Australia Australia - Jennie, 49, & Raymond Kehlet (fd dec'd), 47, Table Top, WA, 22 March 2015
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The inquest hasn't actually released findings yet and Jeff Ecker didn't seem to get a mention in any of the online news since. I guess we wait until the inquest findings are published.
SquiffyRae
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From all that we've heard both in the 4 1/2 years prior and now the inquest it feels almost painfully clear Graham Milne knows more than he's been willing to say and really didn't want people to know he took the Paynes Find-Sandstone Road home. For me, the most logical explanation for this is that this road holds the key to this mystery and likely has evidence that points the finger at Milne.
You had the witness that saw a bald man pulled off the side of the road who was very agitated when the couple stopped and asked if he needed assistance. The witness is certain this person was Milne. So what if he was agitated because he'd stopped to dispose of evidence and was worried this person might put two and two together when the Kehlets were reported missing? I know in 2015 police searched an area just out of Sandstone off this road and found "items of interest". Do we know if that's where Milne was seen parked or if he was seen by the witness somewhere further along the road which might be another location he's dumped evidence at?
You had the witness that saw a bald man pulled off the side of the road who was very agitated when the couple stopped and asked if he needed assistance. The witness is certain this person was Milne. So what if he was agitated because he'd stopped to dispose of evidence and was worried this person might put two and two together when the Kehlets were reported missing? I know in 2015 police searched an area just out of Sandstone off this road and found "items of interest". Do we know if that's where Milne was seen parked or if he was seen by the witness somewhere further along the road which might be another location he's dumped evidence at?
SquiffyRae
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One possible scenario that occurred to me is Raymond's death was accidental. Maybe they were abseiling down the shaft and something went wrong. Milne and Jenny at the top smoking cigarettes while Raymond abseils down the shaft. Milne may have accidentally let the line slip and Raymond fell. They call out and get no response. Milne and Jennie go back to camp to get more equipment to go down the shaft themselves but Jennie is inconsolable. She's frantic about how Raymond must be dead and it's all Milne's fault. Milne snaps and shoots her with Raymond's rifle.
Now Milne has a problem. His friend is most likely dead having fallen down an abandoned mine shaft and now he's just murdered the friend's wife. Whats more Jennie has a bullet in her. If he dumps her down the same mine shaft police will find Raymond fell but Jennie was shot. Since he was the last person to see them alive this points the finger squarely at him. So Milne decides to "stage" the crime scene a little bit.
He leaves Raymond's loaded rifle on the front seat of Raymond's car to make it look like Raymond was the last person to use it. He hides the quad bike so any time someone comes past it looks like the camp is occupied but the owners are out prospecting. He also knows this increases the chance if someone finds the rifle in Raymond's car, they just remove it thinking he's been an irresponsible gun owner which will cover the rifle with any number of foreign fingerprints. He doesn't need to worry about the blood because the way he's planned it, if blood is found he's engineering it so Raymond is going to be the suspect. He also goes back to the mine shaft and removes the abseiling equipment to not give the game away.
This part of the staging done, Graham takes off with Jennie's body and possibly some other items which would look suspicious if they were found. He plans to take the Paynes Find-Sandstone Road as it's less likely someone will be driving along it and catch him in the act. He stops, possibly multiple times, to dump Jennie's body and the items. His plan is to say he took the Mount Magnet-Sandstone Road and stick to his story so if Jennie or the items are found, he can say "couldn't have been me I took the other road." But luck isn't on his side. Georgina and her husband spot Graham on the side of the road as he's disposing of some evidence. He's very agitated because he's realised there's now a witness who saw him taking the road he's going to claim he didn't take and they saw him at the exact spot he's dumped some evidence. If that evidence is found he's cooked. After they've gone he's either moved what he dumped there or possibly left it and chanced that it wouldn't be discovered (especially true if it's a body left out in the elements).
The basic plan Milne had in mind was to make it look like Raymond had killed Jennie after he'd left camp. Raymond then drove just out of Sandstone to dump her body and items and then he could report his wife as missing in the wilderness. But then Raymond felt incredibly guilty, regretted it and decided to commit suicide by jumping down an abandoned mine shaft.
All this is pure speculation but it's one way to tie in why Milne was reluctant to divulge which route he took and why Jennie's body wasn't found
Now Milne has a problem. His friend is most likely dead having fallen down an abandoned mine shaft and now he's just murdered the friend's wife. Whats more Jennie has a bullet in her. If he dumps her down the same mine shaft police will find Raymond fell but Jennie was shot. Since he was the last person to see them alive this points the finger squarely at him. So Milne decides to "stage" the crime scene a little bit.
He leaves Raymond's loaded rifle on the front seat of Raymond's car to make it look like Raymond was the last person to use it. He hides the quad bike so any time someone comes past it looks like the camp is occupied but the owners are out prospecting. He also knows this increases the chance if someone finds the rifle in Raymond's car, they just remove it thinking he's been an irresponsible gun owner which will cover the rifle with any number of foreign fingerprints. He doesn't need to worry about the blood because the way he's planned it, if blood is found he's engineering it so Raymond is going to be the suspect. He also goes back to the mine shaft and removes the abseiling equipment to not give the game away.
This part of the staging done, Graham takes off with Jennie's body and possibly some other items which would look suspicious if they were found. He plans to take the Paynes Find-Sandstone Road as it's less likely someone will be driving along it and catch him in the act. He stops, possibly multiple times, to dump Jennie's body and the items. His plan is to say he took the Mount Magnet-Sandstone Road and stick to his story so if Jennie or the items are found, he can say "couldn't have been me I took the other road." But luck isn't on his side. Georgina and her husband spot Graham on the side of the road as he's disposing of some evidence. He's very agitated because he's realised there's now a witness who saw him taking the road he's going to claim he didn't take and they saw him at the exact spot he's dumped some evidence. If that evidence is found he's cooked. After they've gone he's either moved what he dumped there or possibly left it and chanced that it wouldn't be discovered (especially true if it's a body left out in the elements).
The basic plan Milne had in mind was to make it look like Raymond had killed Jennie after he'd left camp. Raymond then drove just out of Sandstone to dump her body and items and then he could report his wife as missing in the wilderness. But then Raymond felt incredibly guilty, regretted it and decided to commit suicide by jumping down an abandoned mine shaft.
All this is pure speculation but it's one way to tie in why Milne was reluctant to divulge which route he took and why Jennie's body wasn't found
SquiffyRae
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According to this article, DNA on the cigarette butts belonged to Jennie and Graham.
It also mentions how they saw another 4WD go past followed by shooting. Ray wanted to let them know other people were around so Graham put a packet of cigarettes in a tree and had Raymond fire at them.
No mention of who the pack belonged to or if Raymond was a smoker
It also mentions how they saw another 4WD go past followed by shooting. Ray wanted to let them know other people were around so Graham put a packet of cigarettes in a tree and had Raymond fire at them.
No mention of who the pack belonged to or if Raymond was a smoker
Sounds far fetched....but then I find everything about his story farfetched.
I was wondering about Rays missing finger tips and the inquest asking Milne why blood was found on Ray's boots. Makes me wonder if he lost his finger tips outside of the mine shaft and had wrapped his shirt around his hand to stop the blood loss. The inquest (newspaper reports) did not say where exactly the blood was on Ray's boots. If it was on the topside, then the blood had dripped from his hand down on to his boots.
By the inquest mentioning the blood on the boots, makes me think that this blood was not from his fall down the mine shaft. Also might explain why Ray was not wearing his shirt.
As for a motive - I was thinking of gold fever. What would have happened if Ray and his wife had discovered a huge gold nugget and wouldn't share it with Milne? Pure speculation.
By the inquest mentioning the blood on the boots, makes me think that this blood was not from his fall down the mine shaft. Also might explain why Ray was not wearing his shirt.
As for a motive - I was thinking of gold fever. What would have happened if Ray and his wife had discovered a huge gold nugget and wouldn't share it with Milne? Pure speculation.
I've been interested in this case for a long time, but this is my first posting. And somehow I missed the bit about the missing fingers. I'm wondering - perhaps Ray was climbing up out of the shaft when "someone" cut his fingers off, and Ray fell to his death, sans fingers. Not nice.
TootsieFootsie
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Prospector admits changing story to police about leaving couple in WA outback
Mr Milne maintained he did not know what had happened to the Kehlets, and when asked in 2015 what he thought happened immediately after they had disappeared, he replied "they were just missing".
He testified he did not know why a cigarette butt with DNA matching his was found near cigarette butts containing Ms Kehlet's DNA at the top of the mineshaft where Mr Kehlet's body was found.
Mr Milne maintained he did not know what had happened to the Kehlets, and when asked in 2015 what he thought happened immediately after they had disappeared, he replied "they were just missing".
He testified he did not know why a cigarette butt with DNA matching his was found near cigarette butts containing Ms Kehlet's DNA at the top of the mineshaft where Mr Kehlet's body was found.
Welcome Kemug, it’s an interesting case.
TootsieFootsie
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It's too horrible to think about and where is Jennie ?
TootsieFootsie
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Welcome Kemug from me too !
TootsieFootsie
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https://www.kalminer.com.au/news/ka...-are-missing-but-not-forgotten-ng-b881629363z
Each week, the Kalgoorlie Miner gets dozens of police media releases about a missing person.
Most of the time, a follow-up email comes in to say the person has been found, but for the families of 14 Goldfields people, that email has not come through.
Today marks the end of National Missing Persons Week, an annual campaign to highlight cases in the hope a vital piece can resurface to complete the puzzle.
Each year about 38,000 people go missing in Australia, and there are more than 2600 long-term cases — defined as being missing for 90 days or more — still open
Abut Ray and Jennie and others missing in the area
Each week, the Kalgoorlie Miner gets dozens of police media releases about a missing person.
Most of the time, a follow-up email comes in to say the person has been found, but for the families of 14 Goldfields people, that email has not come through.
Today marks the end of National Missing Persons Week, an annual campaign to highlight cases in the hope a vital piece can resurface to complete the puzzle.
Each year about 38,000 people go missing in Australia, and there are more than 2600 long-term cases — defined as being missing for 90 days or more — still open
Abut Ray and Jennie and others missing in the area
TootsieFootsie
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Coroner finds Raymond Kehlet murdered in remote WA, missing wife Jennie also dead
The WA coroner has found a prospector who vanished with his wife in a remote part of the state was murdered, but it was not possible to identify the person responsible.
Mrs Kehlet has never been found and in her findings released today, coroner Ros Fogliani said on the evidence before her, "the death of Jennie Kehlet had been established beyond all reasonable doubt" and she had "died tragically at or about the same time" as her husband.
A postmortem examination was conducted and while Mr Kehlet's cause of death could not be determined, he was found to have a number of injuries, including fractures to his cheekbone and eye socket, two breaks in one of his ribs and damage to the left side of his neck.
'Violent' death result of homicide: coroner
In her findings, Ms Fogliani said it was "implausible" Mr Kehlet accidentally fell down the mineshaft, finding his injuries — particularly an injury to his hyoid bone — was a result "of blunt force trauma or manual strangulation".
The WA coroner has found a prospector who vanished with his wife in a remote part of the state was murdered, but it was not possible to identify the person responsible.
Mrs Kehlet has never been found and in her findings released today, coroner Ros Fogliani said on the evidence before her, "the death of Jennie Kehlet had been established beyond all reasonable doubt" and she had "died tragically at or about the same time" as her husband.
A postmortem examination was conducted and while Mr Kehlet's cause of death could not be determined, he was found to have a number of injuries, including fractures to his cheekbone and eye socket, two breaks in one of his ribs and damage to the left side of his neck.
'Violent' death result of homicide: coroner
In her findings, Ms Fogliani said it was "implausible" Mr Kehlet accidentally fell down the mineshaft, finding his injuries — particularly an injury to his hyoid bone — was a result "of blunt force trauma or manual strangulation".