Speaker 1: Before we begin this episode, this is a content warning.
Speaker 1: This episode contains descriptions of domestic violence and coercive control
Speaker 1: that may upset some people. Listener discretion is advised.
Speaker 2: This is the case of Marion Barter, a mother teacher
Speaker 2: friend missing for twenty five years.
Speaker 1: You know, know someone that she was going to vanish.
Speaker 3: That's for sure.
Speaker 2: The bizarre circumstances surrounding her disappearance.
Speaker 4: I'm not sure if it was intentional or there is
Speaker 4: something more foul afoot. If you could imagine a teacher
Speaker 4: coming straight from say little house on the prairie to
Speaker 4: the eighties, that was Marian.
Speaker 5: Barterho what.
Speaker 6: I say, where do you find Marian Bart dead or alive?
Speaker 6: I honestly believe somebody has that key piece of information.
Speaker 2: And the relentless quest of a daughter to find her mum.
Speaker 7: Something had happened, Something has happened to make her leave.
Speaker 6: I am one hundred percent sure, one hundred percent sure
Speaker 6: that somebody knows something.
Speaker 2: The Lady Vanishes Episode forty four. I'm Alison Sandy.
Speaker 1: And I'm Brian Seymour.
Speaker 2: The explosive evidence revealed in our last episode has certainly
Speaker 2: made waves. We're hoping the story of marrying barter Rick
Speaker 2: Blum and Gelaine du Bois d'An nois, the latest of
Speaker 2: his alleged victims to step forward in Belgium, is spread
Speaker 2: far and wide. There are other women out there, possibly
Speaker 2: in Australia, Europe or elsewhere, who have had dealings with
Speaker 2: this man, and we want to hear from them.
Speaker 1: Last time, we went through the extraordinary police statement of
Speaker 1: Alexandra Pireboom, who detailed how her mother in law Julane
Speaker 1: was love bombed by Frederic de Herdiveri and then scammed
Speaker 1: of her life savings. Well, we've been in touch with
Speaker 1: Alexandra with the help of our researcher as Stelle Sanchez.
Speaker 1: Alison interviewed Alexandra over the phone. The interview was in French,
Speaker 1: which has been translated to English and subsequently revoiced in
Speaker 1: English by Stelle.
Speaker 8: My name is Alexandra pierrebum. I'm forty eight. My mother
Speaker 8: in law was a victim in two thousand and six
Speaker 8: of the Swindow orchestra traded by a man named Frederic d'dovari.
Speaker 8: It's the name under We knew that person at the time,
Speaker 8: so she reported it to the police and since then
Speaker 8: we never heard anything new from it, and so she
Speaker 8: kept hoping for developments regarding the case. Since then, we
Speaker 8: often research about that person on the internet to find
Speaker 8: out whether we can learn anything new, and that's how
Speaker 8: that recently, while researching on the internet, I stumbled upon
Speaker 8: an article from your Lexemple colleague. So I was fastly
Speaker 8: in contact with Jennie Clambert. That's how he gave me
Speaker 8: your contact. He gave me two email addresses, the one
Speaker 8: from crime Stoppers that I sent a message to and
Speaker 8: your email address I found it. I don't exactly remember
Speaker 8: how I found it on the internet, and I wanted
Speaker 8: to testify because what was shocking to me when reading
Speaker 8: Marian Barter's story is that Frederic d' davari proceeded exactly
Speaker 8: in the same way with my mother in law. What
Speaker 8: stood out to me was how fast he events unfolded.
Speaker 8: We were a unified family with a grandma who would
Speaker 8: often see a grandchildren. At the time, my son was
Speaker 8: two years old, so he would go to his grandmother's
Speaker 8: very often, so we were very close. She lived a
Speaker 8: little outside of Brussels, half an hour away from her house.
Speaker 8: We'd see each other very often. She had other grandkits
Speaker 8: that she would see very often as well. So everything
Speaker 8: was like in a normal family, if you will. And
Speaker 8: out of the blue she announces to us she had
Speaker 8: the big news to share with us that she's going
Speaker 8: to get married with that guy Frederick that she introduces
Speaker 8: to us the first time, that she's leaving for Australia.
Speaker 8: And a few days after she tells us that she's
Speaker 8: going to sell a house, a car, that she won't
Speaker 8: keep anything in Belgium, and that she will directly leave
Speaker 8: for Australia with him. And so it was very brutal.
Speaker 9: Was she surprised when she learned who that he was
Speaker 9: known as Rick Blum and he had more than thir
Speaker 9: he leases it's Gonnai.
Speaker 8: The first time we saw him, we directly understood something
Speaker 8: was off with that man. He was a normal and
Speaker 8: we even well to tell you honestly, well I saw him,
Speaker 8: I got scared because I felt something was unealfy. I
Speaker 8: directly felt something abnormal the first instant to saw him
Speaker 8: face to face, it was immagate to be scared, to
Speaker 8: be scared for her. But at that time I even
Speaker 8: thought she's going to leave for Australia. He's going to
Speaker 8: kill her and we'll never see her again. That's what
Speaker 8: I thought as soon as I saw him.
Speaker 2: What does she remember Rick Blum telling them about her
Speaker 2: around himself, like, what was the sort of things that
Speaker 2: he said, Kisku.
Speaker 8: Well, we didn't know all the details, but he said
Speaker 8: he was a widower, that he traveled a lot for
Speaker 8: his business. At the time, he was taking care of numismatis,
Speaker 8: so it was going to fairs to find different ancient coins,
Speaker 8: rare coins, as he said, Golish coins, rom and coins,
Speaker 8: anti collectible items. So that was his activity. And before
Speaker 8: that he said, well, not to us, but to my
Speaker 8: mother in law, that he worked in the banking sector,
Speaker 8: that he had a lot of money because he was single.
Speaker 8: He was traveling a lot to forget maybe to forget
Speaker 8: his loneliness. He said he was going to sell his
Speaker 8: house because it was too big for him and he
Speaker 8: was all alone. And he said to her, if you come,
Speaker 8: everything will be all right. I won't have to sell it.
Speaker 8: It will be just the two of us. That's a
Speaker 8: detail that I remember about it, because no doubt that
Speaker 8: it made the decision easier than if the whole house
Speaker 8: issue hadn't been there.
Speaker 2: How long did he keep her with this bruise? Did
Speaker 2: he he fake the relationship with her before she realized,
Speaker 2: So that is.
Speaker 8: Very hard to tell because we didn't know about the
Speaker 8: relationship from the time we learned about it. There's probably
Speaker 8: one month that went by, two months, free months, but
Speaker 8: no more than that. It was a fairly short period
Speaker 8: of time. But unfortunately she doesn't remember when she met
Speaker 8: him exactly.
Speaker 1: Two to three months. That ties in with the time
Speaker 1: he seemed to spend with the others who also accuse
Speaker 1: him of trying the same fraud on them.
Speaker 8: So it asked her to live with him without telling
Speaker 8: anything to it children and to send them a postcard
Speaker 8: once in Australia. That was very brutal. She refused that.
Speaker 8: So we had a first family dinner and my partner,
Speaker 8: who his son, told her, before you leave, i'd like
Speaker 8: to get to know Frederick a bit better because we've
Speaker 8: only seen him once. I'd just like to meet him
Speaker 8: so we can feel at ease for you to live
Speaker 8: with him. We asked that because we were worried. We
Speaker 8: weren't at ease, so it insisted a lot, and my
Speaker 8: mother in law didn't want to refuse him that, but
Speaker 8: Frederick was absolutely against it. My mother in law insisted
Speaker 8: as well, and Frederick finally agreed. So him and my
Speaker 8: mother in law were going to come eat at her house,
Speaker 8: and that was after our holidays in France. So at
Speaker 8: the end of August beginning of September a date was
Speaker 8: set up. It was right before the departure. She'd already
Speaker 8: started to empty a house. So on the day of
Speaker 8: our get together, my mother in law arrived at our
Speaker 8: place from her house and Frederic had been in Amsterdam
Speaker 8: for his business. I don't know all the details, but
Speaker 8: he went to Amsterdam for a few days and so
Speaker 8: my mother in law is there. We're waiting for Frederick.
Speaker 8: He's late. She gets worried and tries to call him
Speaker 8: and no answer. Time goes by and is still not
Speaker 8: answering his phone. So she started to get very worried.
Speaker 8: She started to shiver. We could see. It made her
Speaker 8: very emotional. We don't know how to react. And then
Speaker 8: she explained to us he had a very big sum
Speaker 8: of money on him and she's worried that he might
Speaker 8: have been attacked during the trip. Then I said, if
Speaker 8: that's what it is, then you should go to the police.
Speaker 8: So we went to the police, but she was a
Speaker 8: bit embarrassed. She didn't know how to explain the situation
Speaker 8: to the police. She said, well, I haven't known him
Speaker 8: for a long time. What am I going to say?
Speaker 8: I'm not his wife, I'm not They'll make fun of me.
Speaker 8: No doubt that in her mind she already knew there
Speaker 8: was a problem that he swindled her, but she didn't
Speaker 8: admit it to us at that instant. On our part,
Speaker 8: we were still hesitant. We were mostly in action mode.
Speaker 8: We knew we had to go to the police. We
Speaker 8: didn't ask ourselves questions. Then it all happened very fast.
Speaker 8: The same night she called us and told us he
Speaker 8: is a swindler. He took all of my money.
Speaker 2: How did she react? Did she see just saying when
Speaker 2: she realized that she was she angry?
Speaker 3: Was she sad?
Speaker 2: Was she devastated?
Speaker 9: What was the grecution?
Speaker 8: She definitely tried to hide it from us because she
Speaker 8: felt very ashamed to have fallen for his show, to
Speaker 8: have lost all of her savings. So it was a
Speaker 8: feeling of shame, so she didn't want to talk about it.
Speaker 8: She didn't explain everything in detail. She isolated herself. It
Speaker 8: was quite terrible because we were ready to help, but
Speaker 8: she didn't want us too because she felt guilty about
Speaker 8: what happened.
Speaker 2: How long did it take her to recover.
Speaker 8: She has incredible energy, so she acted as if nothing
Speaker 8: had happened. She continued on with the life. What happened
Speaker 8: was she sold the house and she left for France,
Speaker 8: so that's probably what saved her. During that trip to France,
Speaker 8: right before finding out about Frederick, one of her sons,
Speaker 8: who lives in a farm in France, told her, it
Speaker 8: would be good if you buy the land next to
Speaker 8: mine where there's a farm as well, because it will
Speaker 8: be helpful to me, And because she didn't need the
Speaker 8: money she got from selling her house, she agreed to
Speaker 8: buy it. So she sold her house in Belgium and
Speaker 8: she bought this farm. And not having a house anymore
Speaker 8: and having nothing left, she told herself she didn't have
Speaker 8: another choice but to leave for friends without all of
Speaker 8: her belongings, because moving everything was very expensive and she
Speaker 8: didn't have any savings left. So she went to live
Speaker 8: in a big farm on her own in the middle
Speaker 8: of nowhere, and she kept going on with her life.
Speaker 8: That farm wasn't the most comfortable, so she ended up
Speaker 8: selling it. Later on, she moved on. She's never been
Speaker 8: crushed by it. She has incredible energy and never let
Speaker 8: the situation get to her too much. She really has
Speaker 8: exceptional strength. If you talk to her, you'll see what
Speaker 8: we thought was. We imagined Frederick would grab the money
Speaker 8: she got from selling a house, but because she didn't
Speaker 8: have that money anymore, because she bought another house, maybe
Speaker 8: he told himself, well, that situation isn't interesting anymore.
Speaker 2: That's what we thought. How did she fear like mention
Speaker 2: that she feared for a life? In more way? Could
Speaker 2: she explain that?
Speaker 5: Which as little bit more.
Speaker 8: Face listen for that The better is to ask her directly.
Speaker 8: There are several things. There are gloomy details that I
Speaker 8: described in my letter. There was something coolish about him here.
Speaker 1: Alexandra does revisit the reasons she outlined in her letter,
Speaker 1: which we detailed in the previous episode, including his insistence
Speaker 1: that she have a liver scan. Given will be speaking
Speaker 1: to Julane more about this soon. We thought it better
Speaker 1: we just hear it from her, But Alexandra did recall
Speaker 1: another additional detail which was quite alarming.
Speaker 8: Because they slept in the same bed. You told her,
Speaker 8: you don't breathe correctly during the night. You need to
Speaker 8: do a check up to find out whether you have
Speaker 8: sleep abney, which she did have. Afterwards, we thought he
Speaker 8: was looking for a weak spot to say, well, she died,
Speaker 8: but it's normal. It's her liver and she had to
Speaker 8: sleep atney and herself. She said at one point you
Speaker 8: should ask her directly about it. But she said that
Speaker 8: at one point she got scared that he would use
Speaker 8: a pillow to smother her.
Speaker 2: Well, I guess that's the next question. Do you think
Speaker 2: he was capable of violence and what makes you think that?
Speaker 8: Yes, that's what we believed. Now it's only intuision. You
Speaker 8: see someone and they scare you, but you can't explain
Speaker 8: exactly why. There were a lot of things in this
Speaker 8: behavior that weren't that of a stable person. He was
Speaker 8: of an imposing size, He had a lot of strength.
Speaker 8: It's more a feeling than concrete. We didn't see him
Speaker 8: apart from the time he insisted for her to do
Speaker 8: a medical examinations where it was verbal violence. But we
Speaker 8: didn't see him being violent, but we could feel he was.
Speaker 8: We felt it was likely to happen. The answer is
Speaker 8: crystal clear she wouldn't have come back. I'm sure he
Speaker 8: would have killed her. I felt it. I can tell
Speaker 8: you that the day of that family reunion, I left
Speaker 8: the table to go to the toilet to cry my
Speaker 8: eyes out because I imagined I thought the situation was
Speaker 8: not normal, that it was not going to end well.
Speaker 8: I had an intuision. So when we learned from the
Speaker 8: police that Frederick already done I don't know how many
Speaker 8: swindles at that time, and I'd been in prison. What
Speaker 8: I told myself at that point was how lucky we
Speaker 8: were that she was still there, because she wouldn't have survived.
Speaker 8: So we put things into perspective. We were relieved because
Speaker 8: it was a close call.
Speaker 2: What do you hope happens from this? What would you
Speaker 2: like to see happen to Rick Blum?
Speaker 8: That he would be found guilty and that he would
Speaker 8: finish his days in prison. That would be a big
Speaker 8: relief that we would all feel.
Speaker 2: Well if enough people come forward, potentially.
Speaker 8: Of course, and that's why we've contacted you. That's what
Speaker 8: I hope is thanks to the media, maybe we can
Speaker 8: change things.
Speaker 2: Does she know much more about the other case she mentioned.
Speaker 8: Yes, so she can probably tell you herself, but the
Speaker 8: police contacted her a few years after because a woman
Speaker 8: from Tulnay, a town in Belgium an hour away from here,
Speaker 8: followed Frederick on a trip. Frederick made sure she wouldn't
Speaker 8: tell anything to her family, so the family didn't know anything,
Speaker 8: and so she found herself in Bali on her own.
Speaker 8: I don't know the details, but I know you abandoned
Speaker 8: her there and afterwards she had to get back without
Speaker 8: any money, without a phone, without anything. So it was
Speaker 8: local people who helped her contact Belgium. She apparently had
Speaker 8: to borrow money from family members just to be able
Speaker 8: to pay a flight back, and she finally complained to
Speaker 8: the police.
Speaker 2: The other thing is when she contacted crime Stocks in Australia.
Speaker 2: So what response has she gotten so far?
Speaker 8: I received a message of confirmation from them stating that
Speaker 8: they received my message. What I know is when I
Speaker 8: went to the police here in Belgium, they had missigned
Speaker 8: a document that a test that I did submit the testimony, Okay,
Speaker 8: I not victim? Do I strongly encourage all the victims
Speaker 8: to talk about it, because well, of course there would
Speaker 8: be a shame to have full in for his show.
Speaker 8: I can imagine that it would be very difficult to
Speaker 8: talk about it, but it would be worth it, and
Speaker 8: it's important to understand that in this case he's a
Speaker 8: professional swindler, even a killer maybe, although we have improved
Speaker 8: it yet, there's no shame in talking about it. He
Speaker 8: knows how to manipulate and he could happen to anyone.
Speaker 8: There's no reason not to talk about it. By talking
Speaker 8: about it, it will help the victims, it will help
Speaker 8: the investigation to progress. The benefit justifies the cost.
Speaker 2: We have also reached out to Alexandra's mother in law, Julain,
Speaker 2: but had to wait until she returned home to France.
Speaker 2: The different time zones are also proving a bit of
Speaker 2: a hurdle, but she'll be in our next episode. However,
Speaker 2: our colleagues at the Luxembourg Word, Tom and Yannick have
Speaker 2: sat down with Gulaine and reported her story with their permission.
Speaker 2: Here's some of what she told them.
Speaker 1: The journalists met with Julayne in early November in a
Speaker 1: restaurant in the south of Brussels. Tom and Jiannik described
Speaker 1: Julayne as young for her years, sharp, quick witted and
Speaker 1: with a clear memory. Before she retired, she was an
Speaker 1: insurance agent with about five hundred clients. She raised four
Speaker 1: children and has been a widow since the age of fifty.
Speaker 1: In hindsight, she struggles to understand why she believed in
Speaker 1: Frederick de Headeberry at all.
Speaker 5: She tells Tom and Yannick, I'm not supers and never have,
Speaker 5: and yet I believed everything this man said. She caught
Speaker 5: me at an awkward moment. I wasn't twelve, I was lonely,
Speaker 5: and he took advantage of that. I was like the bird.
Speaker 2: To the camp, she brought correspondence from police at the
Speaker 2: time and a photo of Frederic de Heteravari from around
Speaker 2: the early two thousands. The image is a close up
Speaker 2: of his smiling face. It's clearly the man we've seen
Speaker 2: outside the courthouse in Byron Bay, although obviously younger. His
Speaker 2: hair is white and overgrown. He's wearing glasses and at
Speaker 2: first glance, appears quite feminine. This is how Jilaine describes
Speaker 2: how they met.
Speaker 10: I had placed a personal ad in a little paper
Speaker 10: called Lamb and received many letters. I like he's the best,
Speaker 10: a long, inspired letter in French, beautiful handwriting, not spelling mistakes.
Speaker 5: So we arranged to meet and he told me about himself.
Speaker 5: He wanted to marry me in Bali and emigrate from
Speaker 5: there to Australia. He said he had a big house
Speaker 5: there and a good job in the management of a bank.
Speaker 10: He saw that loving my four children was my weakness,
Speaker 10: and so he told me, with my money, he would
Speaker 10: set up an Australian account for each of my children,
Speaker 10: because surely they would visit.
Speaker 1: Juliane trusted him, closed her savings account, sold her car,
Speaker 1: and gave him the money around seventy thousand euro. She
Speaker 1: also sold her house, but never handed over the proceeds
Speaker 1: because by that stage she had doubts. However, other valuables
Speaker 1: also witnessing. When Julane was packing up her house, Frederic
Speaker 1: de Heavy provided boxes that he wanted to be packed
Speaker 1: up urgently and sent to Australia. Julane's daughter in law
Speaker 1: remembers the silver cutlery service having to go in the box,
Speaker 1: and Julaine told the Luxembourg Word newspaper that her wedding
Speaker 1: ring had to go into the box because Frederic de
Speaker 1: Heavery told her that continuing to wear it would bring
Speaker 1: bad luck to the new relationship. And as for the
Speaker 1: beautifully written love letter that he had penned to Julane
Speaker 1: in response to her lonely hearts ad all that went
Speaker 1: into the box too. This is what she had to
Speaker 1: say about that.
Speaker 5: He said, we'll have a friend over our bed.
Speaker 2: In Australia, Julaine told Tom and Yannick that the head
Speaker 2: of Barry was very good at covering his tracks.
Speaker 5: Once we were on the gate with friends of mine,
Speaker 5: footos were taken that he was also in. He asked
Speaker 5: if he could see the camera, and during that chance
Speaker 5: the pictures were then gone.
Speaker 2: Jelaine also noticed that some financial documents and the valuable
Speaker 2: watch that had belonged to her late brother went missing
Speaker 2: after d'headeveri had spent time alone in her apartment. She
Speaker 2: then reveals that she was intimidated by d'headaveri. He was
Speaker 2: physically superior, tall and strong, and looking back, she feels
Speaker 2: lucky she is alive.
Speaker 5: She sent me to the hospital to have a nottral
Speaker 5: sound of the liver.
Speaker 10: My liver was always fine, that's what the doctor said.
Speaker 5: To He insisted a way. I think he wanted to
Speaker 5: poison me.
Speaker 2: Remember, Jelayne's daughter in law Alexandra, told police that Frederic
Speaker 2: d'heveri had spoken extensively about his knowledge of poisons the
Speaker 2: first time they met, and when packing up Jean's home,
Speaker 2: he was very interested in a book about poisons that
Speaker 2: kill without a trace. She went to police around the
Speaker 2: twelfth or thirteenth of September in two thousand and six
Speaker 2: because he failed to show up at a family dinner
Speaker 2: and she was worried about him as he was meant
Speaker 2: to be in Amsterdam and carrying a large sum of cash.
Speaker 2: Some time later, Jelaine said she saw him on the
Speaker 2: street in Brussels, but he disappeared into a crowded chocolate store.
Speaker 2: After that chance encounter, Frederic de Hedivery apparently called Julaine
Speaker 2: and threatened her with words to the effect of if
Speaker 2: I hear from you ever again, you will see what
Speaker 2: you will get. There will be hell to pay. Jelaine
Speaker 2: waited some years before officially reporting her case to authorities
Speaker 2: because she was so embarrassed and could only talk about
Speaker 2: it after her lawyer made it clear that she had
Speaker 2: been the victim of a professional. But the story doesn't
Speaker 2: end there. In twenty thirteen, Julane said she was contacted
Speaker 2: by police in Tournay, Belgium. That's the birthplace of Rick Blum,
Speaker 2: because another woman had reported being swindled after he promised
Speaker 2: to marry her in Bali, she went with him to Berlin.
Speaker 5: She left her there with ammonia papers. She had to
Speaker 5: see for herself how to get back to Belgium.
Speaker 2: Julaine doesn't have any details on how much money he
Speaker 2: allegedly took from this other woman, but another journalist, a
Speaker 2: colleague of Tom and Yannick, is in Tournay trying to
Speaker 2: track her down. Additionally, Julaine has a handwritten page from
Speaker 2: the Belgian police of all of Rick Blum's pseudonyms, and
Speaker 2: she also has the name of another of his alleged victims,
Speaker 2: one that you'll know, Janet Oldenburg from Australia, which Belgium
Speaker 2: police also have. Now that she has come to terms
Speaker 2: with what happened to her sixteen years ago, Gulaine wants
Speaker 2: to share her story widely.
Speaker 5: I'm saying, I'm Elaine. My money is gone, though, but
Speaker 5: I hope the police can prevent this man from doing
Speaker 5: further damage.
Speaker 1: Of course, when I contacted Rick Bloom, he denied the
Speaker 1: accusations made by Julaine Deui dan Lois and her daughter
Speaker 1: in law However, thanks to their explosive account, it appears
Speaker 1: police have more work to do. For a start, can
Speaker 1: Rick Bloom be extradited to Belgium to face possible charges
Speaker 1: arising from Julaine's complaint and that of the woman in Tournay?
Speaker 1: Australia does have an extradition treaty with Belgium. Mister Bloom
Speaker 1: is alleged to a stollen seventy thousand euro from Julaine,
Speaker 1: plus valuables worth thousands more here in Australia. New South
Speaker 1: Wales police already have plenty of things they can charge
Speaker 1: Rick Bloom with, including perjury and multiple counts of fraud
Speaker 1: or obtaining benefit by deception, which is an indictable offense
Speaker 1: and not subject to a statute of limitations. New South
Speaker 1: Wales police also need to investigate Rick Bloom for benefiting
Speaker 1: from the proceeds of crime. It's a charge which carries
Speaker 1: a maximum jail term of fifteen years. Then there is
Speaker 1: his mysterious assault and robbery in twenty twelve, when mister
Speaker 1: Bloom claims he re entered Australia with the final installment
Speaker 1: of his mother's inheritance fifty thousand euros. He claimed he
Speaker 1: took it to the Pacific Fair shopping center on the
Speaker 1: Gold Coast in Queensland to exchange it for Australian currency,
Speaker 1: but he was assaulted and robbed by two more men.
Speaker 1: You might recall the police report of that alleged robbery
Speaker 1: found that it most likely never happened as it was
Speaker 1: in a camera blind spot in a crowded public area,
Speaker 1: with no witnesses reporting anything, and mister Bloom appearing casual
Speaker 1: and unconcerned about what he claimed had just happened. It
Speaker 1: seems a slew of further charges could be bought by
Speaker 1: New South Wales police, including obstruction of justice. Detectives need
Speaker 1: the reports and documents held by Belgian police. They need
Speaker 1: to interview Alexandra and Julane and the twenty thirteen victim
Speaker 1: and other witnesses. They also need to access bank records
Speaker 1: in Australia and Europe. Police should also get a search
Speaker 1: warrant and go through mister Bloom's property with a fine
Speaker 1: tooth comb. They need to do this now. Who knows
Speaker 1: how many more victims there are. Surely now there is
Speaker 1: enough circumstantial evidence to make the case that Rick Bloom
Speaker 1: was involved in Marion's disappearance. We break from programming with
Speaker 1: a major development from the Chris Dawson murder trial. A
Speaker 1: recent high profile murder conviction was obtained with circumstantial evidence
Speaker 1: in a case where the victim, Lanett Dawson, was killed
Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty two.
Speaker 2: I find you guilty.
Speaker 7: You message down.
Speaker 1: This case is more recent, and we have uncovered a
Speaker 1: trove of evidence outlining a pattern of behavior that is undeniable,
Speaker 1: and we believe proof that Marian did not abandon her family,
Speaker 1: she was taken from them.
Speaker 2: This week, we have been receiving some incredible snippets of
Speaker 2: information from listeners who also knew Rick Blum and his
Speaker 2: family at different points in their lives. First, an anonymous
Speaker 2: email from a listener who claims to have known that
Speaker 2: a head of very family between nineteen ninety seven and
Speaker 2: nineteen ninety nine, around the time Marian disappeared. They say
Speaker 2: the children of Rick and Diana Headevary, David, and Matey
Speaker 2: were given large sums of money during this period when
Speaker 2: they were teenagers. We do not actually know if the
Speaker 2: anonymous person who sent as this message is a male
Speaker 2: or a female, but here is the message in full,
Speaker 2: as read by a voice actor.
Speaker 11: I knew the dhada Very family around nineteen ninety seven
Speaker 11: to nineteen ninety nine. In nineteen ninety eight or ninety nine,
Speaker 11: both children of Rick and diane'd Heeadeveri received in inheritance
Speaker 11: from their grandmother. They both received approximately thirty thousand dollars each.
Speaker 11: I thought it was strange at the time, and remember
Speaker 11: thinking it was strange as the grandmothers on both sides
Speaker 11: had been deceased for a while before they got the inheritance.
Speaker 11: I don't think anything was mentioned about the parents, Diane
Speaker 11: and Rick, getting any of that money, and it was
Speaker 11: directly to the grandchildren. I'm sure the money was left
Speaker 11: to them from the grandmother overseas. From Rick's side of
Speaker 11: the family, Mita used her inheritance as part of a
Speaker 11: deposit for a unit in Shaw's Bay Area in Ballina.
Speaker 11: I'm not sure what David did with his money. When
Speaker 11: I heard about the eighty thousand dollars coming out of
Speaker 11: Marion's account, the inheritance struck a chord with me. I
Speaker 11: contacted crimestoppers a while ago to give them this information anonymously,
Speaker 11: but I'm not sure if they have looked into it.
Speaker 11: After listening to the latest episodes, and this also weighing
Speaker 11: on my heart. I wanted to ensure someone was looking
Speaker 11: into it. I hope and pray that Sally gets the
Speaker 11: answers she needs, and I know this team is looking
Speaker 11: more closely at all areas and that more will come
Speaker 11: out eventually. On another note, I believe Rick was lying
Speaker 11: to his family about many things. I heard he was
Speaker 11: once a multi millionaire, a spy, and many other things
Speaker 11: in his younger days. And I also wondered how the
Speaker 11: family were living in a rental and what had happened.
Speaker 11: Is fortune obviously a huge lie. I wish to remain anonymous, so.
Speaker 2: There are definitely some things that could be chased up here.
Speaker 2: At the very least, there should be a deep dive
Speaker 2: into all of the bank accounts ever held by the
Speaker 2: son and daughter of Rick Blum, but particularly when they
Speaker 2: were children or young adults living with their parents, and
Speaker 2: any large sums of money put into these accounts needs
Speaker 2: to be investigated. Additionally, if MITA did put a deposit
Speaker 2: on a unit in Shaw's Bay, when did this happen
Speaker 2: and how large was the deposit. We've reached out to
Speaker 2: MITA before, but have been repeatedly told that neither her
Speaker 2: nor David want any involvement in the podcast. Furthermore, this
Speaker 2: anonymous person has contacted crime stoppers, but it would be
Speaker 2: good if they could come forward and make an official
Speaker 2: statement to police. And to anonymous, thank you for getting
Speaker 2: in touch. Your recollections are valuable.
Speaker 1: We also received a message from a woman who only
Speaker 1: wants to be known as Ingrid n. Here are her
Speaker 1: recollections as she wrote them.
Speaker 12: I became acquainted with ricta Hedvri and his wife Diane
Speaker 12: in mid two thousand and nine when they moved into
Speaker 12: unit one in Miami on the Gold Coast with their grandson.
Speaker 12: My husband, Martin, and I lived in unit two. It
Speaker 12: was a duplex. Being so close to the neighbors, we
Speaker 12: became quite friendly. We frequently invited them for barbecues and
Speaker 12: drinks in our backyard. Rick told us that he is
Speaker 12: a French citizen born in Paris and that he'd worked
Speaker 12: at Latuur de Agen restaurant.
Speaker 1: Just jumping in there. Latour Darjon Restaurant in Paris is
Speaker 1: an historic Michelin star restaurant founded in eighteen fifty two.
Speaker 1: It's known for its luxury surrounds and fine dining and
Speaker 1: counts the likes of Franklin Delano, Roosevelt, Marlene Dietrich, and
Speaker 1: the Wright brothers among its illustrious cliontelle over the years.
Speaker 1: Now back to Ingrid's message.
Speaker 12: Rick told many lies which he later changed. For example,
Speaker 12: he told us that his whole family was murdered in
Speaker 12: a German concentration camp and he grew up in an orphanage.
Speaker 12: When I asked him which concentration camp, he had to
Speaker 12: think about it and then said Oschwitz.
Speaker 1: We have heard versions of this story before, though Rick
Speaker 1: has never explained how he escaped the Nazi death camps.
Speaker 1: Like many of Rick's claims, he is the only source
Speaker 1: of evidence and his story frequently changes. Continuing on.
Speaker 12: Later, he said that he has a brother with whom
Speaker 12: he is no longer on speaking terms. He also mentioned
Speaker 12: that he and his wife had lived in the south
Speaker 12: of France. Rick often complained about lack of money, that
Speaker 12: Australia was very expensive, and that he might move back
Speaker 12: to Bali and start painting again. I never saw him paint,
Speaker 12: but he ran a coin business out of his garage.
Speaker 12: He told me that his business was money, like rare
Speaker 12: banknotes and coins. I once saw him punch blank coins
Speaker 12: with a stamp and hammer to make them look like
Speaker 12: rare antiques. He asked my husband if he knew anyone
Speaker 12: who could make a set that could stamp coins in
Speaker 12: large quantities, something like a mint press. He also printed
Speaker 12: a lot of material. His bin was often full to
Speaker 12: the brim with paper. Martin once saw something that looked
Speaker 12: like photocopies of bond certificates. In March twenty eleven, Rick
Speaker 12: approached my husband and asked him to sign a passport application,
Speaker 12: which he did on the fourteenth of the third, two
Speaker 12: thousand and eleven. The name on the application was David Copnall.
Speaker 12: When asked about the name change, Rick explained he needed
Speaker 12: to travel to Paris to sell some coins that in
Speaker 12: the past customs officials had confiscated his stamp end coin
Speaker 12: collection worth tens of thousands of dollars, and would do
Speaker 12: so again if he traveled under the name to Headevy,
Speaker 12: I never bought his Cockenball's story and felt very uncomfortable.
Speaker 12: His wife, by the way, was present when Martin signed
Speaker 12: the application, as she was present when he told us
Speaker 12: his many invented stories. Some time later, a letter addressed
Speaker 12: to Willie Rooters was accidentally dropped into our letterbox. It
Speaker 12: was then that I was convinced that Rick and his
Speaker 12: wife were up to no good. I contacted the Immigration Department,
Speaker 12: informing them that Rick da Headey, David Coppennall and Willie
Speaker 12: Rooters were one and the same person. They replied that
Speaker 12: they would investigate. I also got in touch with Sentlink
Speaker 12: by email, but got no reply. I also wrote to
Speaker 12: Queensland Transport because Rick had a disability sticker on his
Speaker 12: car and always parked in the disability parking spot. Yet
Speaker 12: every morning I saw him and his wife going for
Speaker 12: walks on the footpath along the beach between Miami and
Speaker 12: Burly Heads. Neither of them had a disability. He had
Speaker 12: no mobility walker. Then, we never witnessed or overheard Rick
Speaker 12: being verbally or physically abusive to his wife. We always
Speaker 12: had the distinct impression that Diane was the dominant person
Speaker 12: in that marriage. She was very assertive and he seemed
Speaker 12: to jote on her. Beck and Diane moved out of
Speaker 12: their unit sometime in twenty twelve to twenty thirteen.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Ingrid. Some similar themes there, the fantastical stories
Speaker 1: of his past, the multiple identities and the coin business.
Speaker 1: Although this is the first time we've heard anything about
Speaker 1: mister Bloom trying to press his own coins to make
Speaker 1: them appear old and valuable, it's also the first time
Speaker 1: we've heard of printed bond notes, and interestingly, Ingrid believed
Speaker 1: Rick Bloom's wife was not only aware of him stories,
Speaker 1: but a dominant player in the relationship. There is also
Speaker 1: the mention by Rick that he and Diane lived in
Speaker 1: the South of France, something we have no record of,
Speaker 1: but which rings familiar with Rick's attempts to lure women
Speaker 1: to start a new life with him in France.
Speaker 2: As always, Joni has been hard at work tracking down
Speaker 2: and talking to anybody who had anything to do with
Speaker 2: Rick Blum in the past. One of these people is Angela,
Speaker 2: who as a teenager was in the same swimming squad
Speaker 2: with Rick and Diane's children when they lived in Tasmania.
Speaker 2: I caught up with her this week.
Speaker 4: Yes, that's right, Yeah, I swam the swimming club that
Speaker 4: the family joined when they moved to Tazzi in the
Speaker 4: late eighties and early nineties. Yeah so, which seemed a
Speaker 4: bit these days. Tazzy's kind of cool and lots of
Speaker 4: people moved there, but it certainly wasn't there, and it
Speaker 4: seemed a really bizarre things for most of us as
Speaker 4: to why a family wouldn't move from northern Yssus Wales
Speaker 4: to Hobart, and then why they would live.
Speaker 13: Where they lived?
Speaker 4: Seen very strange.
Speaker 1: Where did they live?
Speaker 4: So they live in a place called Midway Points, which
Speaker 4: was close to the airport but kind of not really
Speaker 4: near anything else and again just not the kind of
Speaker 4: I mean, growing up live my Tasmanian hat on, it's
Speaker 4: like twenty minutes or those then twenty minutes from town,
Speaker 4: and you're like, who would live so far away? And
Speaker 4: of course that's nothing most people from big cities. But yeah,
Speaker 4: it seems like a very strange place to live. But
Speaker 4: you know, maybe it's that concept of that sort of
Speaker 4: mainland distance of that's nothing, you know, that's very close
Speaker 4: and it is you know, it looks the water and
Speaker 4: all those sorts of things. So there was some good
Speaker 4: things about it, and now lots of people live there
Speaker 4: and commute to them from Hobart, but it absolutely was
Speaker 4: not the dumb thing then.
Speaker 2: So what do you remember about Rick Blum?
Speaker 4: And I guess, Diane, well, I always remember Rick so
Speaker 4: I knewhi as Rick, the head of Arry Well, you know,
Speaker 4: mister dedhead of very. I always remember he was this tall, domineering,
Speaker 4: ever present person that was always there, always kind of lingering,
Speaker 4: always was kind of a smuggish kind of grin on
Speaker 4: his face, but not necessarily actually doing anything or engaging.
Speaker 4: Diane was always lovely, kind nurturing, gentle, caring. That's, you know,
Speaker 4: my over that's kind of my overall impression was that
Speaker 4: she was kind and caring and gentle, and he was
Speaker 4: the exact opposite. I mean, it was sort of definitely
Speaker 4: his way was the way things went, you know, I
Speaker 4: don't know that you know, it was kind of dad
Speaker 4: once this or dad, you know, he was he wanted
Speaker 4: them to succeed, and he wanted them to do well,
Speaker 4: and his way was the way that, you know, it
Speaker 4: was what happened. There wasn't a degree. I don't think
Speaker 4: there was much negotiation in terms of as a couple
Speaker 4: in my observation, I don't know observe, observing any specific
Speaker 4: conflicts or anything, but I mean, he was very dominant
Speaker 4: and the kids just seems like normal, lovely people. And
Speaker 4: but hearing all of this about Rick does not surprise me.
Speaker 3: In the least.
Speaker 2: Angela goes on to recall the friendship she had with
Speaker 2: mike A mainly, but there was one interesting memory that
Speaker 2: stands out.
Speaker 4: There's lots of questions about one kind of what they
Speaker 4: were doing there, but also neither of them seemed to work,
Speaker 4: and sort of to how were they how were they living?
Speaker 4: I know a bit more about that now, obviously, But
Speaker 4: and then there's the dimension of the coins and things.
Speaker 4: But a lot of people are like, well, that's very
Speaker 4: strange because you can't earn an income from that. But
Speaker 4: then I also remember, and this sticks in my mind
Speaker 4: that when so normally the standard thing with the uniforms
Speaker 4: were that, you know, you'd make an order and then
Speaker 4: you maybe pay deposit or whatever uniform get ordered, and
Speaker 4: then you pay for it when it was delivered. But
Speaker 4: in this instance, I remember Rick ordering uniforms for the kids,
Speaker 4: and I was with Mum and he's like, and so
Speaker 4: he started opening his wallet. Month's like, oh no, that's fine,
Speaker 4: you know, you can pay when they arrive. It was
Speaker 4: like money I'd never seen, and just him peeling off
Speaker 4: fifty or one hundred dollar notes and kind of like,
Speaker 4: here you go, keep the change, and I just remember
Speaker 4: being like wow, like I'd never seen anything like that.
Speaker 2: Angela said they were there for a couple of years
Speaker 2: before disappearing as suddenly as they came, without any notice.
Speaker 2: She saw them again at national tournaments and learned they'd
Speaker 2: moved back to Ballina later. Angela, then in her professional capacity,
Speaker 2: working in health and living in northern New South Wales,
Speaker 2: saw Rick again on numerous occasions.
Speaker 4: But I did encounter him many many times when I
Speaker 4: was living in northern New South Wales. So I was
Speaker 4: working in northern New South Wales and I came across Rick,
Speaker 4: but with a different name as Rick Blom and the
Speaker 4: Rick in Tazzy had been ric k and this is Riic,
Speaker 4: you know, I don't know. We would have probably had
Speaker 4: indirections fifty times, I'm guessing, but I didn't realize it
Speaker 4: was him. It was often him, And there was a
Speaker 4: lot of similarly aged women, not so many men. And
Speaker 4: there's never any mention of him having a wife.
Speaker 2: How utterly unsurprising. Thanks to Angela and all of these
Speaker 2: people for their information and recollections, and anyone else who
Speaker 2: thinks they may have some snippet or insight that might
Speaker 2: be relevant. Don't hesitate. Please reach out to us on
Speaker 2: the Lady Vanishers at seven dot com dot au, or
Speaker 2: leave us an anonymous tip at www dot the Lady
Speaker 2: Vanishers dot org. You never know, you may have the
Speaker 2: missing piece of the puzzle that makes all the difference.
Speaker 1: Now, let's revisit what Geulaine Dubois dan Loyd mentioned about
Speaker 1: having a liver ultrasound because Frederick Head of re demanded it.
Speaker 1: As we've previously noted, Marion Barter had tests on her
Speaker 1: liver too before she went overseas well. Sally Laden has
Speaker 1: been investigating the medical procedures her mother underwent in nineteen
Speaker 1: ninety seven, and she wanted to share what she's found out.
Speaker 7: So I thought I'd jump in and just have a
Speaker 7: chat with everybody about some medical information that we do
Speaker 7: have and that we have worked on in the past,
Speaker 7: which is now seemingly quite important. I have a bunch
Speaker 7: of receipts that I received back in nineteen ninety seven
Speaker 7: from Leslie love Jane. They have mum's address at Southport
Speaker 7: on some of them. They also have care of Leslie
Speaker 7: Loveday at her home in nashmal on some of them.
Speaker 7: We're talking seven or eight receipts, just.
Speaker 2: To remind everybody. Leslie Loveday was Marian's friend and former
Speaker 2: neighbor in the weeks before Marion went overseas. After she
Speaker 2: sold her house, she stayed with Leslie and had her
Speaker 2: mail directed there back to sale.
Speaker 7: I've got a bill there from the surgeon who did
Speaker 7: mum's chronoscopy. We've got blood test results from Queensland Medical Laboratory.
Speaker 7: We've got a Medicare receipt. We've got receipts from pathology
Speaker 7: and also the Teacher's Union Health Society, which is just
Speaker 7: a benefit advice. Note. I've got two of those and
Speaker 7: another one there. These have held on too, thankfully because
Speaker 7: they do hold a lot of information. And obviously having
Speaker 7: a missing person in your life, particularly your mother, and
Speaker 7: not knowing what medical problems she might have had. One
Speaker 7: of my big hurdles in everyday life is going to
Speaker 7: the doctor and they're asking me, is you do you
Speaker 7: have any family history? And I don't know because I'm
Speaker 7: not privy to the information. And I'm just lucky I've
Speaker 7: kept those receipts because they have item numbers on them,
Speaker 7: and those item numbers is what we did a big
Speaker 7: deep dive on to try and get some idea as
Speaker 7: to why she was having all these teens done just
Speaker 7: prior to going on this twelve month holiday. So some
Speaker 7: of that information is the following. So on the first
Speaker 7: of April ninety seven, Mum had a day procedure at
Speaker 7: the Pindara Private Hospital in Benoa in Queensland. It included
Speaker 7: a fiber optic colonoscopy which went beyond the hepatic flexer
Speaker 7: hope I get that right, with the removal of one
Speaker 7: polyp and the item number for that was three two
Speaker 7: O nine to three. The hepatic flexer is the right
Speaker 7: angle bend in the colon on the right side of
Speaker 7: the body near the liver that marks the junction for
Speaker 7: the ascending colon and the transverse colon. This procedure was
Speaker 7: the fourth most involved and expensive of five different colonosopy
Speaker 7: procedures available at that time. Dodtor was the doctor who
Speaker 7: did the kolonoscopy, and doctor was the anethetus and doctor
Speaker 7: did the histological examination of the biops in material on
Speaker 7: that day one specimen only and the item number was
Speaker 7: seven two eight two three.
Speaker 2: So why did Marion have such an involved colonoscopy had
Speaker 2: there been an ongoing health issue that the family didn't
Speaker 2: know about. Here's Sally again.
Speaker 7: Then on the seventh of May nineteen ninety seven, Mum
Speaker 7: had two blood tests at Queensland Medical Laboratory mL Pathology Center.
Speaker 7: One was a liver function test or an LFT and
Speaker 7: the item number was six six two one one, where
Speaker 7: six or more elements were requested. This is the highest
Speaker 7: amount of different elements in the liver function test category.
Speaker 7: Mum also had a hormone and hormone binding proteins test,
Speaker 7: which is item number sixty six four one three. Requests
Speaker 7: were for five items and this can detect testosterone, estrogen,
Speaker 7: cortisol and thyroid levels. There are multiple other item number
Speaker 7: lists on those receipts, but they pertained to add men
Speaker 7: costs and inpatient private information for patient exit.
Speaker 2: Marian had these liver function tests just a month and
Speaker 2: a half before she headed overseas. Why would a woman
Speaker 2: with no known history of a liver disorder have such
Speaker 2: tests and what did they reveal? Did a doctor provide
Speaker 2: a referral for her to undergo these tests because Marian
Speaker 2: was unwell, or because Marian requested them, or maybe somebody
Speaker 2: else did. Sally has similar questions.
Speaker 7: Now. Some of the questions that we poised at this
Speaker 7: time two years ago, two and a half years ago,
Speaker 7: was why was she having a liver function test? And
Speaker 7: what symptoms was she experiencing to suggest to have those tests?
Speaker 7: And how serious was this issue and what was actually wrong?
Speaker 7: And why was she having hormone tests? What symptoms was
Speaker 7: she experiencing or were they just doing a check? Could
Speaker 7: this have been related to her hysterectomy and hormone balance
Speaker 7: in balance as she aged? So the whole menopause this
Speaker 7: thing has come up quite a bit. I've had a
Speaker 7: lot of private messages from women all over the world
Speaker 7: saying do you think your mum could have been going
Speaker 7: through menopause? There's changes in women, you know, they feel,
Speaker 7: you know, unsure about themselves and sometimes feel a little
Speaker 7: lost at that time of life. I was always of
Speaker 7: the opinion that having a hysterectomy she most likely wouldn't
Speaker 7: go through menopause. But I need to do a little
Speaker 7: bit more research on that and find out if that
Speaker 7: is the case. But what I thought I might do
Speaker 7: additional to that is just read you out some information
Speaker 7: that has been gleaned from the brief of evidence with
Speaker 7: relation to mum's doctor. Who's so let me just read
Speaker 7: this information because I find it interesting at this point
Speaker 7: to have this information available to us. So it refers
Speaker 7: to her medical profile. And on the third of December
Speaker 7: twenty nineteen, Detective Pisoto requested records from Medicare and the
Speaker 7: Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme PBS in relation to Marion Barter and
Speaker 7: all known aliases for the period of one January nineteen
Speaker 7: ninety four to the date of request. Records were only
Speaker 7: identified under the name Marion Barter and the last transaction
Speaker 7: being the thirteenth of August nineteen ninety seven, prior to
Speaker 7: her disappearance, appeared to be Marion's general practitioner. On the
Speaker 7: ninth of July twenty twenty, I, being Detective Panazza, contacted
Speaker 7: the surgery of I had a conversation with the receptionists
Speaker 7: for the practice, who indicated that she had no patient
Speaker 7: record for the surname Barta on her computer database. She
Speaker 7: indicated that she would have doctor contact investigators on the
Speaker 7: tenth of July twenty twenty. The next day, I had
Speaker 7: a telephone conversation with doctor contacting investigators. Doctor had contacted
Speaker 7: Detective Shean to verify my identity and credentials. Doctor advised
Speaker 7: that he saw Marion on a number of occasions and
Speaker 7: sent her for tests, the last one of which she
Speaker 7: did not return to discuss. Doctor stated that Marian was
Speaker 7: quite anxious about some symptoms that he thought to be
Speaker 7: linked to perimenopausal or menopause. He does not recall holding
Speaker 7: any concerns for Marian's physical health. Doctor indicated that he
Speaker 7: had downloaded Marian's pathology results in August twenty nineteen after
Speaker 7: receive some strange calls seeking those results. Doctor said that
Speaker 7: he provided the pathology results to Detective Shean in meeting
Speaker 7: with him in person around that time. Advised me that
Speaker 7: at the time Marian was his patient, he was working
Speaker 7: for I contacted in relation to records held in the
Speaker 7: name of Marion Barter. I sent a request listing all
Speaker 7: of Marian's no one aliases. I was advised some days
Speaker 7: later that no records were identified in any of the
Speaker 7: names provided. On the thirteenth of October twenty twenty, I
Speaker 7: verified the transcript of a recorded conversation between Detective Shan,
Speaker 7: Detective Sergeant Erickson, and doctor on the fifth of August
Speaker 7: twenty nineteen. On the fifth of August twenty nineteen, Doc
Speaker 7: provided a version to Detective Sheen in relation to his
Speaker 7: recollection of treatment provided by him to Marion. Barter I
Speaker 7: verified that transcript. The following is a summary of that account.
Speaker 7: In nineteen ninety six and nineteen ninety seven, Doctor saw
Speaker 7: Marian as a patient on a number of occasions. Marian
Speaker 7: had multiple concerns. She reported that her hair was thinning,
Speaker 7: and she was having hot flushes, and she was getting
Speaker 7: symptoms perhaps attributed to anxiety or feeling stressed. Doctor stated
Speaker 7: that Marian was attributing these symptoms to changes being inplemented
Speaker 7: at TSS. She talked at great length about the Goonski
Speaker 7: concept and how it was going to change the system
Speaker 7: for the better. Without his clinical records, he was unable
Speaker 7: to be more precise about Marian's medical status. Indicated that
Speaker 7: he wasn't aware whether were still maintaining their handwritten records.
Speaker 7: Marian never spoke to about problems in her family life,
Speaker 7: traveling overseas, or wanting a lifestyle change. She did mention
Speaker 7: having a misunderstanding or perhaps people not comprehending her style
Speaker 7: of teaching and was facing some antagonism from her colleagues
Speaker 7: at TSS. Marian spoke about the dynamics at work not
Speaker 7: being right. Records reflect the last saw Marian on the
Speaker 7: thirteenth of June nineteen ninety seven, to just interject their
Speaker 7: mum flew out on the twenty second of June. He
Speaker 7: summarized that it was likely that appointment was made to
Speaker 7: gus the test results that he had ordered. Around that time,
Speaker 7: DOC conducted only consultations with Marion and did not conduct
Speaker 7: any actual procedures. Doc clarified that the Medicare code zero
Speaker 7: zero two three reflects a standard consultation, whereas zero zero
Speaker 7: three six reflects a longer consultation likely to discuss results
Speaker 7: and alike. Doc also outlined a number of strange phone
Speaker 7: calls received at the surgery on the first of August
Speaker 7: twenty nineteen from someone asking to obtain Marion's pathology results.
Speaker 7: This request was not fulfilled. DOC was aware that Marion's
Speaker 7: status was a missing person at that time. After seeing
Speaker 7: something in the media and having been contacted by a
Speaker 7: reporter and via email, Doc reported, due to Marion's concerns,
Speaker 7: he was looking at her hormonal status to determine whether
Speaker 7: she was prairimenopausal, menopause, or postmenopausal. He said, in the
Speaker 7: context of hot Flush's sweats, anxiety, libido, that's an interesting
Speaker 7: one hair loss at her age. He summarized that Marian
Speaker 7: was premenopausal or menopausal. Further to that, on the tors
Speaker 7: of October twenty twenty, Detective Panazza contacted in relation to
Speaker 7: a doctor an optimologist. Records attained in relation to medical
Speaker 7: treatment received by Marion Barta showed four presentations to doctor
Speaker 7: between June nineteen ninety six and February nineteen ninety seven.
Speaker 7: I spoke to the practice manager, who indicated no records
Speaker 7: had been held from that time. I was advised of
Speaker 7: records shredded after ten years. On the tours of October
Speaker 7: twenty twenty, I contacted the practice of doctor A gastro entrologist.
Speaker 7: Records obtained in relation to medical treatment received by Marion
Speaker 7: Barter showed an endoscopic examination by doctor on the first
Speaker 7: of April nineteen ninety seven. I was advised that a
Speaker 7: record on their system in the name Marion Barter was present,
Speaker 7: but no correspondence was attached. I forwarded a request seeking
Speaker 7: a thorough search of all existing records in the name
Speaker 7: of Marion Barter and all other known aliases on the
Speaker 7: thirteenth of October. The next day, I received a response
Speaker 7: from his practice to indicate that the file for Marion
Speaker 7: Varda had been destroyed. A check of all known aliases
Speaker 7: also failed to identify any records. I sent a further
Speaker 7: query in relation to the nature of the examination listed
Speaker 7: on the nineteenth of November twenty twenty, I received a
Speaker 7: response signed by doctor which ultimately stated, in the absence
Speaker 7: of any files of miss Barda, we are unable to
Speaker 7: speculate for what reason she presented and what was found,
Speaker 7: so that gives you a little bit of an understanding.
Speaker 7: Really disappointing to know that those files were available for
Speaker 7: ten years after mum technically rent missing and had since
Speaker 7: been destroyed. I was unable to gain any information from
Speaker 7: any medical practitioner, obviously for privacy issues. I've got a
Speaker 7: little handwritten notes on these receipts saying that it's spoken
Speaker 7: to secretaries asking them if they could pull files from storage,
Speaker 7: and none of them ever got back to me. It's
Speaker 7: been a very hard slog to try and get any
Speaker 7: information about Mum and her medical history and another issue
Speaker 7: that I have having a missing person and having privacy issues,
Speaker 7: you know, not made available to the family or the
Speaker 7: next of kin of missing loved ones, because that would help.
Speaker 7: We've spoken about this in length over the period of
Speaker 7: the podcast as well, about absentia and how you know
Speaker 7: the rule of thumb in most countries in the world
Speaker 7: is that that rule applies and after seven years, if
Speaker 7: a person is missing and has not contact but they're
Speaker 7: next of kin, absentia ruling comes into play, and that
Speaker 7: means that the privacy of that person is lifted and
Speaker 7: we can access and gain that information. So imagine if
Speaker 7: that had actually happened and I was able to get
Speaker 7: that information back then I would have a lot more
Speaker 7: detail Now. As I said at the beginning, I'm very
Speaker 7: happy and very lucky that I've kept those receipts because
Speaker 7: those item numbers have become extremely vital to this part
Speaker 7: of the investigation.
Speaker 2: Yes, it's so fortunate you hung on to those receipts,
Speaker 2: sal and all of those other documents along the way.
Speaker 2: There are questions to ask about when concerns for a
Speaker 2: missing person's welfare and safety should override confidentiality rules and
Speaker 2: decisions need to be made about granting access to personal
Speaker 2: documents in a much more timely fashion to ensure that
Speaker 2: they are not destroyed.
Speaker 1: This next insight was sent to the Marion Barter Missing
Speaker 1: Persons facebook page and passed on to Aspire, Sally and Jonie.
Speaker 1: It's from Caitlin macminimon from the University of Sydney. She
Speaker 1: is a PhD researcher of poisoners. This is what she
Speaker 1: had to add.
Speaker 14: I'm a PhD researcher of poisoners and poisoning in ancient Rome.
Speaker 14: As a result, I'm an expert in why and how
Speaker 14: people poison others. I've read thousands of poisoning stories and
Speaker 14: so I have a few basic observations that may assist you.
Speaker 14: One poisoners rarely offend once. They are usually serial poisonoers. However,
Speaker 14: they may only be caught once. Two Poisoning requires planning when, where, why, How,
Speaker 14: It's rarely spontaneous, always insidious. Three Poisoning requires expert toxicology
Speaker 14: knowledge how much poison, how long it will take to
Speaker 14: have effect, does it leave any outward signs? How easily
Speaker 14: will poison be detected. Planning is put into sourcing the
Speaker 14: poison for poisoning usually occurs out of passion, feelings of anger, revenge, fear.
Speaker 14: It can also be driven by a calculated motive, such
Speaker 14: as desire to remove a political opponent. In this case,
Speaker 14: it would strike me as very unusual to see someone
Speaker 14: poisoning more than one woman simply to take their money.
Speaker 14: When their money can be taken without killing them, as
Speaker 14: in the case of this most recent lady. That doesn't
Speaker 14: make it impossible. It would just make Rick an anomaly. However,
Speaker 14: some poisoners get a thrill from successfully poisoning someone, like
Speaker 14: serial killers. It's a way to show off their knowledge
Speaker 14: and power. That's why Rick would have mentioned his poisoning
Speaker 14: knowledge at that dinner. Anyway, I couldn't help but view
Speaker 14: all this from my background as a historian. I'll let
Speaker 14: you know if anything else comes to mind.
Speaker 2: Thanks Caitlin, Please do keep in touch.
Speaker 1: Our ace researcher Joni has also raised some good points
Speaker 1: about signs of coercive control in the relationships that Rick
Speaker 1: Bloom has had with women over the decades.
Speaker 13: Just in the midst of everything going on, I thought
Speaker 13: I would send you a quick voice clip. I just
Speaker 13: don't think the notion of coursive control has really been
Speaker 13: truly recognized in Marion's disappearance. There's this notion around of
Speaker 13: dishonesty in the multiple relationships with middle aged women that
Speaker 13: Rick Blum has had over the years, because he had
Speaker 13: a wife and family at home, etc. He was being dishonest.
Speaker 13: But is that really all there is to it. I
Speaker 13: remember listening to the first few episodes of The Lady
Speaker 13: Vanishers back in twenty nineteen, and just with the background
Speaker 13: that I do have in my mind, my mind was
Speaker 13: just going tick tick. The speed at which Marion literally
Speaker 13: collapsed her life, the secrecy, the petrol station incident with
Speaker 13: the tall man in the car, the stress and anxiety
Speaker 13: noted by Sally getting on that bus hauling all that
Speaker 13: luggage to the airport completely alone. What would possess a
Speaker 13: woman to have such a marked change in behavior, to
Speaker 13: collapse her life literally into two suitcases and a carry
Speaker 13: on bag, never to be seen again by any family
Speaker 13: member or friend. Many who knew her well were thinking
Speaker 13: and saying over the years, a man had to be involved.
Speaker 13: You had Laura Richards come on in episode ten, who
Speaker 13: has had years of experience in this space, and I'm
Speaker 13: so pleased she agreed to look at Marion's case. It's
Speaker 13: worth going back and listening to her interview again if
Speaker 13: you haven't, just.
Speaker 1: To refresh your memories. Laura Richards is a criminal behavioral analyst.
Speaker 1: She's the former head of the Homicide Prevention Unit at
Speaker 1: New Scotland Yard. She was the driving force for law
Speaker 1: reform on a number of occasions, and one of those
Speaker 1: occasions was when she spearheaded the criminalization of coercive control
Speaker 1: in the UK. Here's Joni again.
Speaker 13: A key thing she said was that there's all sorts
Speaker 13: of behaviors that manifest and it is a strategic pattern.
Speaker 13: It's not something that just happens accidentally in a relationship.
Speaker 13: These are power and control crimes. It's not just about
Speaker 13: the money. Basically, these behaviors fall into five broad categories
Speaker 13: love bombing, isolation, emotional manipulation, psychological abuse, financial abuse, and
Speaker 13: threats and intimidation. Often these occur as a cycle, so
Speaker 13: round and round we go. Once in, it's very hard
Speaker 13: to get out of. It's akin to finding yourself in
Speaker 13: a physically violent relationship. You swear you would never let
Speaker 13: this happen to you, but it takes many times to
Speaker 13: leave and with coercive control. This is compounded because there's
Speaker 13: very little law enforcement can do or charge an offender with.
Speaker 13: This can mean that shame is often immense, with many
Speaker 13: asking how could I have let this happen? I'm an
Speaker 13: intelligent woman, How could I have been so stupid? So silly?
Speaker 13: The shame? If you reflect on the testimony given under
Speaker 13: oath in the coronial inquest, all of these elements are
Speaker 13: arguably present in one way or another, with the women
Speaker 13: who did give evidence the same cycle running over and
Speaker 13: over custom fit to the individual. I really want to
Speaker 13: focus on the starting of a new life in a
Speaker 13: foreign destination halfway across the world. Example here it is
Speaker 13: a huge clue. This tactic combines the first three elements
Speaker 13: love bombing, isolation, and emotional manipulation. The effect this has
Speaker 13: on a woman is that it places them into a
Speaker 13: heightened emotional state of happiness and anticipation of a brand
Speaker 13: new life, and also stress that comes from quickly packing
Speaker 13: up and traveling halfway across the world, saying goodbye to relatives, friends,
Speaker 13: loved ones. It removes them totally from their support systems
Speaker 13: literally physically too. Remembering back in the nineties, communication was
Speaker 13: done via postcard, letter or public phone. Mostly then this
Speaker 13: really isolates them, with only one other person to rely
Speaker 13: upon in a strange new place. Here we think of
Speaker 13: Janet Oldenburg, and then the cycle continues round and round
Speaker 13: and round. The notion of that man was just a
Speaker 13: con man, a serial fraudstar, a likable rogue. He wouldn't
Speaker 13: hurt a fly, He's not a violent man is also
Speaker 13: very much misplaced. The Honorable Terresa O'Sullivan, who is presiding
Speaker 13: over Marion Batter's inquest, is the chair of the Domestic
Speaker 13: Violence Death Review Team. This is what they found in
Speaker 13: twenty nineteen. The dvdrt's work highlights that coercive control is
Speaker 13: a feature of a considerable proportion of domestic violence homicides
Speaker 13: that occur in New South Wales. The DVDRT has identified
Speaker 13: that a significant proportion of its cases were not preceded
Speaker 13: by an evident history of physical abuse. Instead, homicides were
Speaker 13: preceded by histories of other forms of coercive and controlling
Speaker 13: behavior in ninety eight percent of the cases. In this review,
Speaker 13: they found that a focus only on previous incidents of
Speaker 13: physical violence was very much misplaced. It didn't bear out
Speaker 13: in the evidence at hand. We have really had to
Speaker 13: push for this to be included in the submissions. Despite
Speaker 13: the obvious patterns present in the testimony, there are real
Speaker 13: ramifications of being in a coercive and controlling relationship and
Speaker 13: some end up in a coroner's court as missing persons
Speaker 13: like Marion. With coercive control legislation currently making its way
Speaker 13: through both Queensland and New South Wales state parliaments at
Speaker 13: the moment, hopefully it won't be long before other states follow.
Speaker 13: This will mean that the awareness of coercive control within
Speaker 13: policing and the courts, and the ability to bring this
Speaker 13: pattern of behavior into court proceedings will be far easier.
Speaker 13: If you do have an interest in the role coercive
Speaker 13: control has played in Marion's case, we believe. Please do
Speaker 13: go back and listen to episode ten of the podcast,
Speaker 13: especially the section of Laura Richards. There are also other
Speaker 13: cases such as Dirty John podcast or I Think on
Speaker 13: Netflix and The puppet Master on Netflix that can really
Speaker 13: highlight the patterns of behavior and just how dangerous they
Speaker 13: can become to those entrapped in these kinds of relationships.
Speaker 13: Thanks a lot for all of your.
Speaker 1: Support, and thank you to you too.
Speaker 13: Joni, and I'm sure we'll speak again soon.
Speaker 1: Now to expand further on some of the themes that
Speaker 1: Joni mentioned there. Clinical psychologist Ade Gray prepare to report
Speaker 1: on Rick Bloom based on her observations of him in
Speaker 1: February and April while he gave evidence at the inquest
Speaker 1: into Marion Barter's disappearance. Allison spoke to her after receiving
Speaker 1: Miss Gray's psychological assessment of Rick Bloom.
Speaker 3: I'm a clinical psychologist, um and so I've done a
Speaker 3: master's in clinical psychology. Advocates the pop level of my studies,
Speaker 3: but I predominantly work in court so as an expert witness,
Speaker 3: so I write assessments in all different court but I
Speaker 3: also have a history of therapy and working with cornatized
Speaker 3: kids in a lot of other areas as well.
Speaker 2: The report is significant, twenty six pages long. Miss Gray
Speaker 2: has taken notes on how mister Blood presented in court,
Speaker 2: his appearance, his behavior and mannerisms, his evidence, the allegations
Speaker 2: against him, and the story of his life, the marital affairs,
Speaker 2: and his history of fraud. She's encapsulated the enormous amount
Speaker 2: of evidence and information into an easy to understand and
Speaker 2: very accurate account of events. Now we won't revisit all
Speaker 2: of that evidence again. You can go back through the
Speaker 2: inquest episodes instead. What we will share, though, is MS
Speaker 2: Gray's professional assessment of mister Blum.
Speaker 3: And in his case, it was very concerning. As I
Speaker 3: sort of mentioned in my report, I didn't assess him
Speaker 3: in person, so my conclusions, I suppose are somewhat limited. However,
Speaker 3: I questioned how valuable that would have been anyway, because
Speaker 3: of the concerns regarding the reliability of his self report.
Speaker 3: So typically I would do psychometric testing which sort of
Speaker 3: compares him to his peers and looks at personality traits,
Speaker 3: and I would also use professional judgment tools to look
Speaker 3: at risk of recidivism, but I was limited as to
Speaker 3: using those. But they the psychometric tests have validity scales
Speaker 3: built into them, and they assess whether people are likely
Speaker 3: being honest or giving a reliable response, And in his case,
Speaker 3: I feel like the testing would have been invalidated anyway.
Speaker 3: So basically that on sort of a few levels I
Speaker 3: questioned his self report, and that was really related to
Speaker 3: whether or not he was trying to make an impression
Speaker 3: that was more positive than accurate, whether he was trying
Speaker 3: to sort of make out that he had more issues,
Speaker 3: so perhaps dementia and a wide brain injury, or whether
Speaker 3: in fact he did have any cognitive decline, which I
Speaker 3: found was unlikely or unlikely. Well, there wasn't enough evidence,
Speaker 3: I guess to support that because we don't have any assessments.
Speaker 3: And intellectually he actually presented as quite intelligent by estimate,
Speaker 3: But I feel I felt like he was using some
Speaker 3: of these things to make excuses for inconsistent responses and
Speaker 3: to avoid responding honestly.
Speaker 2: The following is one of the conclusions from Miss Gray's report.
Speaker 3: The evidence provided by mister Blum was often inconsistent, illogical,
Speaker 3: and vague, likely reflecting positive and negative impression management. Negative
Speaker 3: impression management may involve malingering, conveying that functioning is more
Speaker 3: impaired than is accurate, or playing the victim. Positive impression
Speaker 3: management may include deception to avoid being linked to Miss
Speaker 3: Bart's disappearance, accusing those who speak against him of lying,
Speaker 3: or diverting attention from himself by offering other persons of
Speaker 3: interest in this matter. Mister Bloom has a long history
Speaker 3: of dishonesty, deception, and criminal behavior, which raises significant concerns
Speaker 3: about the reliability of his self report, It may be
Speaker 3: helpful to reinterview mister Bloom over time due to the
Speaker 3: inconsistencies in his reporting and increased difficulty in maintaining a
Speaker 3: consistent false narrative, particularly if he is experiencing cognitive decline.
Speaker 3: I think it's really important because otherwise you might be
Speaker 3: chasing some of the things that he has said. So,
Speaker 3: for example, he might say he's in relation to this
Speaker 3: that he hasn't gone away for example with Marion. Whereas
Speaker 3: if you can prove that you can't rely on his
Speaker 3: self report, then you're more likely going to rely on
Speaker 3: his history and the accounts of other people who have
Speaker 3: who are more reliable. So it sort of dismisses what
Speaker 3: he has to say, which of course increases the likelihood
Speaker 3: he's committed the crimes that he's being accused of.
Speaker 2: In her evaluation, there was also this signs of antisocial
Speaker 2: personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder.
Speaker 3: Mister Bloom's presentation is consistent with both antisocial personality disorder
Speaker 3: and narcissistic personality disorder, but definitive diagnosis cannot be made
Speaker 3: in this context, as mister Bloom was not assessed in person,
Speaker 3: perhaps stemming from his early childhood history of instability, insecurity,
Speaker 3: and trauma. His behavior over time has been unlawful, deceitful,
Speaker 3: and without empathy or remorse. He has used aliases and
Speaker 3: condovers for personal profit or pleasure. He has been interpersonally
Speaker 3: exploitative and struggled to emotionally connect with others. He presents
Speaker 3: with grandiose fantasies and arrogance, perhaps to counter feelings of
Speaker 3: inadequacy related to being labeled as an invalid. I really
Speaker 3: did discuss two disorders that I think need to be considered,
Speaker 3: and that's antisocial personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder. Obviously,
Speaker 3: because I haven't assessed him, I didn't make a definitive diagnosis,
Speaker 3: But there are just so many traits that he presents
Speaker 3: with us that are consistent with this disorder. And these
Speaker 3: traits are also linked to criminal offending of the nature
Speaker 3: that he's being accused of. So I think that's something
Speaker 3: I mean. I would like him to be fully assessed
Speaker 3: so that we could say these things.
Speaker 2: The report also considered the case of repeated offending.
Speaker 3: The best predictor of future behavior is often considered to
Speaker 3: be past behaviour, and mister Bloom has a significant history
Speaker 3: of fraud, theft, concealment, and deception, and there have been
Speaker 3: further claims of coercive control by multiple women. He presents
Speaker 3: with numerous risk factors that predict violent or general recidivism.
Speaker 2: And those risk factors that mister Blum portrayed including offending
Speaker 2: that has diversified, intensified, or continued over an extended period,
Speaker 2: antisocial personality traits and attitudes, a history of violence, including
Speaker 2: coercive control, cognitive distortion, social isolation, lack of empathy, sense
Speaker 2: of entitlement, refusal to conform to legal directives, lack of insight,
Speaker 2: problems of interpersonal relationships, tro experiences, and dishonest intent.
Speaker 3: Well, as I said, I use those tools normally that
Speaker 3: sort of give a risk of recidivism, but also I
Speaker 3: look at the reliability of the information that's been given,
Speaker 3: as I sort of mentioned, So it's not only the
Speaker 3: history that a person has in terms of criminal behavior,
Speaker 3: it's also their dynamic factors, so their psychological presentation and
Speaker 3: their sort of psychosocial factors that make them more likely
Speaker 3: to reoffend. So it's about none of these things are causal.
Speaker 3: You can't make a conclusion that therefore they will then
Speaker 3: reoffend or they are more likely to commit these sorts
Speaker 3: of offenses. However, it increases the risk, so you can
Speaker 3: sort of make a determination in terms of whether or
Speaker 3: not they're a low, moderate, or high risk of offending.
Speaker 3: In the same way, the reason it's really important to
Speaker 3: look at the reliability of their self report is that
Speaker 3: that's another area that if what they're saying is unlikely
Speaker 3: to be true, then also they're more likely, I mean,
Speaker 3: it's more questionable as to whether or not they've committed
Speaker 3: a crime if the report can't be relied on.
Speaker 2: Miss Gray's assessment also contained considerable mention of coercive control.
Speaker 2: In fact, more than three pages were devoted to this topic.
Speaker 2: Pulled from the evidence regarding mister Blum's alleged victims and
Speaker 2: next lovers Janet Oldenberg, Jeanette Gafney Bowen, Monique Cornelius, and
Speaker 2: Marion Barter, even his own wife of forty six years,
Speaker 2: Miss Gray provided extensive examples of emotional manipulation and psychological abuse,
Speaker 2: love bombing, financial manipulation, isolation, threats and intimidation and humiliation,
Speaker 2: and degradation.
Speaker 3: Individuals who commit intimate partner homicide may be financially motivated,
Speaker 3: usually have a history of coercive and controlling behavior, do
Speaker 3: not necessarily have a history of physical violence, and commonly
Speaker 3: present with traits shared by mister Blum, including antisocial traits. However,
Speaker 3: mister Blum vehemently denied involvement in the death or disappearance
Speaker 3: of Miss Barter in late nineteen ninety seven or taking
Speaker 3: her money and belongings. If the allegations of attempted romance
Speaker 3: fraud are accepted, mister Blom's fraudulent history diversified over time,
Speaker 3: his behavior became predatory in nature, and there was an
Speaker 3: escalation in what he was willing to do to defraud others.
Speaker 3: This is quite extreme because he's got such a history
Speaker 3: as well of deception that he can't really deny. You know,
Speaker 3: He's been convicted of so many things that involve deception
Speaker 3: and involve all the sorts of things that he's being
Speaker 3: accused of in this case. So no, and I am
Speaker 3: surprised basically that and hope that this will become a
Speaker 3: criminal matter because I feel like there is so much
Speaker 3: evidence may be circumstantial, but it is so significant that
Speaker 3: that I hope that it will be become a criminal case.
Speaker 3: I understand that mister Bloom's come forward quite late, so
Speaker 3: perhaps that's still to come, but certainly there's just so
Speaker 3: much circumstantial evidence in this case. I listened to podcasts
Speaker 3: and felt somewhat frustrated hearing about mister Bloom and when
Speaker 3: this is exactly what I do iss people like this,
Speaker 3: and normally the referral comes from the judge or the
Speaker 3: register or magistrate, but in this case it's a little
Speaker 3: bit of a different process, and he's not such a
Speaker 3: party as in most of my cases are where somebody's
Speaker 3: been accused or their party in proceedings, but in this
Speaker 3: case it's a little bit different. So that's why I
Speaker 3: think if it becomes a criminal matter, I think this
Speaker 3: could be quite useful as well and assessing him a
Speaker 3: little bit further. I think everyone wants to help Sally
Speaker 3: as well if you hear this story, and yes, I
Speaker 3: felt like I could whatt something. So I hope it's
Speaker 3: been of existance.
Speaker 1: Thanks to Kate Gray for reaching out and providing her expertise,
Speaker 1: her insights, and such a detailed analysis. We were going
Speaker 1: to bring you an interview with retired detective Sergeant Damian Lhone,
Speaker 1: who was pivotal in the solving of the Lynn Dawson case,
Speaker 1: her husband Chris, having just recently been convicted of her murder.
Speaker 1: But we had so much reaction to our last episode
Speaker 1: to include, and we've ended up having to split this
Speaker 1: episode in two. It's so important that people continue to
Speaker 1: come forward with anything, no matter how insignificant they think
Speaker 1: it is, to help us achieve not only justice for Marian,
Speaker 1: but justice for all the victims that have been unearthed
Speaker 1: by this podcast.
Speaker 2: The Lady Vanishes is different from other true crime podcasts
Speaker 2: in that when we started, authorities didn't consider a crime
Speaker 2: had even been committed. There were no previous inquests or
Speaker 2: trial to draw upon, no person of interest. It wasn't
Speaker 2: a matter of piecing together a puzzle. We had to
Speaker 2: find the pieces first. We did, and finally the pieces
Speaker 2: of the puzzle are coming together. When I met Sallie,
Speaker 2: she was virtually alone in believing her mother was missing.
Speaker 2: She'd had a few allies along the way who trusted
Speaker 2: her instinct was correct, but she'd hit brickwall after brickwall.
Speaker 2: We believed Sallie, and now she has an army of
Speaker 2: helpers and supporters behind her. Before this podcast launched, Sallie
Speaker 2: couldn't even obtain access to Marian's records all the police
Speaker 2: file because it was considered to be an invasion of
Speaker 2: her mother's privacy as she was still believed to be alive.
Speaker 2: The Seven Network agreed to fund her fight for that
Speaker 2: access in the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
Speaker 2: That legal support continued throughout the inquest and look what's
Speaker 2: been achieved. There's still a long way to go, but
Speaker 2: together we can get there. Stay tuned for Part two
Speaker 2: of Tainted Love, to be released in coming days.
Speaker 1: If you knew Marion or have any information about her
Speaker 1: or her whereabouts, we'd love to hear from you. Our
Speaker 1: website is sevennews dot com dot au, slash news slash
Speaker 1: the Lady Vanishers and you can also message us here.
Speaker 1: You can also send us an anonymous tip at the
Speaker 1: Lady Vanishes dot org. If you like what you're hearing,
Speaker 1: don't forget to subscribe. Please rate and review our series.
Speaker 1: It helps new listeners find us. Presenter and executive producer
Speaker 1: Alison Sandy, investigative journalist Brian Seymour, producer and writer, Sally
Speaker 1: Eels researcher Joony Condos sound design, Mark Wright graphics, Jason Bland,
Speaker 1: transcripts and translation Estel Sanchez. The theme and much of
Speaker 1: the music by Nicholas Gasparini at the Dark Piano dot com.
Speaker 1: Thanks again to the Alliance Francais. This is a seven
Speaker 1: News production.