Episode 9 - Love You, Sis

I'm Katie Page, CEO of Harvey Norman. Since 2018, Harvey Norman has been a key partner in the Australian's investigative podcast such as Sick to Death, Bronwyn, Shandy Story, The Teacher's Pet and The Night Driver. Harvey Norman are proud sponsors of the Australian's podcast investigations and their award-winning journalism. Today on the front, bags of cash, dodgy hotel key cards, gangsters, free Rolexes, the stunning crime wave inside Australian casinos. Search the front to listen now. Listeners are advised that the Night Driver podcast contains course language and adult themes. The Night Driver podcast is brought to you by the Australian newspaper and digital site. The family of missing Bathurst Woman Jeanine Horn has made an emotional plea for information into her whereabouts. My journalist colleague, Steve Jackson, set out from Sydney and took the scenic route over the Blue Mountains to Bathurst a few days after the release of the episode before this one. Steve went to Bathurst to meet people who either knew Jeanine Horn or knew of her. It's also that big time of year in Bathurst again. When Australia's most skilled racing drivers come here to hurdle around Mount Panorama in a bid to win the prized Supercars title, the mayor of Bathurst Bobby Burke is bracing for another big few days of festivities. In the years since Jeanine disappeared, the council and the race organisers have worked to make this iconic event attractive to families and corporate sponsors. The era of toilet blocks being set on fire and women running an elevated risk of sexual assault for attending the race is over. Young stars and fast rookies occupy the Bathurst Grid for 2020. Now there are often innocent but tragic explanations for discoveries such as this one because in many cases of bone finds across Australia's vast landmass, it's sadly true that people have taken their own lives in places where they may not be found for some time. Sometimes they have become lost. They've died out there and then animals scattered their bones across the area. Fowl play is usually not the first scenario police consider and sometimes there's a chance discovery of the bones of Australia's originally indigenous inhabitants going back hundreds of years. But there was something else about the discovery of the dual bone by a member of the public walking with his child in a small village called Perthville. Kylie was starting a school holiday break with her husband David and their children. They've bought a van to drive along the coast and sleep in when they're away from home. She was upset and flustered. Kylie has been living her life a bit like that of a racing car driver. She's constantly pushing herself too hard, taking risks. She's trying to find her sister's killer. Her sister's remains. It won't be a checkered flag if she achieves this but it will finally bring relief and an end to a long time painful quest. Look, last week while I said about this I contacted this guy right and his name is Craig Barry. It was about something to do with Phil Evans. Anyway, I rang him and was having a conversation with him in relation to that. Anyways, the craze just rang me and I said, "Hey buddy, please." I just, you know, he's blown away. I'm blown away. The fact that I finally made a contact with his guy last week. Then today he finds him and remains. What are the chances of that? I know, I know. At the end of the conversation I said, "Please tell me you did a statement." It's going to be on record and he said, "Yes, you should look up, taken photos." He hadn't signed anything. They took me to a little room and just talked about everything because it was on the living bank. So he said, "We need to get in contact with the people that they bring in that dirty and then find out where it's coming from." He just said, "You know, he was just walking along. He's looking down at the ground and he's over something, just seeing what he thought was a jaw bone and he picked it up and he sort of looked at it and he took it to his mom straight away because his mom's a nurse. He said, "Look, this is not like a shape in you that looks at me." So he's taken it to his mom and she's been either human. Then his mom said, "Take it to the police." I mean, I mean, today he'd lean, "You know, I'll put that stuff on there, but I'm missing people. I'm missing two lots of bones found today at Port McCquarie and know how it makes you feel and then it makes you feel like crap when you hear that, and I'm missing you bastards." Andrew Russell was 23 when he disappeared from Bathurst in 2009. Jessica Small was 15 when she was out with her friend Vanessa Conlon in Bathurst in 1997. A night driver picked them up in his car near the Amuse Me gaming parlour. When the driver stopped on a dark stretch of road and began to make a menacing move on the girls Vanessa scrambled out of the car, screaming and ran for help. But Jessica Small could not escape the driver's clutches. I covered Jessica's disappearance in episode 2. The coroners in their cases found that Andrew and Jess were murdered. Their bodies have not been found. "You never know, it could be just a grave sight that washed out, and then it's different this time round because it is better." And, you know, he just said, "What's the chance?" As in us, just making contact literally last week for the first time, and then him ringing me now telling me that we were just blown away. He said, "I even said that to the police, you know, Jeanine Vaughn's sister contacted me last week, and then here he is finding bones today." Craig Berry lives in Perthville, and he's a good friend of Phil Evans, Jeanine's former boyfriend, who lived with her when she was being stalked in Bathurst. Carly shared her conversation with Craig. "When I walk, I just saw a daydream and he just walk along just staring at the ground. So I was doing him. It just popped up and he was like, "Well, shit, this afternoon, about two o'clock I found it. It almost looked like it had been there for a while, but the rain is going to wash the top of the dirt off." Yep. Oh, Craig, I'm just still sick. Your heart skips the beat every time this human remains found. As he handed the jawbone over to police, Craig wondered aloud whether it was from Jeanine's missing body. "Yeah, I said that to the detectives, and yeah, they said, or Jessica's mole or Andrew Russell, it makes me sad." "Yeah, I know." That's why I told him to the cops and that's why I'm telling you because I'm hopeful. It can be a missing piece for somebody. "Oh, I'm just so grateful that you rang me like that. It's just, you know, I'm going to do anything I can and when I'm bringing the cop shop, I said, "Oh, Jeanine, Vaughan's sister even rang me last week. It's been a wee out of it." Yeah, like the forensic fella that I was talking to at the cop shop, he said, "They're going to send it to the morgue, I think straight away and then get it sent away for, to get some trying extracts and DNA from the roots of the teeth." Yeah, yep, yep. Carly fretted that it might go missing like the bloodied knife when it was taken to Bathurst Police Station a few days after Jeanine disappeared in December 2001. "Well, I got failures over too, but let's hope it's a missing piece or a clue for somebody. Hopefully, hopefully you." Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. "That's all right, mate. That's all right." Within 24 hours of the discovery, the Bathurst Western advocate newspaper senior reporter Jacinda Carroll, who has covered Jeanine's disappearance from the start, had news for Kylie. The police had told her the jawbone was more than 100 years old. There's an emotional role at Coaster for the loved ones of missing people across Australia every time bones like this are uncovered. In this episode 9 of The Night driver we are going to cover a lot of ground. They're the Witnesses and the evidence from the second half of the inquest and some people you haven't heard from. We're also going to canvas a theory which, if it's right, changes so much of what police have assumed as fact in this baffling case. This is likely to be the last episode for a while. The one after this will be several weeks away. In the meantime, we'll be pursuing a number of leads that are coming from listeners, coming from people who live in Bathurst now and they're talking to me confidentially. Some are from people who have moved away. These leads are going to take time to investigate, but when this is done, we'll come back with what we expect will be a concluding episode, maybe two. The 7 TV News reporter Hugh Whitfield covered every day of the inquest in the old Bathurst courthouse. The evidence was Jeanine's de facto for five years, but broke up with her 18 months before she disappeared. He said, "Letters were left on Jeanine's car three times in the lead up to her disappearance. One show under the court read, 'Don't be scared, I don't want to hurt you, I just want to get to know you. I'll be in touch.'" For someone who had been so very important in Jeanine's life, the evidence of her former partner Phil Evans was relatively brief. The electrician told the coroner Mary Jerem that Jeanine had mentioned Brad Hoseman's expressing an interest in her after Phil and Jeanine had split up. On the question of whether she would get into a car driven by a stranger, Phil was just like the other witnesses, firm. And as with the other witnesses, these are Phil's words at the inquest, but it's not his voice. Well, that's what's amazing about the devastating situation that has happened. I didn't think Jeanine would have gotten into a car with somebody she didn't know. Phil was also questioned at the inquest about the stalking incidents. The phone calls, handwritten notes, the lingerie and the break ins. They mostly occurred when Phil was away from home, away from Jeanine for work. I didn't know whether Jeanine was trying to get more attention from me to stay home, but now I look back, I was wrong thinking that. This ronalds as the senior lawyer assisting the coroner asked an inescapable question, did you yourself have any involvement in the disappearance of Jeanine Vaughn? No. And nor did Phil have access to a red car. The detective superintendent Peter Hullahan gave evidence to the inquest about the stalking incidents too. A common theme to all of these occurrences over the years was that they seem to occur when Jeanine was alone and are otherwise unable to be corroborated. Whilst some of the incidents were reported to police, other apparently unreported incidents were detailed by individuals when being interviewed by police involved in the investigation into Jeanine's disappearance. On 21 December 2001, whilst sorting through some of Jeanine's belongings her father and located a handwritten note with the words "it's not over". The note was forensically examined for evidence of trace DNA and fingerprints, however no such evidence was revealed. I've been talking to Phil through this podcast series, Jeanine's disappearance has changed his life and he's constantly thinking of possible angles and sharing them. You know, the guild or a little bit of Italy, mate, it's that they didn't work out between Jeanine and like 12 months after she came here for me and I know all that, she went missing. Have you had any more thoughts about what might have happened to Jeanine or who could be responsible? What's always spun me out is that somebody or no, there is a chance of that being possible, yes. It's played a more more and so much. You know, that was my decision to walk away from that relationship. I just wasn't ready for full-blown commitment and get married and I know that's what you wanted. That's happened to R&R and that's what I live with and because of your beauty that I haven't done enough. And mate, you were there whilst she was going through all that stalking as well with people thought was suspicious and then people thought, oh, is she just trying to sort of get attention? I know I said that. I went to a court thing once and said that. My author thought that she might have been doing it for attention for me because it was every time I was going to work and I know how wrong I was. But the way that the Baffer's Police Station, incominantly handled, I'm a high-voltage electrician. I can't make mistakes. I get killed or I kill someone else with a lot of damage, but the mistakes they made in there in the incominancy has accelerated the devastation that's left behind for people if they hadn't dotted their eyes and crossed their toes in the beginning, I don't feel as if it all would have been that bad and affected so many lives. Phil has stayed in touch with Kylie. He was fond of Jeanine's whole family when they were together. There is no one that wants it more sorted out than the Vaughn's, I want it sorted out as much as Sam. They're that desperate for the poor things mate. It cripples me when he walks through the pain they're in. Now let's return to some of the evidence of the inquest. Steve Superintendent Peter Hula-Hand told the coroner Mary Jerem about another significant line of inquiry, one which focused on Baffer's taxi drivers. This was not a new or novel aspect of the investigation. Six days after Jeanine had disappeared in December 2001, detectives from the original strike force toco led by the Sydney Homicide Squad's Paul Jacob identified the taxi drivers working on that fateful night as the senior cop Hula-Hand said in his written evidence eight years later. This was a logical and timely line of inquiry for a number of reasons including the driver's intimate knowledge of the social community in Baffer's at the time. The relatively dense area of Baffer's specifically the central business district containing all of the licensed premises. The driver's opportunity to observe and recognize unusual persons and behaviour and the prevailing weather conditions of heavy rain on the evening of 6 December and the morning of 7 December 2001 giving rise to a higher than expected exposure to clientele. The detectives narrowed the field down to nine taxi drivers who were on shift. But strike force mount batten stepped things up when its detectives came on board in the lead up to the inquest. Here's the evidence of Peter Hula-Hand again. As further information came to hand in respect to Jeanine Vaughan's lifestyle, the frequency with which she utilised the taxi service in her social outings and the propensity of some of the taxi drivers to utilise their private vehicles outside of their roster to take fares, a profile of all of the Baffer's taxi drivers became more significant. She even spec'd the Damien Henry oversaw much of this work. There were 50 calls logged to the taxi base between December 2000 and December 2001 to pick up from Jeanine's home in Rocket Street. There was a marked increase in the number of taxi pickups recorded for Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights when one of the other employees of the menswear store moved into the house in Rocket Street to pay rent to Jeanine to help her cover the mortgage. In addition to locking calls for taxi through the radio base, Erin Brady also had the mobile phone number of a local taxi driver, Barry John Cranston, who Erin sometimes contacted for a lift when she was out. On the night she disappeared, Barry Cranston collected Jeanine from Rocket Street and drove her to the Oxford Hotel. You'll recall Barry from my interview with him in episode 3. He was the trusted taxi driver, Jeanine usually turned to when she needed a ride somewhere. I'm the one that said bad eyes when she did it. You became fond of Jeanine, didn't you? Yes, he was a beautiful girl, absolutely gorgeous, you off. Erin Brady and Jeanine would call Barry on his mobile phone rather than through the centralized booking system. Barry told me he saw himself as a protective father figure when Jeanine's own family lived a few hours north in the town of Musclebrook. For two decades he's accused the former deputy mayor and detective sergeant Brad Hoseman's of having stalked Jeanine before she disappeared. Barry's claims that Hoseman's was with Jeanine at the duty tab on the night she disappeared have been shown by CCTV evidence to be false. Nobody apart from Barry Cranston has said Hoseman's was out and about in Bathast that night. They said in this court case that I wasn't telling the truth, that it was raining that night and it was hard to see. Well, I don't act dare whether it was hard to see or not. I was told from Virginia and myself and I know her. And I also know it was Hoseman's, even the night that happened, I still feel guilty about it a little bit because I was sure Jeanine didn't want to be with him but she said no, she didn't want to be with him. I was told that she was not with him. (crying) I don't know, as I said, I'm not sure now whether the phone rang out or it just didn't ring. Barry recalled the interest of detectives in him during the homicide investigation. I was the only cab driver they interviewed at that time. Now they're having to mute some of the taxi drivers, but back at that time and went I started saying to him, "Yeah, okay, will you have not interviewed one other cab driver?" Except me. He is Peter Hullahan again, describing to the coroner how the taxi driver angle widened during mountbatten's investigations. The Line of Inquiry was expanded to include all 180 taxi drivers in the Bathurst area, who were registered and capable of carrying out the services of a taxi driver at Bathurst in 2001. The Line of Inquiry uncovered a wealth of information in respect to the individual drivers, their observations, opinions and practices. As a direct consequence, one of the drivers became a person of interest in the strike force mountbatten investigation. The particular taxi driver referred to in that evidence from Hullahan was not Barry Cranston. I had said that Brad O's had done this and done that in the walk past me while not always parked on a rank near the on-screen shop, and he walked out in front of my cab, stood there and had a plea, and then walked past me and said, "City, some of us can do whatever we like, can't we?" I never even answered him. I'm probably running to that as a result of the death rate yet. If it's the one I need, you've had no death rates. No. Not a threat at all. From anybody. All I was asked was if the inquest did I want police protection before I go missing? You will know who it was. Barry told me that while giving his evidence at the inquest in 2009, he took to task his questioner about what was in his own sign statements to police. Barry Cranston has a vivid imagination. The official transcript from his evidence at the inquest does not suggest there were exchanges like those he's described, and the magistrate, or, for these proceedings, the coroner was Mary Jerem, not a "he" as Barry claimed in his interview with me. It is true, however, that he was trusted by Janine, who regularly went in his taxi. This is likely to be the final week of hearings, despite what recommendations the coroner hands down, police say their investigations will wrap up at the end of the inquest. When Maddie Dally worked at the Metro, Tavern, he occasionally put the handbags of female patrons away somewhere safe. It was behind a board on the stairs, and there was nothing unusual about that. He and others were familiar with the place. It was convenient for storing the handbags while women were dancing. Mary Dally was in the Metro until after it had closed. But while Janine went back inside to look for her handbag, asking Maddie's boss Trevor Howey to help her, Maddie said he was elsewhere, perhaps in the cool room to restock. Here's Chris Ronald's asking Maddie what happened next. You weren't part of any search for her handbag? Not that I can recall. None of her friends said to you, "We're looking for Janine's handbag, have you seen it?" Or anything like that? You weren't aware within a fairly small space that there were a number of people looking for her handbag? No. If someone had said something to you, you would have been able to say, "I know where it is," because I put it there. Yeah. At that stage towards the end of the night, like I said, I was docking fridges. So I'm in and out of the cool room and behind the bar. Did you pick her up or offer her a lift that night? I wish I did. But there was one obvious contradiction in Maddie Dally's evidence. He gave a statement to police several weeks after Janine disappeared, and in that one, he said we need to ask where she could put her bag and Janine's bag. At the time, in January 2002, when the memories were still fresh in his mind, Maddie said to police that he told we need her to put the bag behind the board, closing off the stairwell to go upstairs next to the front door. I saw that we need to walk off towards the door, and then she came back and told me that she put her bags there. In fact, as the video shows, it was Maddie Dally who put the bags there. Can't argue with that, can I? Maddie also said that regulars of the Metro Tavan knew bags were put on the stairs to keep them out of the way and safe. But when Janine came back in looking for her bag and the co-owner Trevor Howie helped her in this search, he didn't suggest the stairs. And Janine left soon afterwards. Minutes later, she was getting into the red car. Peter Barker used to drink with Dennis Briggs at the Bathastara Serling 2002. One afternoon when Janine Vaughn's disappearance appeared on the news, Barker told the court, Dennis Briggs piped up and said, I did that. Peter Barker gave evidence at the inquest about his bizarre conversations with Dennis Briggs. Can you tell her on her when it was that you first met Dennis? It was about mid-March 2002 at the Bathast RSL Club. Do you recall the circumstances of you meeting him? Yep, I was sitting there watching the pre-football games on the TV. He was sitting across from me and we struck up a conversation about the football. When he went home, Peter told his partner Janine Wheatley that he'd met Dennis at the club and he seemed like a good bloke. Janine used to work with Briggs at the Bathast base hospital and we covered some of this in episode five. A couple of weeks later, the couple returned to the club and saw Briggs. Janine Wheatley was surprised. He wasn't anything like the man she had known at the hospital. He was agitated, acting strange and he seemed drunk. Did he appear different to you the second time to the first time? She said he was nervous about something and just didn't seem like the same Dennis that she knew. Over the ensuing weeks and months, they often saw Dennis Briggs and noted he's strangeness. He just used to go off on rather stupid conversations and then just became a bit of a acquaintance and probably a bit of an annoyance, really. Did you make any assessment of him in terms of wanting to be the centre of attention or anything of that sort of nature? If there was a crowd sitting around at a table, he always had to be the line light of the thing. He would say stuff, you know, maybe to try and stand out from the rest of the crowd until one day at the club, a news report about Janine Vaughn was shown up on one of the big TV screens. I could hear one of the old ladies in the background going, "That's horrible, you know, like everyone else was." And Dennis Briggs piped up and said, "I did that." The challenge for Peter Barker was working out when Dennis Briggs was being truthful when he was making stuff up. You were telling me a story about a possum. Do you recall? He came in one day with his dentures missing and my mum said, "Haven't you got any teeth?" And he said he was sitting in the caddy park, fell asleep under a tree and a possum stole his dentures. So he went back to the park to try and find the possum and the possum was wearing his dentures with a big cheshire cat smile. It was like he really believed it. My mum just said, "Go away, Dennis." Peter recalled sitting opposite Dennis and demanding that he tell the truth about Janine. Tell us about the conversation. Well, he just started talking, like I said with his eyes fixed ahead, like in a days. And he said he picked up Janine Vaughn up from the front of LiveWire. And then he said he took her back to see if she could get her hand back. He said he drove a home. She went to get out of the car, he pulled her back in the car and drove off with her door half open. He said he drove around, took her out to White Rock, where he said he tried to. I'm sorry, I have to say the word. He said to try and fuck her. He said she tried to fight him off. So he got his knife and stabbed her in the side. And then he said after that he'd stabbed her 14 times, she still wouldn't die. So he slid her throat. And then he said he buried her under some rocks, went home, got a shovel, and the whole time he's talking like this in one tone. Like it's pretty eerie. And he said he went home, he got a shovel and went back and tried to bury her. But he said the ground was too hard. So he said he had to carry her across the river and bury her there. Peter founded all deeply unsettling. His phone had started ringing on the table, but Dennis appeared oblivious to the interruption. I could have got up and went to the toilet. I don't think he would have even noticed I was gone. He didn't notice the phone ring. He was just reliving it. That's the way it came across to me. Either that or he's a good actor. He should be on TV, really. Here's the lawyer, Mr. Chicken. Force of that conversation is apparent in the way you've given your evidence. Did you continue to associate with Dennis Briggs after that? I tried everything not to after that. He made me sick every time I looked at him. I was mixed between two feelings. Did he do it? Didn't he do it? And knowing what a lie he was, maybe he just made it up and he was on medication. So I didn't know how to take it really. But I just had this gut feeling after the way he said it to me that he had something to do with it. Yeah. Mr. chicken asked about other occasions. Peter recalled how Dennis would follow him around. He kept counting me and coming up to me saying, why are you avoiding me? And I said, it's because of what you said, you know. Can't you work it out? And I said, I've been to the cops. Peter remembered another time at the club with a friend Raymond Rogers when Dennis was there. Peter decided to ask Dennis about Janine Vaughn, but this time, in front of Raymond as a witness. So I did that and he admitted in front of Raymond too. Not in such detail, but the fact that he took her out to White Rock and killed her. And then he went to the toilet and me and Ray looked at each other and for the first time, ever, ever seen Ray leave a drink. And we just said, we're getting out of here. But in any event, you made an assessment that he wasn't a sort of person, whether he did it or didn't do. The fact that he was talking like that, he was just not someone you wanted to be around. On another occasion in the club, they argued about whether Peter owed Dennis $90. And the manager asked the two men to take there. He said disagreement outside. Dennis insisted he was joking when he said he had murdered Janine Vaughn. According to Peter's version of what happened next, Dennis pulled out what looked like a pocket knife. Peter said Dennis Briggs carried knives in a bag and he'd seen it on another occasion. I said, you've got a bloody knife in there. He said, oh, I always carried the knife. Dennis's former partner, Julie Cleves, spoke of his mental health. He was my polar. You said that he was on medication. But when he did stop taking his medication, he could either be as high as a kite, like way up here and you know, do weird things or he could, if he was in the actual manic stage, he could actually stay in bed for weeks on end. She would hear some of his bizarre stories and roll her eyes. When he was like this, did he make out landish claims about things? I mean, half the things I wouldn't believe. If you didn't know him, then yeah, you're liable to believe what he told you. But depending upon what it was that he said to you, I used to take it with a grain of salt so speak. The strains on their relationship grew in the months leading up to Janine's disappearance. Two days after Janine's disappearance, Dennis was at the Macquarie Care Centre, where Julie worked. He said to her, Janine Vaughn's gone missing. Do you recall the conversation that you had with him? And I said, "Well, who's that?" because I didn't know who she was. And he said, "Oh, she works at Ed Harry's." Because he always used to shop at Ed Harry's, so trust me, he'd know. And he said, "Oh, but she's dead anyway." Do you recall him saying her throat had been cut? Yeah, with the knife. Do you recall him saying, "Because I killed her?" Yes. How could I forget that? I just thought, like, are you serious? Do you recall him saying anything about where she was buried? He actually said, "Out at White Rock." Did he ever express to you any feelings that he might have had for Janine Vaughn? Well, he told me that she was pretty. And I said, "Oh, well, that's nice. I had never met her, so I didn't have a clue what she looked like. Godzilla would have looked good to him." And the Mary Jaram had a few questions of her own. I know that you've tried to tell us everything you can the way you saw it. When Dennis said things to you, like, because I killed her, slit her throat, or whatever, did you actually think at the time that he was mad or did you think this could be true? Well, I thought a bit of both. Off his medication, you could not predict him. You didn't know whether he was going to be happy or sad or what he was going to be. Janine Wheatley spent a lot of time at the club, too. She was there with her partner, Peter Barker, the father of her child. She knew Dennis Briggs from when they worked together and she remembered him as kind, caring, and friendly. The man she spent time with at the club was always drinking, gambling, and highly agitated. She recalled him saying that he would go to Janine's fashion store just to see her and then buy things that he didn't need or want, just to see and talk to her some more. Can you recall what else he said? He reckoned he raped her, pulled his knife out that he used to carry in his bomb bag. He tried to shut her up, but she wouldn't shut up so he had to stab her. He describes six times. And when she eventually did die, he buried her in a shallow grave. Did you do anything as a consequence of that conversation that you had with Dennis Briggs? I kept telling Peter we had to tell the police, but Peter was uneasy with me getting involved. Do you recall, in terms of conversations that you had with Dennis, when he would make a comment to the effect of bad Dennis is coming? Yes, I do. He used to tell us that bad Dennis is coming, that we had to get away from him, and when we left, could be an hour or so later, he'd come back and say, "Good Dennis is back." So we could drink again. Both Julie Cleve and Janine Wheatley say they told police about the confessions, but Cleve says officers weren't very interested in what she had to say. Dennis Briggs will be called as a witness later in the inquest. Another witness, Lisa Smoothie, recalled that in the six months after Janine went missing, Dennis Briggs kept dropping hints to her that he was behind her abduction and murder. Can you recall what the conversation was that you had with him? One time he turned up and he just told me he'd come up to say goodbye because he was going away for a long time, that they'd found Janine's body. Do you recall asking him any questions about her? It was hard for me to talk about her because it was like he was going to slip up or something. If I mentioned her name, he didn't like it. I was getting scared, I backed off. On another occasion, she said Dennis told her, "I know you think I killed her. I didn't kill her. I know who did." The sole focus of Strike Force Mountbatten was to reinvestigate Janine's disappearance. All persons of interest in the original Toco investigation led by the Homicide Squad's Paul Jacob were assessed and prioritized in the subsequent Mountbatten probe. A staggering 170 persons of interest were highlighted. Of those, almost 50 were included in the main investigation focus, and then just three went forward for the formal inquest. Strike Force Mountbatten launched numerous searches involving dozens of police and rescue personnel with cadaver dogs. Many of these searches were deliberately carried out in the welcome glare of the media to try to stimulate public interest and fresh leads. Here's a report from that period. Bathurst is a quiet, pretty town, but Janine's sister Kylie is accusing the community of covering up her sister's likely murder. As soon as you drive into this place, you just think it's just life, the whole town. It's a sensitive subject in Bathurst. No, I don't want to talk about that. No, no, no. You hear so many rumors, round 10, you know, like one of the rumors we heard that she's buried down the river. That's where police were looking today. After fresh claims, a red car was parked there after Janine disappeared. And Mavro, the German Shepherd, searched the entire riverbank and he's about to have a look at this ground right here. Today's hunt was unsuccessful. Another dog joins the search tomorrow, Sean Berry, seven news. Detective Senior Sergeant Peter McLaughlin gave evidence at the inquest about some of the searches and the interest they generated. That person was happy to help police and stated, I hope you catch the bastard. During further conversation, he stated, why my place? Was it one of my sons? He stated, I've got two bad sons, drugs and stuff. The search was concluded with no evidence linking these premises to the disappearance of Ms. Vaughn. At another location, the police and cadaver dogs were not welcome. Person was immediately upset and slightly aggressive when approached by police and stated words to the effect of, you keep harassing my son, we've been through this before, you've been here before. No evidence was located linking this location to the disappearance of Ms. Vaughn. The authorization for many of these searches came from the coroner Mary Jerem to the detectives of Strike Force Mountbatten. Here's Senior Detective Guy Flarty describing the search of a parcel of land adjacent to the Scott School. This search resulted in a small bone being identified and crime scene were called. This bone was later identified as, non-human. No major excavation was required at this site. The top cop, Peter Hullahan described the search for the red car, starting with a list from the Rhodes and Traffic Authority. of 26,000 red or pinkish-colored vehicles in a 100-kilometer postcode radius of Bathurst. This almost insurmountable number of vehicles was culled to bring the total to 7,605 cars and then culled again using dimensions arising from Professor John Fryer's work with photogrammetry on the CCTV footage, thereby coming up with 1,325 cars. The owners of each of the remaining vehicles was then compared against the 483 Ed Harris menswear customers identified through credit card details. The purpose of applying this process was yet another method of identifying if any of the owners of the remaining red vehicles had had an opportunity to meet Janine Vaughn through her position with Ed Harris menswear. Five car owners were identified from this work. The strike force then investigated for Lynx II Janine Vaughn, but frustratingly the exercise yielded nothing new. This podcast is made possible by subscribers to the Australian and our principal sponsor, Harvey Norman. Since late 2017 when I started pursuing Chris Dawson for the 1982 murder of his wife, Lynne, Harvey Norman has been a loyal backer. It began with the teacher's pet and Harvey Norman and its CEO Katie Page's support has continued for over 8 years. I'm proud to have had their backing on all of mine and the Australian's investigative podcasts, The Night Driver, Shandys Story, Shandys Legacy, The Teacher's Trial, The Teacher's Accuser, Bronwyn and most recently The Sick to Death Podcast. For more information on this podcast, go to theAustralian.com.au. Janine Vaughn ran a menswear store in Bathurst, her old boss told the court via phone in the months leading up to Janine's disappearance. She was very excited. She told me she had just met this fellow. Zarina D'Souza was the state manager of the chain of Ed Harry's stores. She regularly spoke to Janine. They became friendly. Zarina recalled Janine being very excited about having met a man she liked. She'd gone out on a few dates with this man and she was pretty excited about it, which was good for her. She'd been on her own for a while. She had alerted me to the fact that she had stopped seeing this fellow but she wasn't feeling very comfortable with him anymore. Zarina recalled Janine saying she wasn't happy about having received flowers from him. She advised me that everywhere she was, this fellow was around and if she looked outside, he was sitting outside the store or whatever. I asked her just to document everything in the daybook. If I provided you with the name, Brad Hoseman's, would that ring any bells with you? That was the gentleman's name that Janine was seeing. You have a clear recollection do you that she had told you she'd been on dates with him? Yeah, she'd had a few dinners with this gentleman and she was pretty excited actually. She had rang me at home and said, "I just got this beautiful bunch of flowers from this fellow." Zarina feared the worst when Janine didn't turn up for work on Friday morning. And that prompted me as a mother. I don't know, prompted me to call Bathurst police to advise them that this had happened. I just had a terrible, terrible feeling that something was wrong. Zarina's memory is that both Darius from the store, the daybook and the budget book were provided to police at an early stage, although she didn't actually see this happen. I believe the police came into the store a few days later and picked up all of the books that were in the store. You're aware that there's an issue that the daybook has gone missing? I believe so, yes, as far as I'm aware and in my heart, it's been handed over. It's Mr. Jones there, please. Apparently he's outside, Your Honor. Pharmacist Andrew Jones walked to the witness table and answered a series of preliminary questions. His occupation, date of birth, university qualifications and a brief work history. His lawyer, Mr. Spore, was soon on his feet. Your Honor, perhaps now is the opportune time to take the objection on behalf of the witness. What objection? Without suggesting for a moment that Andrew Jones had done anything wrong or had anything to hide, Mr. Spore told the coroner that the pharmacist had talked to police on three occasions, and that he was one of three persons of interest. He has said to police that he was at home. All right, let me justify, might explain to the family very briefly because I know this is puzzling. The law says that nobody ever needs, it's like the right to be silent, that nobody can be made to answer questions. And that is one of the good things in some ways about living in a democracy, I suppose. The lawyer for Dennis Briggs asked for the same treatment. Coroner Mary Jerem agreed and Briggs left the court as quickly as he came into it. Eleven years later, I faced Dennis Briggs because he had agreed to be questioned, not in a courthouse, but in a dusty park in a small town near where he now lives. I asked him why he had avoided the truth seekers at the inquest. When you were under arrest, you refused to give evidence at the inquest. Yeah, well, the reason behind that is, I didn't want to get up on the stand. I wouldn't mind being cross-examinerated or anything like that. But I just felt uncomfortable and I didn't want to, at that particular time, I probably thought I'd incriminate myself or something, say, something I shouldn't, or, you know, I just wanted to let the solicitor to do the talking and that sort of thing. Yeah, but it's nothing like, you know, like, what do you mean? I mean, I just thought that probably if they did cross-examinerate me and I'd say something stupid that I shouldn't. Like you killed her? Well, yeah, yeah, at the time, because I was pretty, at that inquest, I suppose I was more, more or less stable in me right mind. But you know how, like, when they cross-examinerate, like, I've seen all different things on that day, they push you to the limit and sort of make you say things you don't want to start particularly, say, sort of thing, you know, say, you're worried you'd be trapped. Well, you know, why, I mean, as I said before, that I didn't do it, but they could have twisted it and all that sort of things. Here's the Seven Networks report, a Hugh Whitfield with his evening report in September 2009 from the old Bathurst courthouse yesterday Andrew Jones entered the witness box, but on legal advice subjected to answering questions Dennis Briggs also entered the witness box yesterday, but on legal advice subjected to answering questions, both men remain a person of interest. They refusal to talk infuriated Kylie and her family and a number of Jeanine's friends who are watching proceedings unfold back then. My friend the retired judge Peter Murphy and I could see that it was still troubling Kylie 11 years later. And it was a most devastating moment for me and my family at that time, just in to have these witnesses up on there and not have to even say one word. It was just so deflating. We just walked out of that courtroom in tears. It was just, it was, you mean tears at the, by reason of them not giving evidence? Yes. It was just like, is this, is this really happening? Why are they not allowed, why, are they not talking, why do they get away with that? Well, let's put that into a broader context now. I mean, I can understand that you would feel like that. But a broader, a broader context is this that there was an inquest conducted over a number of days and the coroner was assisted by a senior council, QC, SC, who with great respect it on my reading of the transcript did a highly competent job. There were a number of witnesses, all of the evidence, note the use of the word evidence, all of the evidence as opposed to rumours, speculation, etc. That was put before the coroner was done so in a, in a very comprehensive way. The car at your point is that if there had been some pretty rigorous cross-examination that might have changed it. And I think me and my family for the first time being in court, well, I expected that. Yeah. But it was pretty much just, I've just dropped to my chair, I just couldn't believe it. I was just doing such a shock to think that this is actually happening, that not even going to say I didn't do it, they didn't even go in to defend themselves, they just chose to not speak. Hosen's spoke, we had, we listened to Hosen's, but the two other guys there, they didn't. And there's a certain irony in that, isn't there, because it was just crazy. Because most of Bethes did say, they thought that Hosen's was amazing. right for this murder, and he was the only one of the three to subject himself to cross-examination. Brad Hoseman says, "Face the Police Integrity Commission. Today, it was the state coroner. The former lead investigator in two Janine's disappearance and Bathurst Deputy Mayor is a person of interest, but police can't link him to the case." Next, it was the turn of Brad Hoseman's. His lawyer, Mr Madden, argued that Hoseman should not need to give any evidence as investigations by the Police Integrity Commission, and the police strike force mount Baton had found nothing to link the former cop to Janine Vaughn's disappearance. He was better known than the others. He was also still public enemy number one in Bathurst. Many people looked on him as the murderer. Chris Ronald's warmed up by asking Hoseman about his roles as a police detective and deputy mayor. Would it be fair to say that you had a high profile in Bathurst during the period you were deputy Mayor? That'd be fair to say, a very high profile. Hoseman's was asked about his fleeting interest in Janine Vaughn. Many witnesses had already given testimony about what they said they had heard from Janine. Hoseman's played down his interest. Once, just once, he said, he asked a woman called Rachel if she knew Janine in the nearby fashion store. Look, there was something along the lines that I had made a comment that she was an attractive girl, and possibly she said something like, you should ask her out. And then I said, no, that isn't going to happen. But you did know who she was. I knew of her, yes, by asking Rachel Green. I've never had a conversation with her. You've never run into her accidentally in a. I've never even uttered a word to her, ma'am. Hoseman's denied that he was out drinking with police friends on the night Janine disappeared. Did you pick Janine Vaughn up in a red car at approximately 347 on the 7th of December 2001 at the corner of George and Keppel Street? No, I did not. Chris Ronald's asked him about some plumbing work done in the grounds of the flat he was renting at the time. Do you know or did you participate in the burial of Ms Vaughn under the floor at the flat? No, really, I object to this, Your Honor. Now I don't want to get pressed as about it, but in view of senior Council's opening, how can she ask that question? I withdraw it. Brad Hoseman's ended his evidence and was excused from the witness box. We're two now, Brad. What do you do now? Before the coroner today, Hoseman's raised his voice, saying, "I never had any dates with Janine Vaughn. I have never sent flowers to Janine Vaughn. I have never ever telephoned Janine Vaughn. I had never spoken to Janine Vaughn, but I knew of her." "Can you get on with your life now? Is that how you feel? Is this the final chapter? Do you think?" Brad Hoseman's tells me he has always found it hard to fathom the cascading, destructive fallout. From an innocent question, he asked his friend Rachel in Fashion Fair, opposite Janine's store two decades ago. When we spoke in a telephone interview for this podcast, he remembered the day and he wondered whether Janine might have exaggerated the circumstances that's the one comment that I remember making in relation to or asking who was the girl in the other shop. I think Rachel was saying something on the lines I should ask her and I said, "No, that won't be happening." There was some sort of supposed relationship going on and Janine was telling people that we were going out or we were doing this or we were involved or something like that and nothing could be further from the truth. I've always been confused as to why why me. From asking one question about who she was and then whether the girls sat there and they discussed all this amongst themselves to then all of a sudden flowers and phone calls and dinners and dates and all this sort of stuff, all of which was found to be not the case, not true. There was absolutely nothing to substantiate that. Not only can I say that categorically from my perspective, but I can say that because a police integrity commission, if anyone's ever gone through a star chamber like that, could find no connection. Several strike forces could find no connection and a coronal investigation could find no connection. It's not just me saying it. It's one of those strange things out of this case that I've never been able to reconcile. Well, as I've got to learn more about her through the course of these series of events that have happened, her and I would have been the worst possible match. There would have been absolutely no potential of her and I going in any sort of relationship. Yes, she might have been a nice looking girl, but what she did in a spare time and heavy cigarette smoker and all this sort of stuff. Her and I were just completely incompatible. That would never have got off the ground all past the first cup of coffee if ever it did happen. The following morning, Chris Ronald rose to make the final submissions on behalf of Mr Chicken and herself. The senior lawyer started by crafting what appeared to be a circumstantial hypothesis around Andrew Jones, the pharmacist. She said that Andrew Jones knew Janine from visits to the Ed Harry's store, not far from the pharmacy, but not much could turn on that. Many people knew Janine from visits to the store. And does it is likely that she knew that he was a pharmacist and hence a professionally trained person in the health care industry? Is it likely that she would have trusted him, even though she did not know him well? As a consequence, she could have entered his car that night, even though she was not particularly familiar with him. There are several factors that make Mr Jones a person of interest. He owned a red Renault 19 that fits the friar dimensions and also fits the most cogent description of the vehicle of interest that given contemporaneously by Inbright. The barrister then reminded the inquest of the evidence of Lynette Balland and her physical description of the driver, how he had what she called a buff head was too big for the car and he had a bump he knows. It is submitted that this description of the driver, together with that referred to earlier, is consistent with Mr Jones and his physical appearance in court. But she stopped short of suggesting the evidence was strong enough for the corner to make any finding about Jones having possibly killed Janine. Then she moved on to Dennis Briggs, describing in sometimes vivid detail the accounts of people who were told by Briggs that he had murdered Janine. Those witnesses were believed they were telling the truth about what Briggs had claimed. Chris Ronalds believed that Briggs had delusions of murder when he petaled those horrific stories. She clearly did not see him as a likely killer. More a sad fantasist who had lied when he was not medicated for his bipolar condition was Brad Hoseman someone who could have been responsible for Janine's disappearance. Not likely according to Chris Ronalds who said she accepted his denials. The taxi driver Barry Cranston who had made a number of wild allegations about Hoseman's was given short shrift in the inquest. Chris Ronalds told the coroner that when it comes to Cranston there is no credible evidence to sustain his view and it is apparent that he has developed some theories over the years since the disappearance that are not consistent with any known facts and that cannot be seriously entertained as worthy of investigation or review. As the senior lawyer tasked with helping the inquest Chris Ronalds was aware of tensions over the investigations that came before this one. She stressed in her closing submission on the second last day that the inquest was not a review of Strike Force Toco and the way it was conducted by police or the outcome and nor was the inquest a review of the inquiry conducted by the police integrity commission and its processes, outcomes and recommendations or the response to those by any relevant agency. The last bit was a thinly veiled reference to the scathing criticisms of the police integrity commission. Criticisms leveled by Peter Moss, the independent inspector of that organisation. As you heard in episode 7 the retired judge Peter Moss condemned the commission for what he described as its baseless but very destructive pursuit of the former cop and deputy mayor Brad Hoseman's. In fact Peter Moss was only warming up. Two years after the inquest my colleague Janet Fife Yeomans as the crime editor of Sydney's daily telegraph newspaper broken extraordinary story about how Mr Moss had found much more that was wrong in the commission. Things went so bad there. Heads rolled. Here's how Janet reported that exclusive yarn. From the state's top police corruption buster to selling tents and other outdoor goods, the disgraced former police integrity commissioner is out of the legal world and out of his 417 thousand dollar a year job and working at raised outdoor store in Caringbar on a salesman's wages. The story of his downfall is one that the state government does not think the public has a right to know. It has stopped the release of the former police integrity commission inspector Peter Moss's scathing report into how confidential information was leaked to the media to make the beleaguered commission look better. Janet Fife Yeomans is now chief reporter at the daily telegraph. She told me what had Well, basically, he'd been caught red handed. and linking information to the media to make himself look better after the PIC was criticized by the Inspector for the PIC, Peter Moss. As Janet explained, the then head of the PIC, who we are not naming in this podcast, had been meeting a journalist and handing them secret information, including names of witnesses who had given evidence secretly. But went to Orange on the other side of Bathurst to cover the controversial hearings in which witnesses such as RA1 were called back then. They were scandalous. They were shameful. It was just out of control. They just rode in there and they wanted to take down Brad Hovesman's and I'm sure that that might still stick. Even though there was absolutely no evidence whatsoever that he even knew or he has spoken to Janine Vaughn and it completely trashed his reputation and also I felt very sorry for Janine's family. I can imagine that the PIC got their hopes up or we can solve this, we'll sort it out. You know, the top detectives in the country couldn't solve it but we can and I think that it probably twisted their minds into believing that the PIC was like the night in shining armour when it was totally tarnished. Hovesman says he was in Bathurst and I Janine went missing after leaving the Metro nightclub. He was asked, do you have any knowledge about what happened to Janine Vaughn on or after December 7, 2001? No, I do not. Lawyers have accepted he never spoke directly to Janine Vaughn. There is no evidence to link Mr. Hovesman's with a small red car despite extensive efforts by the Mount Batten team and also the Toco team to find such a link. Mr. Hovesman has denied that he ever went on a date with Ms. Vaughn, that he had ever telephoned her, sent her flowers, had a conversation with her or had met her. There is no evidence, independent of the assertions by Ms. Vaughn to her family friends and work colleagues to cast doubt on his denials. Finally, Chris Ronald was wrapped it up. There was no smoking gun, instead she issued a plea. We hope that one day someone will give in to the weight of their conscience and provide the police with information that will assist in resolving the mystery that continues to surround Janine's disappearance. All right, shall we just take a break now? I think that was a long morning, especially for Ms. Ronald's. After the adjournment, the lawyer for Andrew Jones, knowing that the senior lawyer assisting the coroner was not recommending a finding against his client, decided to keep his own contribution brief. It's been conceded that there's not sufficient evidence capable of satisfying the jury, or that no such jury would be reasonably likely to return a verdict of guilty. It would be my submission that your honour would make a finding that there is in fact no evidence in relation to Mr. Jones and it's for these reasons. If I can borrow for the moment words from one of the investigators, Detective Hopper, said in his statement where he analysed the evidence relating to Mr. Jones, that the evidence is insufficient. If I can paraphrase slightly, insufficient to form a belief as to the involvement of Mr. Jones. He goes on to say, "Significantly, there is no direct evidence linking Jones to Vaughan's disappearance." Sorry, are you reading from that last exhibit that came up this morning? The very heavily crossed art one? Yes, Your Honor. The cryptic exchange highlighted the fact that a confidential police document existed in relation to Andrew Jones. It was the statement of the Detective Ben Hopper, and it had been handed to the coroner that morning. The document was strictly controlled to prevent disclosure. Andrew Jones's lawyer, Mr. Spor, went on to describe the helpful parts of Ben Hopper's statement, where the detective stated there was no direct evidence relating to any stalking by Jones, and no direct evidence of a propensity to drive around Bathurst late at night. No direct evidence that he was on the streets in his red car the night Janine disappeared. What evidence there is before Your Honor, in relation to those investigators' notes, shows that Mr. Jones finished work, eight dinner alone at the Lithgow Bowling Club, went to a singles Bible study class with his minister, and then went home. It's neither here nor there that he can't prove that he wasn't at home, because he's not required to. But on or around 28th December 2001, an investigator's note indicates that Mr. Jones's bonafides were checked and his vehicle searched, and he was nil suspicious about Jones or the vehicle. Mr. Spor said the only evidence which could link his client Mr. Jones to Janine's disappearance was that of Lynette Bowland, and this evidence held significant inconsistencies. He described, as Learned Senior Council pointed out, a little new, two-door hatchback. The evidence clearly shows that by 2001, Jones's car was over seven years old, so it's hardly new, but certainly it was not a hatchback. It had four doors, not two. Spor, made the point that Lynette Bowland had said she would have recognised the driver if she had seen a photograph of him, but she had failed to identify Jones when police display the series of photographs of men including Jones. Yesterday Andrew Jones entered the witness box, but on legal advice, subjected to answering questions. He made three purchases on separate occasions leading up to Janine's disappearance. Today, Council assisting the coroner Chris Ronalds argued it is likely that she would have trusted Mr. Jones, even though she did not know him well. Jones's lawyer argued that there is in fact no evidence relating to Mr. Jones. Chris Ronalds admits there isn't enough evidence to satisfy a jury that Andrew Jones had anything to do with Janine's disappearance. The lawyer for the pharmacist also played down the claims that, as Jones had bought clothing at Ed Harry's, he must have known Janine. With respect to my learned colleague, that's another long bow to draw. Mealy because a person, shopped in a store, doesn't mean that he knew them. He may have known of her. Yes, I think there is evidence that he worked in the chemist shop near her store. Yes, he works nearby, there's no disputing that, but that's still a long way from saying he knew her. And I'm drawing a distinction here between, I suppose, its shades of knowing. Mr. Madden, the lawyer for Brad Hoseman's, made another brief appearance, and he limited himself to the evidence about the disappearance, not of Janine, but of her menswear store's work diary. The one in which it was claimed she had made entries about the officer's interest in her. Mr. Madden said that, given the many contradictions by witnesses in their evidence about whether the work diary was even handed into the police, it would not be possible to make any finding that Hoseman's even knew of the diary, let alone got rid of it. He sat back down and there were no further submissions. All right, thank you, everybody. It's been a long inquest, but we'll say some more about that on Monday. And I don't think we'll be more than an hour or so at that point. Right at the start of this podcast series, I warned that it is a mystifying case. There have been so many persons of interest. There's no crime scene, there is no body, and there is, at least in my mind, a nagging concern that if the one major assumption of the first and every subsequent police investigation is wrong, it's had a damaging impact. Peter Murphy and I talked about it with Kylie. Peter and I are going back and forth on this fundamental question about whether there's one or two cars. If there's one car, there's one offender, and he's at first tried to put Lynette Ballland into his red car. He's missed it, she's fled, she hid, and she was clearly concerned enough to go to the service station and raise it with the attendant. And that's all picked up in CCTV, her voice, expressing concern about this red car that's been following her, is actually audible. It is there another car. I think Peter is still of the view that it's too much of a coincidence, and that the police angle on this, that it's more likely to be one car, one driver, makes sense. But it's so important to know what the truth of it is because the description of the driver of the car that followed Lynette Ballland has become part of the narrative for the driver and the car involving your sister Jeanine. She knows how to look after herself while we should get into a car. So it may not necessarily have been a friend, but she has crossed her path during her working hours. And in the usual course of events, she may not have accepted a lift with, say, a customer or a store, but all of those factors that I've just received. Just for you, like if someone's pulled over and said, you know, is everything okay? Yeah. I mean, I could see that happening. If it's one driver, one car, he is the luckiest murderer in Australia, because he has attempted [BLANK_AUDIO] duck Lynette Balland and Failed, hung around, driven around, past CCTV, had his license played details written down by Lynette who then loses the piece of paper. He comes back around, picks up Janine and no one can positively identify him or the car after a failed abduction attempt. So he gets two cracks and both times he gets away with it if there's the one. But a separate issue is, even if it was the same driver, the same car, is Balland's evidence. Is her statement reliable? Is she a reliable witness? Again goes back to whether we're talking about one driver, one incident, one red car or two. Is she given a reliable account of what occurred and in particular a reliable description of the driver? Yeah, but it's completely irrelevant if there are two cars. Correct. And that wasn't the assumption that underlay the investigation. There's no doubt, and the police are quite open about it, that they assume and have always assumed that the incident involving Balland is connected to the disappearance of Janine same driver, same car. The homicide squad is now overseeing the investigation into Janine's disappearance. When announcing a million dollar award made it plain, again, that the police see it as the same driver, same car. Now, if you read the analysis of why they've come to the conclusion, it is not possible in my view to say that that's a stupid conclusion or a wrong-headed conclusion. But nor do they give weight at all at any time that I can see to the possibility of there being two separate incidents. The Vaughn's pain will go on. The state coroner said I just can't tell you how sorry I am. The inquest is found Janine was murdered, but by who and where her body is, can't be determined. As foreshadowed the previous day, she did not rule that any of the witnesses who appeared before her had anything to do with Janine's disappearance. The evidence just wasn't sufficient for her to reach that high bar. It was not through lack of trying. Firstly, the coroner describes suicide or running away as highly improbable in Janine's case. She had financial worries and she was unhappy at not having settled down and started a family, but these difficulties were not irredeemable. She said that there could be nothing worse than to lose a loved family member without knowledge of what happened to her and without being able to farewell her. No one who has observed or attended these settings could fail to be moved by the plight of Janine's family. They've had to hear details of Janine's life, which were personal and upsetting. They've had to watch witnesses who were not prepared to tell all they knew, or to give evidence. They have known of the initial problems of strike force Toko, and have consequently had to wait almost eight years for the chance that this inquest might find some answers for them. Sadly, it has not. We can only hope that one day, some evidence will emerge that can provide that answer. In the meantime, Janine will not be forgotten, either by her family and friends, any of us, or the officers of Strike Force Mountbatten, or the people of Bathurst. On the basis of all the evidence obtained during the course of this inquest, the only available conclusion is that Janine born disappeared at 3.47 am on 7 December 2001, from the corner of George in Keppel Street's Bathurst, and that she was murdered by personal persons unknown and her body disposed of in such a means that it has not been found. Janine Vaughan's family has endured eight years of pain. The coroner's findings have done nothing to heal the wounds. Had they've done their job right in the first place, this may have been resolved a long time ago, and we may have had a bit more closure because we're walking away today with nothing. The inquest follows a botched initial investigation, police integrity hearings, a reopening of the case by detectives, and a $100,000 reward offer. Still, the family has no answers. There's a lot of room and innuendo throughout the town and trying to work out what was truth and what was fiction was very, very difficult. In Bathurst, Damien Smith, seven news. John Tate's last big investigation as a senior cop put him in Bathurst for the best part of two years. He was the second in charge of Strikeforce Mount Baton until his retirement. I asked him whether, in the end, on his retirement, he had a firm view about the person most likely to have killed Janine Vaughan. "Yeah, I did, but I got it. That's one of those where it couldn't take any further. There was no evidence, like physical evidence to put the individual there. That was the first running period." While still serving police who are now running a cold case investigation of Janine's murder are constrained from speaking to me for this podcast series, John is unfettered in his retirement near the beach, babysitting grandchildren and reconsidering persons of interest, evidence, and theories in Janine's case. While listening to episodes and voices, he hasn't heard for years, have occupied his time of late. "So this case for you, after a long career in policing, how would you describe it?" "Frustrated." "Why?" "Killing either after six years, and then trying to pick up a cold case is difficult, but the attitude of the people at Bathurst towards the police was not very friendly, and we had a great difficulty in speaking a lot of the people because the resentment of the police. It was hard." "What did you attribute the resentment of the police to?" "The initial investigation from what we can gather, but a lot of people weren't happy with the initial investigation of her disappearance, and even the end of the place involvement, which people know about." "You're talking about Brad Hartman's?" "Yeah, yeah, yeah." "To this day, many people in Bathurst still believe that he killed any of them." "So I heard yes." "Yes." "Do you think that's true?" "No, no. It came to nothing. You know, there's a bottom line." "If the public, many years ago, was suspicious in police involvement, it's a good reason for them not to go for it." "That's the issue, and that's where we found it hard, to gain that trust." There were 10 detectives in the strike force for most of its few years, leading up to and through the inquest. "Did any given time we'd have, at least four, are there any given time?" "And with a lot of times we'd have the whole crew out there, so we've been ending up to 10 out there for two weeks at a time. They were hand-picked and did a good job." "Are you glad to say whether there was any undercover work?" "Yeah, there was. Yeah, yeah. But I wanted to elaborate too much on that, so there's some that can be disclosed, and that's disappointing that people don't know how far we went with various things. There were surveillance and electronic surveillance done on identified targets, and a lot of foot slogging. It's difficult to give away what we did, but people just didn't want to talk. That's the bottom line. They don't want to speak anymore, they want to get involved, and you say, "Well, you made allegations prior, but they wouldn't elaborate on that any further. Even some of the retired police here, they wouldn't happen up, which we haven't been very frustrating." "So you didn't land on one person in particular, we're not going to say who that person is. To your knowledge, is that person still alive?" But John's view about this was not necessarily shared by everyone on Strike Force Mountain. "It's just that each of us had a gut feeling, and you get that after a while." "And just to be clear, so that we don't narrow it down too much, you were looking at a total original of the more than 40 persons of interest." "And worked their way down?" "Yeah." "So people shouldn't necessarily assume that the person you believe was most likely. It was one of the three persons of interest who went before the inquiries." "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no." John said few people if any had a bad word to say about Janine. She was popular, friendly, upbeat. She didn't appear to have enemies. "Even the stalking issues, I believe that will and truly happen. Some people in the podcast saying, "Well, they have their doubts that I've got no doubt in the world till someone's stalking you." I asked John about his assessment of Strike Force Toco. "Without being there, it's difficult to say a stick with anybody, but there's just things that should have been done that weren't done. Put it that way. And that's a bit disappointing." "What was your opinion about that all of this?" "It was a very dangerous person. A good knock about, but that way. Quite upfront. No rubbish, no bullshit." And that was her. I thought she was very strong. I had no reason to doubt her at all. And we interviewed her a couple of times. She didn't change the story. And I think her was for the closer thing we've got to the other car and the person. John has been following this podcast series closely. He believes it has the potential to loosen the lips of locals who have been keeping secrets these past 19 years. Job people's memory and some people don't appreciate that and that's just the way the system works Do you think it can be solved but someone's got to come forward with basically this is where the body is one of those Things that you know, I'd like to see so before I pass on what about the Conviction of many people that she would not have got into that car unless she had recognized the car and She was in a situation where she was here in the rain perhaps it someone's pulled up now You can say if you wouldn't got into the car or she was that upset you might have just jumped in to get out the right It's one of those we're not going to know if it was like a normal know what she probably wouldn't have But when you put everything together the state she was in and that sort of stuff you don't know Like it's all one day, mate MBN news The family of missing Musclebrook woman Jeanine Vaughan has held her memorial service for someone described as array of sunshine Today one day afterward would have been Jeanine's 40th birthday her family held a memorial service and installed a plaque at the Musclebrook lawn cemetery On a hot day in January 10 years ago Adam, Kylie, Rod, their parents, Jenny and Ian and many relatives and friends paid their respects The inquest had ended a few months before this more private and meaningful service for Jeanine This is not in any way a closure meaning we're gonna stop looking for our sister It's merely something to give our parents somewhere to come But at least now we've got More than 200 people attended In happier times Kylie's watching with wide-eyed admiration as Jeanine takes the microphone to speak at her little sister's First birthday party. There's treasured home video of that night. Here is Jeanine Most of you know me or send me working around Vaughan family functions before those that don't I'm the bad big sister Daddy took half my speech away from me, but there was one little story that he neglected to tell About aged ten Kylie wish to display her unique coordination and driving skills In this story from their childhood their brother Rodney had left his bicycle at the cricket nets and he asked Kylie to go and get it and ride at home for him neglected to tell Kylie the bike had no brakes Flying down with street Like hands both hands have gone up. Yeah Presented to run into a path to bus In addition to more of a hospital But over the years she's developed she's developed out of the qualities Loud outrageous of noxious and I'm proud to say very much like her obviously stuff On behalf of Rodney Adam and I though I would like to say one thing on a serious money One of the few people I know that can light up a room. It's smile and We're very proud of her. We love the dealing have a great night. Love you, sis But the Vaughan's won't give up hope of finding out exactly what happened to their little ray of sunshine Here's Jeanine's mother Jenny at the memorial service We're just going to cook pardon on and hope that one day Cheers fam. Yeah, yeah And then we can really lay it at rest There's a minister of religion looking hot and a heavy cloak and a wide-bremmed cattleman's hat I know that the family had deeply touched that there are so many of you here this afternoon to be a part of this occasion We are gathering here this afternoon acknowledging the reality that Jeanine may have died Embracing the hope that she may have survived whatever has happened And after the service he told the gathering there would be a less formal celebration of Jeanine's life at the local golf club It'll be somewhat cooler and there might be some things to give you some bodily relief The Vaughan family's DVD of this event is very moving It shows Jeanine's loved ones holding each other speaking about her With her being gone. It has been a long eight years for us of secrets lies and a family torn apart Jeanine's family release yellow balloons Dozens of balloons they float on a zephyr across a blue sky over the countryside of Musclebrook power lines in the background Kylie sings through tears for her sister Jeanine ♪ Has come into the world ♪ ♪ Her little baby sunshine ♪ ♪ In the shape of her ♪ ♪ Little baby of sunshine ♪ ♪ I won't know ♪ ♪ If you think she looks good in that name ♪ ♪ Her grandma has brought her ♪ ♪ I'll leave you alone ♪ ♪ She can make you feel good ♪ ♪ You can feel good ♪ ♪ All I've ever seen ♪ ♪ All I've ever seen ♪ ♪ Only that we smile ♪ ♪ Only that we smile ♪ ♪ Only that we smile ♪ ♪ Only that we smile ♪ The next episode of The Night Driver The next episode of The Night Driver will come after several weeks This is to give us some time to pursue promising leads about what might have happened to Jeanine leads which have come from listeners since this series started We will return with more Thank you for your support and for listening Thank you for your support and for listening Thank you for your support and for listening The Night Driver is a podcast series investigated With additional audio support from Chris Bosley This podcast series is brought to you by the Australian newspaper and digital site Visit the Night Driver.com.au for additional documentary material as well as credits for the full team behind this multi-part production Anyone with information about the disappearance of Janine Vaughn can contact me You can search for the Night Driver podcast official discussion group on Facebook and join in with the exchange of ideas and information This podcast is made possible by subscribers to the Australian and our principal sponsor Harvey Norman Harvey Norman has provided unwavering support for my investigative podcast since 2018 For more information on this podcast and on our entire investigative catalogue Go to theAustralian.com.au Today on the front bags of cash, dodgy hotel key cards, gangsters, free Rolexes The stunning crime wave inside Australian casinos Search the front to listen now