WEBVTT - Episode 6: Fragile 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:04.640 Listeners are advised that this podcast series Bromwan contains coarse 0:00:04.800 --> 0:00:08.840 language and adult themes. This podcast series is brought to 0:00:08.880 --> 0:00:42.400 you by Me Headley Thomas and The Australian. The acclaimed 0:00:42.440 --> 0:00:46.760 actor Simon Baker, a crime solving EmPATH in The Mentalist, 0:00:46.880 --> 0:00:50.680 grew up in this place. Lennox Head, Oh. 0:00:50.600 --> 0:00:53.400 Yeah, you're the one they were telling me about the psychic. 0:00:54.280 --> 0:00:55.000 He's not here. 0:00:55.920 --> 0:00:59.320 He's here, and there's no such thing as psychics. 0:01:00.320 --> 0:01:03.520 The Hollywood star played the role of a troubled dad 0:01:03.560 --> 0:01:07.280 doing his best in the Netflix series Boys Swallows Universe, 0:01:07.640 --> 0:01:11.000 based on my friend Trent Dalton's remarkable novel of the 0:01:11.040 --> 0:01:15.480 same name. Simon Baker drove down the Coast Road and 0:01:15.640 --> 0:01:19.240 Memory Lane with sixty Minutes reporter Alison Langdon when he 0:01:19.319 --> 0:01:23.120 returned to his dark brick childhood home. Here it's going 0:01:23.200 --> 0:01:25.400 to somehow have an impact on you and affect you 0:01:25.480 --> 0:01:27.160 in a way when you're living here. 0:01:27.480 --> 0:01:30.000 The power of what this landscape is, it's got this 0:01:30.440 --> 0:01:31.280 intensity in it. 0:01:32.560 --> 0:01:36.119 Just a little farther north, the actor Chris Hemsworth often 0:01:36.200 --> 0:01:39.960 favors the famed Seven Mile Beach near his home off 0:01:40.000 --> 0:01:44.679 Broken Head. Celebrities live something close to a normal life 0:01:44.800 --> 0:01:49.360 in these parts. They're not hassled or ogled by the locals. 0:01:50.400 --> 0:01:53.960 Mary Nolan holds the stop go sign outside one of 0:01:54.000 --> 0:01:57.000 the schools from time to time as a part time job, 0:01:57.560 --> 0:02:00.400 and he used to see Chris Hemsworth come to collect 0:02:00.400 --> 0:02:04.560 his children, Maurray and Deb's son Dale sees Chris in 0:02:04.600 --> 0:02:07.520 the water when he's back from making movies and TV 0:02:07.640 --> 0:02:08.440 action series. 0:02:09.240 --> 0:02:12.080 Yea, Dale's often said to me, surf with Chris emsoft today. 0:02:12.240 --> 0:02:14.840 Yeah, he's just a normal every day go Really, he 0:02:14.880 --> 0:02:15.880 seems very down to earth. 0:02:16.040 --> 0:02:16.600 Good on him. 0:02:16.680 --> 0:02:18.800 It's probably good that he's living out him, not in 0:02:18.840 --> 0:02:20.200 the la buscle and bustle. 0:02:21.360 --> 0:02:25.320 The surfing culture is very strong in Lenox and while 0:02:25.400 --> 0:02:29.160 many in the community have strong views about him, surfers 0:02:29.200 --> 0:02:33.919 do respect John. He is knowledgeable about conditions and weather. 0:02:34.720 --> 0:02:38.160 He's neither aggressive nor greedy when it comes to competing 0:02:38.240 --> 0:02:42.160 for waves. But they've also got a nickname for him. 0:02:42.600 --> 0:02:46.760 Bromwin's friend from the early nineteen nineties, Denise Barnard, shared 0:02:46.800 --> 0:02:48.800 it with me as we sat at a table in 0:02:48.840 --> 0:02:52.000 her Lennox Head courtyard overlooking a plunge pool. 0:02:53.240 --> 0:02:55.120 John's very well known out in the surf. 0:02:56.560 --> 0:02:57.520 How is he well known? 0:02:59.040 --> 0:03:04.280 They call him JTM, JTM John the Murderer JTM. 0:03:04.360 --> 0:03:05.320 That's what he's known as. 0:03:05.960 --> 0:03:06.680 Does he know that? 0:03:07.080 --> 0:03:07.639 I don't know. 0:03:08.400 --> 0:03:11.360 I think a lot of people have the idea that 0:03:11.960 --> 0:03:16.560 she's done something sinister with Bromwin way back then, and 0:03:16.600 --> 0:03:18.880 he's got away with it and he's store outliving the life, 0:03:21.600 --> 0:03:22.079 and that's what. 0:03:22.040 --> 0:03:22.880 They call him. 0:03:24.600 --> 0:03:28.960 Shortly before this podcast series began, one surfer asked John 0:03:29.040 --> 0:03:33.520 a brutally blunt question. Murray heard about the exchange and 0:03:33.639 --> 0:03:36.880 shared it with me. Did you kill your wife, mate, 0:03:37.000 --> 0:03:42.080 the surfer asked John, No way. John replied she was crazy. 0:03:42.680 --> 0:03:46.800 She ran off his story that Bromwin, in his words, 0:03:46.880 --> 0:03:49.160 was not right in the head, that she was like 0:03:49.240 --> 0:03:54.160 her mother. Barbara has endured three decades. Here's Bromwin's good 0:03:54.160 --> 0:03:58.360 friend deb again, recalling conversations with John in May and 0:03:58.520 --> 0:04:00.360 June nineteen ninety three. 0:04:01.200 --> 0:04:04.000 He kept trying to paint the picture that she was schizophrenic. 0:04:04.560 --> 0:04:07.240 You know a mother schizophrenic. You know your sister sitzophrenic. 0:04:07.560 --> 0:04:09.560 He kept saying this to me, right, and. 0:04:09.480 --> 0:04:11.600 I said, no, this is why she was alive. 0:04:11.560 --> 0:04:12.360 After she gone. 0:04:12.440 --> 0:04:12.680 Yeah. 0:04:12.800 --> 0:04:14.920 He tried to paint this picture of Bromwyn to me 0:04:15.720 --> 0:04:19.159 she'd lost the marbles, and I thought, no, she was stressed, 0:04:19.760 --> 0:04:22.720 but I didn't see any evidence of being schizophrenic and 0:04:23.000 --> 0:04:26.640 living with him. She was obviously very nervous, like if 0:04:26.640 --> 0:04:28.880 she was having someone over for coffee, she would actually 0:04:28.920 --> 0:04:30.880 ask me could they come down here in case John 0:04:30.920 --> 0:04:32.280 come home and she had people there. 0:04:33.760 --> 0:04:37.000 I've been studying a one page document typed in Ballener 0:04:37.080 --> 0:04:40.839 police station at the time John Winfield reported his wife 0:04:40.920 --> 0:04:45.040 as missing. It is an account of the purported facts 0:04:45.040 --> 0:04:48.560 and circumstances as John explained them to the police officer 0:04:48.600 --> 0:04:53.680 who was on duty, Julie Donovan. Officer Donovan's name and 0:04:53.839 --> 0:04:58.280 badge number are on this document. Each relevant section has 0:04:58.320 --> 0:05:02.240 been filled with black type, as you would expect. It's 0:05:02.360 --> 0:05:06.719 dated May twenty seven. It includes Bromwin's date of birth 0:05:06.800 --> 0:05:10.400 in late April, her height of five foot eight which 0:05:10.480 --> 0:05:14.600 is one hundred and seventy three centimeters, her fair complexion, 0:05:15.279 --> 0:05:18.960 her green or hazel eye color, and what was described 0:05:19.000 --> 0:05:23.920 as her racial appearance of Caucasian white in the checkbox 0:05:24.000 --> 0:05:27.320 for hair color. The option of colored or dyed is 0:05:27.400 --> 0:05:31.720 noted in another checkbox asking whether there are fears for 0:05:31.760 --> 0:05:36.560 the safety of the missing person. It states no. The 0:05:36.640 --> 0:05:40.919 name of Bromwin's GP, doctor Christopher Mitchell, and his medical 0:05:40.960 --> 0:05:44.920 practice are also noted on the form. Then there's a 0:05:45.040 --> 0:05:47.760 narrative of a few hundred words at the foot of 0:05:47.800 --> 0:05:51.720 the page. I've talked to police contacts about this section 0:05:51.839 --> 0:05:54.720 and they say that it is based almost entirely on 0:05:54.760 --> 0:05:58.120 the initial account provided by the person who went into 0:05:58.160 --> 0:06:01.680 the station to make the report to in this case, 0:06:02.120 --> 0:06:06.680 John Winfield. In the narrative, Bromwin is referred to as 0:06:06.760 --> 0:06:11.600 a POI, and that's an abbreviation for person of interest. 0:06:12.560 --> 0:06:14.480 You are going to hear a voice actor who will 0:06:14.520 --> 0:06:15.560 say the words. 0:06:16.360 --> 0:06:19.400 Person of interest was last seen at nine thirty pm 0:06:19.600 --> 0:06:23.440 on sixteen May nineteen ninety three, after making several phone 0:06:23.480 --> 0:06:27.839 calls from the above address after husband Jonathan was in Sydney. 0:06:28.560 --> 0:06:32.000 Apparently the two had been officially separated since twenty two 0:06:32.120 --> 0:06:36.560 March nineteen ninety three. On the night of sixteen May, 0:06:36.640 --> 0:06:39.279 the person of interest had a conversation with her ex 0:06:39.400 --> 0:06:43.839 husband and informed him that she was leaving. She stated 0:06:43.839 --> 0:06:45.760 that she was leaving and going for a couple of 0:06:45.760 --> 0:06:46.520 weeks holiday. 0:06:47.960 --> 0:06:51.520 In the first notification to police. John has asserted that 0:06:51.600 --> 0:06:55.000 Bromwyn had said she was having a break of a fortnight, 0:06:55.560 --> 0:06:59.680 whereas he told Broman's brother Andy and sister in law Michelle, 0:06:59.760 --> 0:07:02.240 as as well as Debbie and Murray, that she was 0:07:02.279 --> 0:07:05.760 going for a break of a few days. Here's how 0:07:05.800 --> 0:07:08.320 Michelle described it in episode four. 0:07:09.200 --> 0:07:12.120 When he first spoke, he was going down the lines 0:07:12.120 --> 0:07:15.280 of she's walked out and left, and she's left me 0:07:15.400 --> 0:07:19.320 with the kids, and then it switched to she needed 0:07:19.360 --> 0:07:21.840 a break for a few days. She's gone away for 0:07:21.920 --> 0:07:23.520 a few days to get ahead together. 0:07:25.000 --> 0:07:28.960 There's something else that's off about the dates and timings. 0:07:29.720 --> 0:07:32.880 According to the account being given by John to police, 0:07:33.280 --> 0:07:36.560 Bromwan was going away for a couple of weeks, which 0:07:36.560 --> 0:07:38.640 would have meant that by the end of the month 0:07:38.960 --> 0:07:42.280 May thirty, he would have expected her to return to 0:07:42.400 --> 0:07:47.040 the house and to her children. On his account, the 0:07:47.080 --> 0:07:49.360 one he gave to the police, which was different to 0:07:49.400 --> 0:07:52.720 the one he gave to her family and friends, Bronwin 0:07:52.920 --> 0:07:55.560 was not even missing when he made the May twenty 0:07:55.600 --> 0:08:00.000 seven missing person report. Did it occur to the police 0:08:00.120 --> 0:08:03.880 to question what was really going on, to dig into 0:08:03.920 --> 0:08:09.080 whether Broman's family, particularly her brother Andy and Broman's friends 0:08:09.160 --> 0:08:11.640 had pushed John to make the report in the first 0:08:11.680 --> 0:08:16.920 place because they understood this was very unusual behavior. The 0:08:16.960 --> 0:08:20.240 next line in the missing person report, based on John 0:08:20.280 --> 0:08:25.200 Winfield's information to Ballina Police officer Julie Donovan, is remarkable. 0:08:26.320 --> 0:08:29.440 On eighteen May nineteen ninety three, the person of interest 0:08:29.560 --> 0:08:33.959 telephoned her ex husband's daughter, Jodi Lynn Winfield at her 0:08:34.000 --> 0:08:38.040 salon at fifty seven Flinders Road, Woolaware, and informed her 0:08:38.120 --> 0:08:40.160 that she was in Queensland and that she was not 0:08:40.320 --> 0:08:41.000 coming back. 0:08:42.320 --> 0:08:46.360 If accurate, this line would be a powerful indication to 0:08:46.480 --> 0:08:50.800 police that Bromin was alive and well, and that although 0:08:50.840 --> 0:08:54.000 Broman had not made any contact with her brother, or 0:08:54.040 --> 0:08:58.080 her mother, or her daughter's or her half sister, or 0:08:58.080 --> 0:09:02.240 her friends and neighbors, or her employer, she had, according 0:09:02.280 --> 0:09:07.120 to John, telephoned her stepdaughter, Jody, the eighteen year old 0:09:07.160 --> 0:09:10.560 with whom Bromwin had argued on the telephone. Because of 0:09:10.600 --> 0:09:13.160 the fact that Broman and her girls had moved back 0:09:13.200 --> 0:09:18.040 into the house at Sandstone Crescent, Jody's work telephone number 0:09:18.120 --> 0:09:21.120 at the hair salon in the Shire in Sydney where 0:09:21.160 --> 0:09:24.839 she was working was typed on the form I spoke 0:09:24.880 --> 0:09:28.560 to Broman's brother Andy about the purported telephone call to 0:09:28.640 --> 0:09:31.600 the hair salon. I only want to know what you 0:09:31.679 --> 0:09:36.960 clearly remember the missing person report that the police filled 0:09:37.000 --> 0:09:41.800 out after John visited Ballana police says that a phone 0:09:41.840 --> 0:09:44.560 call was received in Sydney. 0:09:45.360 --> 0:09:46.959 It's really significant. 0:09:47.320 --> 0:09:54.440 It's staying effectively that Bromwin was alive after John has 0:09:54.559 --> 0:09:58.600 left the house. What do you know about this purported 0:09:58.720 --> 0:10:03.800 phone call by to Jody at the hair salon in Sydney. 0:10:04.920 --> 0:10:11.280 We received word through John about a phone call that 0:10:11.360 --> 0:10:16.679 came to the salon on the Tuesday. Michelle had rung 0:10:16.800 --> 0:10:23.200 me to say supposedly Bromwin had rung Jody salon. And 0:10:23.280 --> 0:10:25.560 I got home and I thought, wow, how wei was 0:10:25.600 --> 0:10:31.320 at and tadd Michelle. I then left and drove down 0:10:31.360 --> 0:10:34.680 to the salon at all aware and parked across the 0:10:34.760 --> 0:10:39.120 road and waited for my last client to walk out. 0:10:39.720 --> 0:10:42.719 And I went and knocked on the jaw and introduced 0:10:42.760 --> 0:10:50.400 myself and I said, what's this about Bromwin Winfield supposedly 0:10:50.520 --> 0:10:53.839 ringing the salon today? And the lady at the salon said, 0:10:54.760 --> 0:10:59.120 I don't know whether it was Bromwin or not, but 0:10:59.559 --> 0:11:06.040 am rang the salon and said, tell Jody, I'm okay, 0:11:07.160 --> 0:11:09.760 I'm in Queensland and I'm not coming back. 0:11:11.040 --> 0:11:12.160 Who was that woman? 0:11:13.480 --> 0:11:16.000 I believed that person to be Tanya Robertson. 0:11:17.280 --> 0:11:21.120 You thought it was really weird that this telephone call 0:11:21.240 --> 0:11:25.520 had purportedly been made by Bromman. Why did you believe 0:11:25.640 --> 0:11:27.240 then that that was really weird? 0:11:28.080 --> 0:11:33.120 Michelle had already said to me. Why would Bromwin ring 0:11:33.160 --> 0:11:38.200 the salon knowing that Tuesday was the day that Jody 0:11:38.280 --> 0:11:43.280 went to tape. Jody wasn't even at the salon that day, 0:11:44.480 --> 0:11:46.880 But how would Broman know that she used to talk 0:11:46.920 --> 0:11:51.080 to Jody all the time. Bromwin knew what day she 0:11:51.200 --> 0:11:53.960 was able to contact Jody or not. 0:11:55.480 --> 0:11:59.960 You said that Tanya Robertson told you that she wasn't 0:12:00.160 --> 0:12:03.040 sure whether or not it was Bromin's voice. 0:12:03.320 --> 0:12:05.240 Why would she volunteer that to you. 0:12:06.200 --> 0:12:08.800 To tell you the truth? I don't know. She just 0:12:09.280 --> 0:12:14.040 said it was a female voice and didn't want to 0:12:14.080 --> 0:12:19.560 confirm that it was Bromwin. Did she know Bromin's voice? 0:12:20.360 --> 0:12:25.000 I would believe so. Roman could have rung there numerous times. 0:12:26.240 --> 0:12:29.880 It just seems an odd thing for her to mention. 0:12:30.280 --> 0:12:32.000 I'm not sure whether or not it was Bromwin. 0:12:32.120 --> 0:12:36.600 If the person whose calling says I'm Bromwin, why would 0:12:36.640 --> 0:12:40.200 she ring Jodie. 0:12:39.400 --> 0:12:43.680 And not ring an immediate member of her family to 0:12:43.760 --> 0:12:48.040 say that she was okay? That just doesn't make any 0:12:48.120 --> 0:12:50.560 sense to us, and it never did at the time, 0:12:50.679 --> 0:12:52.880 and it still doesn't to this day. 0:12:53.920 --> 0:12:58.319 But here's the thing, Andy, you've gone in on Tuesday, 0:12:58.559 --> 0:12:59.280 May eighteen. 0:12:59.400 --> 0:13:00.560 You've spoken to Tanya. 0:13:01.040 --> 0:13:03.920 She can't confirm whether or not the person who called 0:13:04.080 --> 0:13:08.640 was Bromin. You don't hear any more about it. Then 0:13:09.360 --> 0:13:14.600 on May twenty seven, so another nine days later, the 0:13:14.600 --> 0:13:17.760 missing person report is made by John and in that 0:13:17.840 --> 0:13:21.199 report it stated as a matter of fact that it 0:13:21.360 --> 0:13:24.839 was Bromin who made the call. Did you walk away 0:13:24.840 --> 0:13:29.400 from that salon believing that a call had been made 0:13:29.440 --> 0:13:33.360 by someone representing herself as Brommin. 0:13:33.679 --> 0:13:36.959 Yes, correct, Yes, one hundred percent. Told me that a 0:13:37.000 --> 0:13:40.680 phone call was made to the salon and it was 0:13:40.720 --> 0:13:43.960 a female voice. For words to me were I could 0:13:44.040 --> 0:13:47.800 not verify whether it was Bromwin. Tell Jody, I'm in 0:13:47.840 --> 0:13:53.560 Queensland and I'm not coming home straight away. I thought 0:13:54.080 --> 0:13:55.760 none of that makes sense. 0:13:56.480 --> 0:13:59.160 Do you know now why you didn't yourself go to 0:13:59.200 --> 0:14:02.120 the homicide squad and say, I think something really serious 0:14:02.120 --> 0:14:03.040 has gone down here. 0:14:03.760 --> 0:14:08.840 These were just slow culminating facts that made absolutely no sense. 0:14:10.760 --> 0:14:16.120 When you see that missing person report and read it, now, 0:14:17.000 --> 0:14:19.000 what do you believe it's trying to do? 0:14:20.680 --> 0:14:24.120 I believe it's trying to falsify a proof of life. 0:14:24.680 --> 0:14:27.440 After the Sunday night at the house. 0:14:28.760 --> 0:14:32.160 Glenn Taylor, the detective sergeant who picked up the case 0:14:32.200 --> 0:14:36.760 and started a thorough investigation in nineteen ninety eight, asked 0:14:36.840 --> 0:14:41.480 Jody Winfield about this purported call from Bromwin to the salon. 0:14:42.160 --> 0:14:45.880 These are Jody's words from the police statement Jody made 0:14:46.040 --> 0:14:49.200 in nineteen ninety eight, but it's not her voice. 0:14:50.200 --> 0:14:53.400 The following Tuesday, eighteenth of May nineteen ninety three, was 0:14:53.440 --> 0:14:57.240 my rostered day off work. About lunchtime, Michelle, my boss, 0:14:57.520 --> 0:15:00.400 told me that Bronwin had rung and spoken to Tenurerobertson 0:15:00.440 --> 0:15:02.720 at the salon and said to her, can I speak 0:15:02.760 --> 0:15:06.000 to Jody. Tanya said she's not here, it's her day off. 0:15:06.960 --> 0:15:09.440 She said that Bronwin then said tell her I'm never 0:15:09.480 --> 0:15:11.720 coming back and for her to watch over the kids. 0:15:12.160 --> 0:15:15.160 She then hung up. I would have thought that Bronwin 0:15:15.160 --> 0:15:17.280 would have rung me at home because she knew that 0:15:17.320 --> 0:15:20.240 Tuesday was my day off, although she could have rung 0:15:20.240 --> 0:15:22.520 and left a message at the salon because we'd been 0:15:22.640 --> 0:15:24.440 arguing and maybe she didn't want to speak to me. 0:15:25.400 --> 0:15:27.400 I told Dad about the phone call, and he thought 0:15:27.400 --> 0:15:29.880 that it was just her blowing off hot air. He 0:15:29.960 --> 0:15:32.160 thought that when he went home she would just turn up. 0:15:33.040 --> 0:15:35.520 Dad doesn't talk about Bronwyn much. He doesn't bring it 0:15:35.600 --> 0:15:38.000 up at all. The only way he'll talk about it 0:15:38.040 --> 0:15:40.760 is if I bring it up. He's definite that one 0:15:40.840 --> 0:15:43.120 day she'll turn up on the front doorstep and attempt 0:15:43.160 --> 0:15:46.280 to take Crystal and Lauren. He's positive that she's still 0:15:46.320 --> 0:15:48.680 alive somewhere and will suddenly reappear. 0:15:50.280 --> 0:15:54.960 When Tanya Robertson was questioned by police in nineteen ninety eight, 0:15:55.120 --> 0:15:58.600 she had no recollection of receiving a telephone call in 0:15:58.680 --> 0:16:03.440 the salon from anyone calling herself Bromwin Winfield, and Tanya 0:16:03.520 --> 0:16:06.080 said that she believed she would have remembered such a 0:16:06.080 --> 0:16:09.920 call if it had been made. Let's go back to 0:16:09.960 --> 0:16:13.080 the words in the missing person report in the Ballina 0:16:13.120 --> 0:16:16.880 Police Station dated May twenty seven, nineteen ninety three. 0:16:18.080 --> 0:16:20.720 Up to date, Jonathan has made several inquiries with the 0:16:20.760 --> 0:16:24.920 person who interests girlfriend and associated friends, and it appears 0:16:24.920 --> 0:16:27.560 that the person of interest has not been heard of 0:16:28.240 --> 0:16:31.640 or seen since, except for a brief interlude with the 0:16:31.680 --> 0:16:33.000 clairvoyant David. 0:16:34.320 --> 0:16:37.840 This claim of Bromwin catching up with the tarot card 0:16:37.880 --> 0:16:41.760 reader after May sixteen is the second assertion by John 0:16:41.760 --> 0:16:45.600 that Bromwin was alive. After he left the house and 0:16:45.720 --> 0:16:47.680 drove to Sydney that Sunday. 0:16:47.360 --> 0:16:51.360 Night, Jonathan approached the clairvoyant and he said that he 0:16:51.440 --> 0:16:54.440 did not keep diaries and vaguely could remember the person 0:16:54.480 --> 0:16:58.120 of interest. Up to date, only very few of the 0:16:58.120 --> 0:17:01.840 person of interests clothing had been taken from the house. 0:17:03.040 --> 0:17:06.840 The next sentence in the police missing person report indicates 0:17:06.880 --> 0:17:10.320 that no withdrawals have been made from Bromwin's account with 0:17:10.440 --> 0:17:14.919 the Commonwealth Bank while she has been on her supposed break. 0:17:16.280 --> 0:17:21.000 The report, which is based almost entirely on information from John, 0:17:21.320 --> 0:17:24.959 concludes with damaging inferences about Bromwyn's stability. 0:17:25.880 --> 0:17:28.440 It appears that the person of interest has come from 0:17:28.480 --> 0:17:31.720 a very deranged family and her mother has been treated 0:17:31.760 --> 0:17:34.360 for psychiatric problems for the last twenty. 0:17:34.200 --> 0:17:39.600 Years there it is bromwn Joy Winfield was labeled by 0:17:39.680 --> 0:17:44.680 association right from the start at Balener Police Station. Nobody 0:17:44.720 --> 0:17:48.480 else in Bromwin's life had the slightest indication that Bromwyn 0:17:48.680 --> 0:17:52.679 was mentally unwell in some kind of carbon copy of 0:17:52.720 --> 0:17:53.880 her mother Barbara. 0:17:54.800 --> 0:17:57.920 Apparently, when the person of interest was eleven years old, 0:17:58.280 --> 0:18:01.800 she had a nervous breakdown. However, it is not known 0:18:01.880 --> 0:18:04.680 whether she is suffering from any disorder at this stage 0:18:04.880 --> 0:18:08.239 and has not been treated for associated problems known to 0:18:08.280 --> 0:18:08.880 the husband. 0:18:10.320 --> 0:18:14.680 You've previously heard that Broman's GP doctor Mitchell, saw Bromman 0:18:14.840 --> 0:18:18.720 at his surgery on Friday, May fourteenth because she had 0:18:18.760 --> 0:18:22.960 sprained her left hand, and doctor Mitchell had treated broman 0:18:23.040 --> 0:18:27.600 by applying a splint. He did not notice anything unusual 0:18:27.640 --> 0:18:31.919 about her manner. The reference from John Winfield to a 0:18:32.000 --> 0:18:36.439 purported mental health event two decades earlier, when Bromwan was 0:18:36.600 --> 0:18:40.000 eleven years old was something I had not read or 0:18:40.080 --> 0:18:43.480 heard about before in all the files and interviews for 0:18:43.520 --> 0:18:48.120 this podcast investigation. Bromman's brother Andy Reid told me there 0:18:48.200 --> 0:18:51.720 was no nervous breakdown when Bromin was aged eleven or 0:18:51.840 --> 0:18:56.680 any time after, and there are also references to Bromwin's 0:18:57.320 --> 0:19:01.840 mental health or your family's mental health. There's a claim 0:19:01.920 --> 0:19:04.919 there that Bromwin's also had a mental breakdown or a 0:19:04.960 --> 0:19:07.320 nervous breakdown when she's aged eleven. 0:19:07.760 --> 0:19:08.920 What's that about? 0:19:09.560 --> 0:19:14.000 At no time can I ever remember through our childhood 0:19:14.320 --> 0:19:20.640 that Bromwin was treated for any form of mental illness, And. 0:19:20.520 --> 0:19:22.160 What about through her adulthood? 0:19:22.920 --> 0:19:28.480 Again the same No, no psychologists, no psychiatrists. I do 0:19:28.680 --> 0:19:33.879 not recall Bromwin ever been treated in any form or 0:19:33.920 --> 0:19:34.920 mental illness. 0:19:35.800 --> 0:19:40.080 But Bromwin did have some unhappy experiences through her childhood 0:19:40.160 --> 0:19:45.359 and teens. Andy tells me that things became particularly complicated 0:19:45.560 --> 0:19:50.119 when their mother, Barbara returned to Australia and re entered 0:19:50.119 --> 0:19:50.800 their lives. 0:19:52.080 --> 0:19:57.960 That's when we first found out that our stepmother actually 0:19:58.080 --> 0:19:59.000 wasn't our real mother. 0:20:00.720 --> 0:20:03.359 Bronwin's stepmother Jenny clashed with Bromwin. 0:20:04.320 --> 0:20:09.640 It was strained at times, but that was only in 0:20:09.720 --> 0:20:14.880 her later teen years. We had a perfectly normal childhood, 0:20:15.000 --> 0:20:18.040 as old family photos and that can prove of. We 0:20:18.280 --> 0:20:20.920 used to be always holidaying down in Sussex and let 0:20:21.840 --> 0:20:25.639 I have vivid memories of Mum taking us into We 0:20:25.800 --> 0:20:28.960 used to always go into jays to the carols. 0:20:28.520 --> 0:20:29.440 By candle light. 0:20:30.320 --> 0:20:35.720 Mum had a daughter in Melissa, had a son in me, 0:20:36.200 --> 0:20:40.600 and therefore I think we received the better treatment in 0:20:40.640 --> 0:20:41.880 the latter days. 0:20:42.160 --> 0:20:44.960 And you've made a reference a couple of times to Mum. 0:20:46.480 --> 0:20:52.960 But you're talking there about your legal stepmother, aren't you correct? 0:20:53.480 --> 0:20:58.360 Correct, because that's the person. 0:20:58.040 --> 0:21:01.760 That raisings and you believe that she was your mother. 0:21:03.960 --> 0:21:08.840 Yeah, yeah, until you were about nine, Andy. 0:21:10.240 --> 0:21:11.840 Oh, I remember, Yeah, I was, would have been about 0:21:11.880 --> 0:21:12.560 ten or so you. 0:21:13.680 --> 0:21:18.560 Yeah, I'm sorry, So to remind you this. Friends of 0:21:18.600 --> 0:21:22.920 the family and relatives confirmed that Broman was excluded at times. 0:21:23.720 --> 0:21:27.639 She went to live with relatives, including her grandmother Nana Reid, 0:21:28.040 --> 0:21:29.919 instead of living in the family home. 0:21:30.760 --> 0:21:33.959 It was always in my memory after the fact of 0:21:34.960 --> 0:21:38.199 a bit of strine coming into the marriage. Once my 0:21:38.680 --> 0:21:42.520 real mom, Barbara was introduced into our lives. 0:21:43.880 --> 0:21:47.400 In the weeks before Broman disappeared, she wrote in those 0:21:47.560 --> 0:21:51.040 A four pages about some events in her childhood. 0:21:52.240 --> 0:21:55.480 Jenny couldn't stand me, went to stay with Nana Reid 0:21:55.520 --> 0:21:58.560 for a while after Pa Reed died. Nana read and 0:21:58.560 --> 0:22:01.280 I were okay for a while, but she had a 0:22:01.280 --> 0:22:04.159 full and had to be hospitalized. She went into a 0:22:04.240 --> 0:22:07.639 nursing home. I met my real mother in the middle 0:22:07.680 --> 0:22:12.159 of all of this. Also met Kim, spent holidays in 0:22:12.160 --> 0:22:15.239 Tasmania with her, and also spent weekends in town with her. 0:22:15.280 --> 0:22:19.680 It went with hotel, left school year ten, wanted to 0:22:19.760 --> 0:22:21.440 leave home, hated it. 0:22:22.720 --> 0:22:25.760 Nowhere in the missing person report does it say that 0:22:25.880 --> 0:22:30.040 Bromwin was an exceptionally dedicated mother and that it was 0:22:30.119 --> 0:22:33.280 completely out of character for her to leave her children. 0:22:34.160 --> 0:22:38.400 She had never left her children before. The report does 0:22:38.440 --> 0:22:42.520 not say that she had commitments. A solicitor's appointment on 0:22:42.600 --> 0:22:46.919 Monday May seventeen to talk about her separation from John 0:22:47.280 --> 0:22:49.720 and her plans to get the ball rolling on a 0:22:49.760 --> 0:22:54.680 property settlement. There was her work at Eden's Takeaway during 0:22:54.720 --> 0:22:58.520 the week the school pickups and drop offs for the children, 0:22:58.640 --> 0:23:03.159 Lauren and Crystal. Bromwin had not finished moving her things 0:23:03.200 --> 0:23:06.399 back from the rented townhouse in Byron Street to the 0:23:06.480 --> 0:23:10.320 home that John had built at Sandstone Crescent when she disappeared. 0:23:11.320 --> 0:23:14.680 She wanted to stop paying rent. There was a perfectly 0:23:14.720 --> 0:23:17.640 good home to live in. It was empty because John 0:23:17.720 --> 0:23:22.159 had taken work in Sydney. It defeated Bromwan's purpose to 0:23:22.240 --> 0:23:24.879 leave her things in the rental because it meant she 0:23:24.880 --> 0:23:27.679 would have had to keep paying for it. But the 0:23:27.720 --> 0:23:32.440 missing person report had none of those details. I've been 0:23:32.480 --> 0:23:36.399 talking to one of Bromwan's friends, Bridgeter. They bonded in 0:23:36.480 --> 0:23:40.679 high school and for years afterwards. Bridgeta made the wedding 0:23:40.760 --> 0:23:45.520 dress for Bromwin's marriage to John Winfield, but nobody was invited. 0:23:45.800 --> 0:23:50.320 John wanted a quiet ceremony in Lennox Head. Bridgeta has 0:23:50.359 --> 0:23:53.320 sent me photographs of them as young women, including with 0:23:53.440 --> 0:23:57.600 Cristel as a small child. I asked Bridgetter whether she 0:23:57.640 --> 0:24:00.359 had ever seen anything that made her one day, whether 0:24:00.440 --> 0:24:02.520 Bromwin had any mental health issues. 0:24:03.400 --> 0:24:05.600 She was a very good friend of mine. We went 0:24:05.640 --> 0:24:08.600 to high school together. After high school, we spent a 0:24:08.600 --> 0:24:11.280 lot of time together. I was with her when her 0:24:11.320 --> 0:24:15.119 babies were born. I was the person she reached out to, 0:24:15.200 --> 0:24:18.040 and she had a lot of trouble at home. My 0:24:18.160 --> 0:24:21.159 family put her in her home when she had nowhere 0:24:21.200 --> 0:24:25.560 to go, rent free for many months, just to get 0:24:25.560 --> 0:24:28.439 her on her feet again, just give her a place 0:24:28.440 --> 0:24:30.280 for a while till she could sort out what she 0:24:30.359 --> 0:24:33.160 wanted to do, and that she wanted a solid family. 0:24:34.440 --> 0:24:37.920 This trouble in the household was before John. She needed 0:24:37.960 --> 0:24:40.560 to move out of there. The stepmother didn't really like her. 0:24:41.080 --> 0:24:42.639 And do you know why, do you know what that 0:24:42.760 --> 0:24:43.159 was about? 0:24:44.760 --> 0:24:49.760 Well, she had another daughter to Bromwin's father, and I 0:24:49.800 --> 0:24:52.040 think she really loved that one because that was hers 0:24:52.080 --> 0:24:57.320 and Bromwin was from a previous marriage. I think she 0:24:57.400 --> 0:25:01.159 just didn't like Bromwin. Bromwin was pretty, he was nice looking. 0:25:01.280 --> 0:25:04.400 The father doated on her. I was there for her 0:25:05.280 --> 0:25:09.119 first wedding, second wedding. No one was allowed to go 0:25:09.160 --> 0:25:14.040 to that because John whisked her away and only had 0:25:14.040 --> 0:25:17.480