20:24,840 Speaker 1: to look into Cook and write the story, which I 344 00:20:24,920 --> 00:20:29,560 Speaker 1: did on the twentieth anniversary. Now, essentially that story came 345 00:20:29,600 --> 00:20:32,920 Speaker 1: and went, but I never really let it go. Every 346 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:35,040 Speaker 1: time there was a chance to look into it again, 347 00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:37,679 Speaker 1: I would try and add a little bit to the 348 00:20:37,720 --> 00:20:43,160 Speaker 1: whole thing, and I would gradually pull together more material. Well, 349 00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:49,280 Speaker 1: so much for Ian Cook, former policeman, someone who early 350 00:20:49,359 --> 00:20:55,040 Speaker 1: doors was an interesting candidate for the tap murders. Next episode, 351 00:20:55,200 --> 00:20:58,760 Speaker 1: we're going to look at a lot of other people 352 00:21:00,359 --> 00:21:05,359 Speaker 1: won As a PostScript to this story, the police didn't 353 00:21:05,560 --> 00:21:10,600 Speaker 1: find many useful clues at the murder house at the scene. 354 00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:13,560 Speaker 1: In fact, I don't know that they searched the place 355 00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:17,919 Speaker 1: that well. Because when Margaret's son, justin four the end 356 00:21:17,920 --> 00:21:20,480 Speaker 1: at the time, when he got to the house, rushed 357 00:21:20,520 --> 00:21:26,239 Speaker 1: in to check things very anguished. He pulled out his 358 00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:28,720 Speaker 1: mother's mattress, tipped it up and put his hand on 359 00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:32,200 Speaker 1: her jewelry, just to make sure it hadn't been stolen. 360 00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:34,440 Speaker 1: You know, he was very upset, and that's the first 361 00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:38,000 Speaker 1: thing he did. But that showed that the police had 362 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:40,960 Speaker 1: not tipped the mattress over and had not found the jewelry, 363 00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:46,359 Speaker 1: So you would wonder how tharah a job they'd done. 364 00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:52,520 Speaker 1: One thing they did find that probably is the only 365 00:21:53,359 --> 00:21:59,000 Speaker 1: strong clue to the killer's identity were some footprints, some 366 00:21:59,200 --> 00:22:06,680 Speaker 1: unidentified footprints left by a dunlop volley sanchu. In all 367 00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:10,520 Speaker 1: these cases, it's not just those who are murdered, it's 368 00:22:10,560 --> 00:22:15,359 Speaker 1: those who are left behind. Margaret Tap left behind a 369 00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:20,920 Speaker 1: grievously wounded boy of fourteen years old. He had moved 370 00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:23,360 Speaker 1: out of his mother's house to live with his grandparents. 371 00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:27,280 Speaker 1: He undoubtedly blamed himself for the rest of his life 372 00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:33,120 Speaker 1: because he hadn't been there, and he would have tortured himself. 373 00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:37,119 Speaker 1: He told friends, if I'd been home, it wouldn't have happened. 374 00:22:37,119 --> 00:22:39,000 Speaker 1: If I'd been there, it wouldn't have happened. And you 375 00:22:39,080 --> 00:22:42,560 Speaker 1: know what, that's probably true. If there'd been a fourteen 376 00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:45,240 Speaker 1: year old boy in the house that night. There's every 377 00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:47,960 Speaker 1: chance it would not have happened. It would have changed things. 378 00:22:48,280 --> 00:22:52,440 Speaker 1: And so this boy, Justin blamed himself. He could never 379 00:22:52,440 --> 00:22:55,040 Speaker 1: get away from it. He was a keen amate, a cricketer. 380 00:22:55,080 --> 00:22:58,040 Speaker 1: He used to play cricket in social and suburban teams. 381 00:22:58,359 --> 00:23:00,399 Speaker 1: He had an English passport. I think he was a 382 00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:03,920 Speaker 1: dual passport holder because I think perhaps his father, Don 383 00:23:03,960 --> 00:23:07,480 Speaker 1: Tap was English. And later on, as a young adult, 384 00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:10,280 Speaker 1: he went to England. He left Australia to sort of 385 00:23:10,280 --> 00:23:14,440 Speaker 1: get away from all this, and he lived at high 386 00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:17,119 Speaker 1: Wickham in Buckinghamshire. I think it is, I've been there. 387 00:23:17,119 --> 00:23:20,760 Speaker 1: I think it's buckingham Share. It's a good hour out 388 00:23:20,760 --> 00:23:25,440 Speaker 1: of London by train. It's a fair fair distance. And 389 00:23:25,920 --> 00:23:28,959 Speaker 1: I went there hoping to talk to Justin. But by 390 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:31,280 Speaker 1: the time I got to England and took the train 391 00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:34,359 Speaker 1: to high Wickham, Justin was no longer with us. 392 00:23:34,400 --> 00:23:35,000 Speaker 2: He was dead. 393 00:23:35,400 --> 00:23:38,760 Speaker 1: And I met instead his long term partner. He had 394 00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:43,480 Speaker 1: a female partner, a lovely lady called Wendy, Wendy O'Donovan 395 00:23:43,520 --> 00:23:45,159 Speaker 1: I think her name was. And she met me at 396 00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:48,159 Speaker 1: the station and she took me home to her place, 397 00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:51,879 Speaker 1: and I met a daughter and we talked, and she 398 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:57,320 Speaker 1: explained to me that Justin was a lovely guy and 399 00:23:57,359 --> 00:24:00,159 Speaker 1: that she really loved him, but in the end his 400 00:24:00,280 --> 00:24:05,160 Speaker 1: demons didn't allow him to live with them. He used 401 00:24:05,160 --> 00:24:08,720 Speaker 1: to drink heavily to blot out the dreams. He had 402 00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:11,880 Speaker 1: bad dreams and he'd scream or whatever, and he drank 403 00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:14,639 Speaker 1: heavily to try and blot it out. And in the 404 00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:17,760 Speaker 1: end he had removed himself from her place and gone 405 00:24:17,760 --> 00:24:21,000 Speaker 1: and lived in a rented flat somewhere, and they'd split 406 00:24:21,080 --> 00:24:25,040 Speaker 1: up amicably. But they'd split up, and she realized, she 407 00:24:25,119 --> 00:24:27,359 Speaker 1: said that she hadn't seen him for a while, and 408 00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:30,800 Speaker 1: she went around. It was summertime in England, and she 409 00:24:30,960 --> 00:24:34,639 Speaker 1: drove around to where he lived and she went to 410 00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:37,479 Speaker 1: the door and she noticed that all these flies and everything, 411 00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:40,200 Speaker 1: and I think she got some good letter in or 412 00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:42,880 Speaker 1: broke the window or whatever. They got into the place 413 00:24:42,920 --> 00:24:46,040 Speaker 1: and there was his body, and he'd been dead so 414 00:24:46,200 --> 00:24:50,040 Speaker 1: long that it was actually impossible for the authorities to 415 00:24:50,080 --> 00:24:54,199 Speaker 1: tell what it actually killed him. But she believed that 416 00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:58,960 Speaker 1: he drank and drank and drank until he died. Tragic 417 00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:02,760 Speaker 1: and to that part of the Margaret tap story. So 418 00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:05,520 Speaker 1: the killer, the killer, we don't know who it is 419 00:25:06,200 --> 00:25:10,959 Speaker 1: killed Margaret Tap thirty five, killed a nine year old daughter, Shauna, 420 00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:17,560 Speaker 1: and eventually you know, thirty odd years later killed Margaret's 421 00:25:17,600 --> 00:25:37,680 Speaker 1: son justin a complete tragedy. 422 00:25:40,320 --> 00:25:41,160 Speaker 2: Thanks for listening. 423 00:25:41,640 --> 00:25:44,600 Speaker 1: Life and Crimes is a Sunday Herald's Sun production for 424 00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:50,040 Speaker 1: true crime Australia. Our producer is Johnty Burton. For my columns, 425 00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:54,520 Speaker 1: features and more, go to Haroldson dot com dot au, 426 00:25:55,080 --> 00:25:58,080 Speaker 1: forward slash andrew rule one word. 427 00:25:58,560 --> 00:26:04,040 Speaker 3: For advertising inquiries, go to news podcasts sold at news 428 00:26:04,080 --> 00:26:08,080 Speaker 3: dot com dot au. That is all one word news 429 00:26:08,119 --> 00:26:13,960 Speaker 3: podcasts sold. And if you want further information about this episode, 430 00:26:14,160 --> 00:26:16,280 Speaker 3: links are in the description