WEBVTT - Episode 25: Inquest Begins 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:04.640 Listeners are advised that this podcast series Bromwin contains coarse 0:00:04.760 --> 0:00:08.800 language and adult themes. This podcast series is brought to 0:00:08.840 --> 0:00:42.520 you by me Headley Thomas and The Australian. The town 0:00:42.600 --> 0:00:45.839 of Lismore in northern New South Wales is about a 0:00:45.960 --> 0:00:51.040 forty minute drive west from Sandstone Crescent, Lennox Head. The 0:00:51.120 --> 0:00:57.120 area's natural beauty disguises hidden dangers. Twenty nine big floods 0:00:57.200 --> 0:01:01.640 have swept through Lismore since eighteen seventy. The town is 0:01:01.720 --> 0:01:05.080 built on a floodplain. The residents just keep. 0:01:04.880 --> 0:01:12.520 Rebuilding, where thousands of people stranded homes inundated. 0:01:12.800 --> 0:01:14.200 The epicenter there is. 0:01:14.200 --> 0:01:17.399 Lismore, where dangerous rescues have been carried out all day 0:01:17.800 --> 0:01:20.680 as the city sees its worst flooding in its history. 0:01:21.720 --> 0:01:25.560 In twenty twenty two, the river peaked again after heavy rain. 0:01:26.360 --> 0:01:31.920 Thousands of homes and businesses were inundated. Residents rode down 0:01:32.000 --> 0:01:36.120 the main street, rescuing strangers and delivering supplies to neighbors 0:01:36.160 --> 0:01:41.160 trapped by floodwaters. The Lismore Courthouse is one building the 0:01:41.200 --> 0:01:45.560 floods have not been able to erase. This impressive structure 0:01:45.720 --> 0:01:48.480 was built in eighteen eighty three and it has held 0:01:48.560 --> 0:01:51.800 on to the history of tragic cases that have passed 0:01:51.800 --> 0:01:56.880 through its doors. Cases like Bromwyn Winfields, which was explored 0:01:57.000 --> 0:02:00.240 in detail at a two thousand and two inquest into 0:02:00.280 --> 0:02:05.440 her disappearance. Other cases too, have left an indelible impression 0:02:05.480 --> 0:02:10.280 on the local population. In July nineteen eighty six, seven 0:02:10.360 --> 0:02:14.920 years before bromwin went missing, Alan James Stuckey, a local 0:02:14.960 --> 0:02:18.760 Lismore pharmacist, was put on trial for the alleged murder 0:02:18.800 --> 0:02:23.960 of his wife, Carolyn Stuckey. Alan had shot Carolyn three 0:02:23.960 --> 0:02:28.200 times in their bedroom in January the previous year, after 0:02:28.280 --> 0:02:31.320 she had admitted to having continued an affair with another 0:02:31.400 --> 0:02:36.639 local man, Alan Ennu, eight months before Carolyn was shot 0:02:36.680 --> 0:02:41.960 by her husband, Alan Stuckey. Alan Ennew's heartbroken wife, Madeleine, 0:02:42.000 --> 0:02:46.960 took her own life, leaving behind her young children. Carolyn 0:02:47.000 --> 0:02:50.079 Stuckey was a much loved school teacher who was actively 0:02:50.120 --> 0:02:54.280 involved in productions at the local Amateur theater. That's how 0:02:54.320 --> 0:02:58.280 she came to know Allan Ennu. She graced the pages 0:02:58.320 --> 0:03:01.519 of the Northern Star newspaper from time to time, including 0:03:01.520 --> 0:03:04.800 when you won the Miss Lismore beauty pageant in nineteen 0:03:04.880 --> 0:03:05.480 seventy two. 0:03:06.919 --> 0:03:10.480 We never really know what's going on in people's private 0:03:10.600 --> 0:03:16.560 vibes behind those curtains. The ripplepond effect of situations like 0:03:16.600 --> 0:03:17.680 this is astonishing. 0:03:19.080 --> 0:03:23.160 Matthew Condon and I have looked closely at Carolyn's case. 0:03:23.840 --> 0:03:27.320 We went to Lismore together in February twenty twenty one, 0:03:27.560 --> 0:03:31.200 four years ago, and we recorded some audio there. Some 0:03:31.280 --> 0:03:36.640 of the similarities with Bromwin are all too obvious. Coincidentally, 0:03:37.000 --> 0:03:41.120 Bromwin was meeting John in nineteen eighty five when Carolyn 0:03:41.400 --> 0:03:41.920 was slain. 0:03:42.840 --> 0:03:46.800 It was the two mothers that perished. The women were 0:03:46.840 --> 0:03:50.400 the ones that died, and the men, of course survived 0:03:50.440 --> 0:03:52.960 and moved on. This story is. 0:03:52.920 --> 0:03:54.000 As old as time. 0:03:54.480 --> 0:03:55.840 It is about. 0:03:55.800 --> 0:03:57.840 Dreams, it is about jealousy. 0:03:58.040 --> 0:04:03.360 It is about male presumption and possession of women. 0:04:04.600 --> 0:04:05.800 That's Shakespearean. 0:04:07.000 --> 0:04:11.720 These little deadly dramas are unfolding in every community across 0:04:11.760 --> 0:04:16.760 this country today. It's about control, it's about power, it's 0:04:16.760 --> 0:04:20.520 about possession. The warning signs. 0:04:20.160 --> 0:04:21.320 Were there everywhere. 0:04:23.720 --> 0:04:29.159 Here she is here, a loving memory of Carolyn joy Stucky. 0:04:29.640 --> 0:04:31.279 Presumably her ash is buck here. 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:37.159 Why don't we go and visit the family home? This 0:04:37.320 --> 0:04:38.799 is the house where Carolyn died. 0:04:40.120 --> 0:04:46.000 The classic slice of Australian seventies suburbia, isn't it. It's 0:04:46.080 --> 0:04:49.080 on the ridge or the lip of the old Caldero 0:04:49.920 --> 0:04:51.880 Lismore sits in the middle of the top of that 0:04:51.960 --> 0:04:55.800 ancient volcano, so it's quite elevated, and. 0:04:55.800 --> 0:04:59.839 We think that Carolyn died sometime between nine and ten pm. 0:05:00.520 --> 0:05:05.440 He told the police that he asked Carolyn directly whether 0:05:05.480 --> 0:05:09.679 she was still seeing Alan in you, and she denied 0:05:09.720 --> 0:05:14.039 that she had, and he told her that he knew 0:05:14.080 --> 0:05:15.120 that was a lie. 0:05:16.440 --> 0:05:21.440 Carolyn and Allen then you were together hours before Carolyn 0:05:21.760 --> 0:05:26.479 was fatally shot by her husband, and she was lying 0:05:26.520 --> 0:05:29.719 on the bed still and she then admitted that she 0:05:29.920 --> 0:05:33.000 had and she said, I can't give him up. 0:05:33.680 --> 0:05:37.080 He then told the police that he raced to the 0:05:37.160 --> 0:05:42.360 study where he kept a rifle, a twenty two caliber 0:05:42.839 --> 0:05:48.200 and Shutz rifle Bold action. He had kept since he 0:05:48.320 --> 0:05:51.280 was nineteen years old. He used to use it to 0:05:51.400 --> 0:05:55.159 go and shoot rabbits. Hadn't used it for some time, 0:05:56.120 --> 0:06:01.720 but oddly it was loaded. I couldn't give him up. 0:06:02.880 --> 0:06:08.880 The moment that impelled him, a former country boy and 0:06:09.000 --> 0:06:13.800 local pharmacist, to go into the study find this loaded 0:06:13.839 --> 0:06:18.080 weapon and terminate his wife's life. 0:06:18.760 --> 0:06:23.360 Not too long after, alan Enny's own wife had killed 0:06:23.360 --> 0:06:28.000 herself in grief over the relationship that she discovered her 0:06:28.040 --> 0:06:29.560 husband was having with Carolyn. 0:06:31.000 --> 0:06:35.080 Human affairs are so complicated. Alan ennew who had made 0:06:35.080 --> 0:06:40.560 her so many promises about a vibrant and brilliant relationship 0:06:40.600 --> 0:06:45.880 in future, going forward together, and that night had ended. 0:06:47.080 --> 0:06:51.480 In that first interview in the Lismore police station between 0:06:51.960 --> 0:06:55.800 one am and three point thirty seven am, it's just 0:06:55.960 --> 0:06:59.719 a few hours after he has killed his wife in 0:06:59.720 --> 0:07:05.000 cold blood. He then describes having come back from the 0:07:05.040 --> 0:07:08.760 study into the bedroom holding the rifle. Carolyn sees him, 0:07:08.800 --> 0:07:12.320 and she screams, and he says that there's a struggle, 0:07:12.960 --> 0:07:15.520 and she tries to grab the gun and the shots 0:07:15.560 --> 0:07:20.720 are then fired. Carolyn was hit three times, once in 0:07:20.760 --> 0:07:25.320 the abdomen, twice in the head close range. He doesn't 0:07:25.360 --> 0:07:29.800 own his responsibility there, he doesn't say in that interview. 0:07:30.840 --> 0:07:34.520 And I pointed the gun at Carolyn and shot her 0:07:34.560 --> 0:07:39.880 in the abdomen, and then used the bolt action to 0:07:39.960 --> 0:07:43.080 put another bullet in the chamber, which I then fired 0:07:43.120 --> 0:07:46.240 into her brain. And then I did that again. 0:07:47.400 --> 0:07:52.240 The youngest Catherine in a bassinet in the actual parents' 0:07:52.280 --> 0:07:53.840 bedroom when this event occurred. 0:07:54.760 --> 0:07:57.800 You get the sense from the way he describes it 0:07:57.880 --> 0:08:02.240 that there's a struggle. Maybe she somehow pointed the gun 0:08:02.280 --> 0:08:05.600 in a way that she shot herself. There's no ownership 0:08:05.680 --> 0:08:07.320 by him of his actions. 0:08:08.240 --> 0:08:09.240 That's absolutely right. 0:08:09.440 --> 0:08:13.920 In the language that he uses, it's almost like he's there, 0:08:13.960 --> 0:08:17.920 but he's not there. Did you aim and fire at 0:08:17.920 --> 0:08:21.120 your wife? There is no affirmation of that from him 0:08:21.160 --> 0:08:25.000 at all. It's like this nebulous thing that sort of 0:08:25.280 --> 0:08:30.400 just happened. It moves, it slips around at those most 0:08:30.520 --> 0:08:32.120 lethal and crucial moments. 0:08:33.080 --> 0:08:37.120 Was he having trouble facing that reality himself then, or 0:08:37.160 --> 0:08:40.960 was he already starting to plan some kind of criminal defense. 0:08:42.160 --> 0:08:44.360 Is it possible that a man of such a meticulous 0:08:44.440 --> 0:08:48.800 mind might already be thinking into the future in terms 0:08:48.840 --> 0:08:53.280 of how he would justify what occurred? And he says 0:08:53.360 --> 0:08:56.920 and sort of shots went off, that's not possible. With 0:08:56.920 --> 0:09:01.079 the bold action. There's necessary time to reload, and it's 0:09:01.120 --> 0:09:03.240 a manu left it, isn't it. You have to hold 0:09:03.240 --> 0:09:07.240 the rifle and pull back the bolt. 0:09:07.880 --> 0:09:11.600 And then push it forward again to load the boat. 0:09:12.240 --> 0:09:16.920 He was asked whether he checked afterwards to see if 0:09:16.960 --> 0:09:20.400 there were signs of life in his wife. Did she 0:09:20.520 --> 0:09:24.360 have a pulse, But he said no, he didn't do that. 0:09:25.040 --> 0:09:29.760 He was quite sure she was dead. Alan Stuckey called 0:09:29.800 --> 0:09:34.360 his sister and she came to the house and she 0:09:35.120 --> 0:09:37.920 collected the three young children and took them away. 0:09:38.679 --> 0:09:39.680 He had a shower. 0:09:40.720 --> 0:09:45.560 He proceeded to change and apply his deodorant. After the 0:09:45.640 --> 0:09:51.680 shower and the third call, having wrung his sister and 0:09:51.720 --> 0:09:58.440 then his friend and said it's all over. I've killed Carolyn, 0:09:59.360 --> 0:10:04.320 was to the police. Now you just shudder at what 0:10:04.559 --> 0:10:09.400 confronted them. A husband who had just called them to 0:10:10.520 --> 0:10:17.199 an otherwise normal family home owned by a professional pharmacist 0:10:17.200 --> 0:10:22.640 in town, with a beautiful young wife, three lovely young children. 0:10:22.880 --> 0:10:25.880 And she was still laying at the foot of the 0:10:25.960 --> 0:10:30.600 matrimonial bed in their bedroom with two wounds to the 0:10:30.600 --> 0:10:34.079 head and one to the abdomen. Her body was still 0:10:34.120 --> 0:10:35.760 warm in that main bedroom. 0:10:37.120 --> 0:10:42.760 He's trembling and about to be led away for questioning 0:10:43.559 --> 0:10:47.880 for what was presumed then to be very obvious murder. 0:10:49.000 --> 0:10:52.480 He said in his evidence before the court that with 0:10:52.600 --> 0:10:55.360 his wife dead at the foot of the bed, he 0:10:55.440 --> 0:11:00.679 needed to take a shower to settle his mind so 0:11:00.720 --> 0:11:03.880 he could make a decision about what he would do next. 0:11:04.640 --> 0:11:08.760 It's revealing a man who lives by an incredibly routine 0:11:08.840 --> 0:11:15.200 stricture and has his patterns of behavior almost unbreakable. Despite 0:11:15.240 --> 0:11:18.760 this enormous tragic event that had been unleashed in the 0:11:18.800 --> 0:11:19.880 house that we're looking at. 0:11:21.320 --> 0:11:25.000 Caroline's unlawful killing at the hands of her husband should 0:11:25.000 --> 0:11:29.400 have been an open and shut case. Alan Stuckey's defense 0:11:29.480 --> 0:11:34.160 lawyer saw a pathway. He argued that Alan's wife's affair 0:11:34.400 --> 0:11:39.320 had provoked him into shooting her. Matthew Conden wrote a 0:11:39.360 --> 0:11:43.120 brilliant story about the case for The Weekend Australian magazine 0:11:43.160 --> 0:11:47.439 in twenty nineteen. He's a small but integral part of it. 0:11:48.520 --> 0:11:52.840 On July eleventh, nineteen eighty six, after a seven day trial, 0:11:53.480 --> 0:11:57.600 Alan James Stuckey was found not guilty of murder but 0:11:57.720 --> 0:12:02.640 guilty of manslaughter, the jury having decided that he caused 0:12:02.720 --> 0:12:09.240 Caroline's death under provocation. Justice Slattery said Stuckey's quote control 0:12:09.320 --> 0:12:14.760 of himself unquote ultimately snapped when told his wife could 0:12:14.800 --> 0:12:20.240 not give up her lover. The judge said, in the circumstances, 0:12:20.280 --> 0:12:23.520 some response on his part would not have been unreasonable, 0:12:24.240 --> 0:12:27.880 but he added that to shoot the deceased three times. 0:12:28.080 --> 0:12:32.480 Was greater than the circumstances warranted. It is rare to 0:12:32.520 --> 0:12:35.839 see a prisoner of such good character before a court 0:12:36.040 --> 0:12:39.600 on this type of crime. In a short period of time, 0:12:39.760 --> 0:12:44.840 the prisoner, by his acts under provocation, brought great tragedy 0:12:44.920 --> 0:12:50.040 to his wife, himself, and his children, a tragedy which 0:12:50.080 --> 0:12:51.840 will be with him forever. 0:12:53.440 --> 0:12:57.960 In the end, the defense strategy was successful. A jury 0:12:58.040 --> 0:13:01.920 effectively found that it was coar Olyn's fault that her husband, 0:13:02.040 --> 0:13:06.520 the accused, had snapped and killed her. Caroline's killer would 0:13:06.559 --> 0:13:12.160 face the lesser sentence for manslaughter. Justice slattery words and 0:13:12.200 --> 0:13:15.800 the juries not guilty verdict for murder are confronting to 0:13:15.840 --> 0:13:19.160 hear in twenty twenty five, when it is better understood 0:13:19.200 --> 0:13:23.079 that blaming the victim in cases of domestic violence wrongly 0:13:23.120 --> 0:13:28.040 removes responsibility from the perpetrator for his or her actions. 0:13:28.920 --> 0:13:32.360 Alan Stuckey was sentenced to eight years imprisonment, but he 0:13:32.440 --> 0:13:36.240 walked free on parole after three years. He returned to 0:13:36.360 --> 0:13:39.440 his job as a pharmacist in Lismore and to raising 0:13:39.520 --> 0:13:44.240 his three young children. One of those children, Catherine, shared 0:13:44.280 --> 0:13:47.520 her recollections with Matt of a troubled childhood in the 0:13:47.600 --> 0:13:51.319 same house where her dad had killed her mum. 0:13:51.640 --> 0:13:55.640 He used to say that she was socopathic and that 0:13:55.760 --> 0:13:59.120 I also had those traits because I wanted attention or 0:13:59.120 --> 0:14:01.280 something as an adult. 0:14:01.520 --> 0:14:06.040 I'm so outraged that he thought that. 0:14:05.880 --> 0:14:08.400 That would be a good idea to raise his children 0:14:08.480 --> 0:14:09.400 in a place where. 0:14:11.000 --> 0:14:13.679 He killed their mother. To me, that is such a 0:14:13.880 --> 0:14:16.280 cruel thing to do, and. 0:14:16.280 --> 0:14:19.160 I don't understand it at all, and it makes me 0:14:19.560 --> 0:14:49.240 incredibly sad. Before finalizing his own lengthy police statement, Glenn 0:14:49.280 --> 0:14:53.560 Taylor decided to try to find more witnesses, more evidence 0:14:53.680 --> 0:14:58.000 by drawing on the local media. John was against publicity 0:14:58.080 --> 0:14:58.840 from the start. 0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:04.360 He certainly was absolutely against having any media there. He 0:15:04.400 --> 0:15:06.240 didn't want in media, and we had to give him 0:15:06.240 --> 0:15:10.720 an undertaking that we would not contact the media under 0:15:10.760 --> 0:15:14.680 such time as we'd had exhausted our inquiries. Eventually we 0:15:14.720 --> 0:15:16.760 got to the stage we got a coroner's direction that 0:15:16.800 --> 0:15:19.240 said this has to go to the media. We need 0:15:19.600 --> 0:15:20.760 more people to come forward. 0:15:22.120 --> 0:15:26.840 While John remained staunchly opposed, Glenn Taylor went around him 0:15:26.880 --> 0:15:31.360 to Broman's brother, Andy Reid. Andy agreed to the strategy, 0:15:31.400 --> 0:15:33.800 and he wrote to Glenn I. 0:15:34.160 --> 0:15:37.720 Andrew Philip Reid, being the next of kin and brother 0:15:38.040 --> 0:15:41.720 of brom and Joy Winfield, give my full permission to 0:15:41.800 --> 0:15:45.800 the police Department and the coroner to use all available 0:15:45.880 --> 0:15:50.400 means at their disposal, including all forms of media such 0:15:50.480 --> 0:15:56.240 as newspaper, radio and television, to assist in investigation of 0:15:56.320 --> 0:16:00.880 the disappearance of my sister. I am deeply concerned about 0:16:00.880 --> 0:16:03.600 what has happened to my sister, as is the rest 0:16:03.600 --> 0:16:07.560 of my family, and we want everything humanly possible done 0:16:08.200 --> 0:16:11.280 to locate her and to find out what has happened 0:16:11.280 --> 0:16:11.600 to her. 0:16:13.320 --> 0:16:17.680 Stories began to appear in the Northern Star. The headline 0:16:17.760 --> 0:16:21.440 on one front page must have been confronting for Broman's 0:16:21.480 --> 0:16:26.920 friends and for John missing woman case reopened. Here's how 0:16:27.000 --> 0:16:30.040 that story by local reporter Jenny Rodgers began. 0:16:31.240 --> 0:16:34.320 Police need help in solving the baffling disappearance six years 0:16:34.360 --> 0:16:37.600 ago of a Lennox head woman, Bronwin Winfield. Now I 0:16:37.600 --> 0:16:40.280 would be thirty seven years old. She is one hundred 0:16:40.280 --> 0:16:43.360 and seventy six centimeters or five foot eight inches tall, 0:16:43.720 --> 0:16:47.160 of slim build, with light brown hair, a fair complexion 0:16:47.200 --> 0:16:48.040 and hazel eyes. 0:16:49.240 --> 0:16:51.880 I know I had a meeting interview prior to the 0:16:51.880 --> 0:16:54.400 inquest asking if anyone had him for the information. 0:16:55.320 --> 0:16:58.560 The recording is still in Glen's files, although the audio 0:16:58.640 --> 0:16:59.560 is a bit scratchy. 0:17:00.880 --> 0:17:04.440 Hopelly missing pertain K floor finally be solved after nine 0:17:04.520 --> 0:17:08.520 years exactical entertainment said miss at Winfield or drafting on 0:17:08.560 --> 0:17:11.120 the ninety at the sixteen of late nineteen ninety three 0:17:11.560 --> 0:17:13.240 after Sandstone Clason time. 0:17:13.320 --> 0:17:16.320 And then it's fair but if anyone has full in 0:17:16.400 --> 0:17:20.520 promotional all but I haven't some thought of now to 0:17:20.720 --> 0:17:24.840 contact the ball On employees will treat the information making confidence. 0:17:26.359 --> 0:17:29.840 Many years ago when I first became a detective in 0:17:29.920 --> 0:17:34.320 nineteen eighty five and the talk was please don't talk 0:17:34.359 --> 0:17:36.600 to the media, I think it has turned around a 0:17:36.600 --> 0:17:39.359 lot more so in recent years. Without the help of 0:17:39.440 --> 0:17:42.080 the media, a lot of cases would never be solved. 0:17:43.480 --> 0:17:47.760 Retired Sydney detective Damian Lehne attributes the role of the 0:17:47.840 --> 0:17:52.359 media with multiple breakthroughs during his investigations into the murder 0:17:52.359 --> 0:17:57.280 of Lynn Dawson now known as Lynn Simms. Damien did 0:17:57.280 --> 0:18:00.520 a remarkable job over some fifteen years is on that 0:18:00.680 --> 0:18:04.560 case since leaving the New South Wales Police He has 0:18:04.640 --> 0:18:07.720 lived in Ballina and he catches up with Glenn Taylor 0:18:07.800 --> 0:18:11.880 at the local bowls club. Damien is still giving back 0:18:11.920 --> 0:18:15.680 to the community. He has become a popular deputy mayor 0:18:15.760 --> 0:18:20.000 of the coastal town. In the late nineteen nineties and 0:18:20.119 --> 0:18:24.520 for another decade, Damien relied on journalists and their storytelling 0:18:24.560 --> 0:18:28.040 to attract witnesses who would give him statements and tip 0:18:28.040 --> 0:18:32.160 hops in a Northern Beaches police station about Lynn's disappearance. 0:18:33.200 --> 0:18:37.280 Damien had suspected fowl play from an early stage. 0:18:37.520 --> 0:18:40.600 There were very many police out there who were reluctant 0:18:40.680 --> 0:18:43.720 to speak to the media or corporate with them. The 0:18:43.920 --> 0:18:47.160 reason why, but such a responsible to the community. It's 0:18:47.200 --> 0:18:50.240 the fact I used the media. Without then no one 0:18:50.240 --> 0:18:52.960 would have known what was going on. No one would 0:18:52.960 --> 0:18:55.399 have known suddenly disappearing on the front page of the 0:18:55.440 --> 0:18:59.280 Many Dad in an Orthor Beaches and Bert he started 0:18:59.400 --> 0:19:01.960 rolling anders went on and on and on. Have you 0:19:02.040 --> 0:19:05.160 taken it in the teachers podcast? Well, we're back here again, 0:19:05.160 --> 0:19:07.719 as you say, under the similar circumstances have been awesome. 0:19:09.359 --> 0:19:13.280 On Monday May twenty seven, two thousand and two, friends 0:19:13.359 --> 0:19:17.080 and family of Bromwin Joy Winfield gathered at the Lismore 0:19:17.119 --> 0:19:19.879 Courthouse in search of answers about a woman who had 0:19:19.960 --> 0:19:24.880 not been seen or heard from for nine years. Janelle Estridge, 0:19:25.280 --> 0:19:29.159 then a young journalist completing her cadetship at the local newspaper, 0:19:29.880 --> 0:19:33.440 spoke to Detective Glenn Taylor and Bromin's brother Andy in 0:19:33.520 --> 0:19:37.360 the lead up to the inquest. Here's Janelle reading aloud 0:19:37.520 --> 0:19:39.520 her story in the Northern Star. 0:19:40.680 --> 0:19:43.480 Acting Inspector Taylor said it was hoped the five day 0:19:43.560 --> 0:19:47.280 hearing may bring some finality to what has been an 0:19:47.400 --> 0:19:48.880 exhaustive investigation. 0:19:50.400 --> 0:19:53.840 Janelle also spoke to Andy, and he's quoted in the 0:19:53.920 --> 0:19:56.639 newspaper story. It's been a long. 0:19:56.600 --> 0:19:59.879 Road for the family, but hopefully now we'll get to 0:20:00.119 --> 0:20:03.359 the bottom of the whole theme. We no longer believe 0:20:03.480 --> 0:20:07.000 that Bromwan is with us, but we do need some answers. 0:20:08.040 --> 0:20:11.440 This has taken a toll on everyone, but we just 0:20:11.600 --> 0:20:14.440 hope that the system works to resolve the matter in 0:20:14.600 --> 0:20:15.719 one way or another. 0:20:17.520 --> 0:20:21.680 Like the children of Carolyn and Alan Stuckey, Bromwan's children, 0:20:21.880 --> 0:20:25.919 Crystal and Lauren, were unaware of crucial details about their 0:20:25.960 --> 0:20:30.920 devoted mother's disappearance as the inquest approached, and as witnesses 0:20:31.000 --> 0:20:33.840 would tell the inquest. Some of this was due to 0:20:33.920 --> 0:20:38.480 their father, John, who strongly discouraged any talk or press 0:20:38.720 --> 0:20:43.360 about Bromwin. Voice actors and in some cases those who 0:20:43.480 --> 0:20:47.480 were present. Are going to recreate crucial evidence and exchanges 0:20:47.640 --> 0:20:51.359 in this and following episodes as we work through the 0:20:51.440 --> 0:20:55.720 two thousand and two inquest in the Lismore Courthouse, evidence 0:20:55.880 --> 0:20:58.720 like that of John's daughter Jody, who was called to 0:20:58.800 --> 0:21:02.400 the witness stand twice yes on day two and day four. 0:21:03.560 --> 0:21:06.919 Ma'am. I understand that at the time you were seventeen 0:21:07.359 --> 0:21:10.520 and that these things may not have rang alarm bells 0:21:10.600 --> 0:21:14.120 in your head. But looking back on it now, don't 0:21:14.160 --> 0:21:16.920 you think that it's strange the course of events that 0:21:17.080 --> 0:21:21.560 followed Bromlin's disappearance. At the time, I didn't question it because, yes, 0:21:21.880 --> 0:21:22.480 of my age. 0:21:23.080 --> 0:21:25.600 If it happened now and the age I am, yes, 0:21:25.680 --> 0:21:28.360 I would have had so many questions like everybody else does. 0:21:28.880 --> 0:21:31.639 But at that time I didn't because it I just didn't. 0:21:32.720 --> 0:21:36.800 And Romwin's cousin Megan Reid, giving evidence about seeing John 0:21:37.000 --> 0:21:40.400 in Sydney in the days after Bromwin disappeared. 0:21:40.720 --> 0:21:44.360 I've honestly never seen anything like it before he was shaking. 0:21:44.880 --> 0:21:46.680 He was practically frossing at the mouse. 0:21:46.880 --> 0:21:51.080 I was terrified and Crystal, who would give evidence? On 0:21:51.240 --> 0:21:54.600 the fourth day of the five day in quest, she 0:21:54.840 --> 0:21:58.879 was questioned gently by police Sergeant Matt Fordham. Here's a 0:21:58.960 --> 0:22:02.920 snippet of what Christie said, and just a reminder, Mark 0:22:03.040 --> 0:22:05.320 Davis is Crystal's biological father. 0:22:06.480 --> 0:22:09.639 Mark Davis said that you told him Bronwin had been 0:22:09.880 --> 0:22:13.800 diagnosed schizophrenic but didn't believe the doctors and didn't take 0:22:13.840 --> 0:22:17.359 her medication. Was that something that Bronwyn told you or 0:22:17.400 --> 0:22:19.280 did you hear it from some other source. 0:22:20.200 --> 0:22:22.440 No, that was what Jodie told me. 0:22:23.920 --> 0:22:27.159 We'll go into much more detail with Crystal's evidence and 0:22:27.359 --> 0:22:31.840 that of many others as the inquest reconstruction unfolds. We 0:22:31.960 --> 0:22:34.920 will be dedicating a lot of time to the inquest. 0:22:35.800 --> 0:22:39.600 By going through each day's transcript carefully, we are faithfully 0:22:39.680 --> 0:22:43.480 reproducing what we regard as the most relevant and interesting 0:22:43.600 --> 0:22:46.760 parts of the evidence. It will be unpacked in this 0:22:47.200 --> 0:22:52.400 and upcoming episodes chronologically, starting with the first day. You'll 0:22:52.480 --> 0:22:54.879 hear more from Crystal when we get to the fourth 0:22:55.000 --> 0:23:00.080 day of evidence. Let's now go to the beginning. D 0:23:00.240 --> 0:23:04.679 State Coroner for New South Wales, Karl Milavanovitch exuded authority. 0:23:05.440 --> 0:23:09.160 He had the undivided attention of his Lismore court room. 0:23:10.240 --> 0:23:13.480 From his reading of the statements before the inquest started, 0:23:13.800 --> 0:23:17.120 Karl was already very familiar with the brief of evidence. 0:23:17.880 --> 0:23:21.160 It would be presented over the ensuing days by lawyer 0:23:21.240 --> 0:23:26.000 and police officer Sergeant Matt Fordham. Matt is a barrister 0:23:26.200 --> 0:23:30.000 practicing in Sydney. These days, he takes an avid interest 0:23:30.080 --> 0:23:33.119 in the podcast investigations of cases in which he has 0:23:33.240 --> 0:23:38.240 been directly involved. One year after Bromwin's inquest, Matt Fordham 0:23:38.280 --> 0:23:41.000 would work with Karl again during the two thousand and 0:23:41.200 --> 0:23:44.720 three inquest into the presumed death of Lyn Dawson, now 0:23:44.880 --> 0:23:49.440 known as Lynn Simms. It's important to stress, as always 0:23:49.560 --> 0:23:52.960 for the record that John Winfield has always denied any 0:23:53.080 --> 0:23:58.040 involvement in Bromwin's disappearance. John Winfield was not on trial 0:23:58.240 --> 0:24:02.800 at the two thousand and two ines nobody was. An 0:24:02.880 --> 0:24:07.720 inquest is a fact finding mission. Affected parties are entitled 0:24:07.800 --> 0:24:12.920 to legal representation. John Winfield was legally supported by a 0:24:13.160 --> 0:24:18.159 determined barrister, Craig Leggett. Three years after Bromwin's inquest. He 0:24:18.400 --> 0:24:22.160 was appointed Senior Council, a prestigious position in the ranks 0:24:22.200 --> 0:24:24.840 of the New South Wales Bar and a testament to 0:24:25.000 --> 0:24:28.080 his skill as a lawyer. You are going to hear 0:24:28.320 --> 0:24:32.240 Craig's cross examination of witnesses throughout the inquest, much of 0:24:32.320 --> 0:24:35.399 it based on instructions from his client John. 0:24:36.480 --> 0:24:39.040 Sir, can you please tell us your full name, rank 0:24:39.119 --> 0:24:39.639 and station. 0:24:40.920 --> 0:24:45.040 My full name is Glenn William Taylor. I'm a detective sergeant, 0:24:45.080 --> 0:24:47.639 a police attached to ballin a police station. 0:24:47.920 --> 0:24:50.320 And sir, is it the case you prepared a one 0:24:50.400 --> 0:24:55.000 hundred and twenty page statement summarizing the investigation into the 0:24:55.119 --> 0:24:58.200 suspected death of bronwin Winfield. Is that correct? 0:24:59.080 --> 0:24:59.280 Yes? 0:24:59.359 --> 0:24:59.560 It is. 0:25:00.720 --> 0:25:04.400 On day one, Matt Fordham asked Glenn Taylor to read 0:25:04.440 --> 0:25:09.280 aloud his summary of his investigation into Bromman's suspected murder. 0:25:10.240 --> 0:25:14.520 The focus narrowed to just one man in court, John Winfield. 0:25:15.400 --> 0:25:17.639 It was the first time that the case, with all 0:25:17.680 --> 0:25:21.640 of its witnesses and alleged backs and circumstances, had been 0:25:21.760 --> 0:25:23.480 summarized in a public setting. 0:25:24.440 --> 0:25:30.520 Michelle Reid, missus Reed, states she became close friends with Bromwin. 0:25:31.160 --> 0:25:36.240 When Bromlin and Jonathan lived in Sydney. Missus Reed states 0:25:36.640 --> 0:25:40.200 that during the early part of nineteen ninety three, she 0:25:40.359 --> 0:25:46.440 had further telephone conversations with Bromin Winfield. Missus Reed recalled 0:25:46.680 --> 0:25:50.480 that during one of these conversations, Bromlan said to her 0:25:50.800 --> 0:25:55.200 words to the effect that if anything happened to her, Bromlin, 0:25:55.920 --> 0:25:59.600 which you look after the children. Missus Reed was off 0:25:59.600 --> 0:26:03.920 the book that Bromwin feared for her safety and inferred 0:26:04.200 --> 0:26:07.560 that Jonathan Winfield was capable of hurting her. 0:26:08.600 --> 0:26:11.480 Bromwin's uncle, John Reid, he. 0:26:11.600 --> 0:26:15.280 Recalls that during this time he was informed by Bromwin 0:26:15.800 --> 0:26:19.720 that Jonathan Winfield had been assaulting her and she showed 0:26:19.760 --> 0:26:22.160 mister Reed a bruce on her arm. 0:26:23.160 --> 0:26:25.240 Bromwin's auntie Leah Reid. 0:26:26.200 --> 0:26:30.399 Missus Leah Reid, the auntie of Bromwin Winfield, states that 0:26:30.600 --> 0:26:34.200 she would usually talk to Bromwin by telephone about once 0:26:34.280 --> 0:26:38.560 a week. Roman Winfield said something to the effect that 0:26:38.760 --> 0:26:42.119 she and others would be sorry and something would happen 0:26:42.720 --> 0:26:44.600 to change all of their lives. 0:26:45.800 --> 0:26:49.600 John's brother Peter Winfield, he recalls that. 0:26:49.640 --> 0:26:53.560 His brother Jonathan was worried that if he didn't go 0:26:53.760 --> 0:26:56.399 back to the Lennox Head home, that he would be 0:26:56.480 --> 0:27:00.359 locked out and it wouldn't be his home anymore. He 0:27:00.480 --> 0:27:04.160 recalled that Jonathan left his home to travel to Bwana. 0:27:05.440 --> 0:27:08.359 John's brother's wife, Louise Winfield. 0:27:08.840 --> 0:27:13.040 Missus Winfield, recalled that Jonathan has said something to the 0:27:13.040 --> 0:27:15.680 effect that he and Broman had a fight and that 0:27:15.800 --> 0:27:21.280 Bromwin had walked out Tracy Brown. Romwan disclosed to her 0:27:22.040 --> 0:27:25.280 that Jonathan Winfield had told her that there was no 0:27:25.480 --> 0:27:29.200